Anyone Ever Use This? Good? Bad?...better than my sister in-law?

[just.wing.it]

I have left my tree watering in the hands of my sister in-law before, when on short trips away from home, but she said that she's freaked out, and it's too big a responsibility for her.... in the past, I've come home to half my substrate blasted out of the pots, and maybe an admittance of forgetting to water once....but she never killed one yet....
So I'm going to use a timer of sorts, ordered a couple kits...this one showed up first.
Have you used this before? Is it decent? Reliable?
I'm gonna assemble the tubing and fittings and test it when the second kit arrives. Might test the timer alone today.
This one came with 20 drippers. The other one I ordered comes with little sprayers and drippers, so I hope that between the 2 kits, I can get this stuff hydrated while I'm gone.
I kinda like how this one has simple dials instead of some fancy schmancy touch screen or digital display.

 

[Anthony]

Hee, hee, do like K, hire a maid and /or yardman and have them water.
$ go a long way to being responsible.
Of course I am also a willing slave.

Best of growing with the automatics.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[just.wing.it]

Hee, hee, do like K, hire a maid and /or yardman and have them water.
$ go a long way to being responsible.
Of course I am also a willing slave.

Best of growing with the automatics.
Good Day
Anthony

Oh, we pay her, she takes care of the dog too, when we're away, and can't take him.
It'll only be 2 days...so what's the worst that could happen? right?

 

[Tieball]

Here's my opinion. Not sure if I can articulate this right or not. But test the dripping water volume "reach" per watering. A drip....is nice with certain soil...like garden soil for example...where surrounding soil can absorb some of the water like a sponge effect. With a coarse bonsai soil, a soil that drains well, a drip may not reach most roots at all. The coarse soil does not absorb dripping water that well....unless your dripping all over the soil surface....and even then you need to provide ample time to drain through. Anyway...my feeling is that a drip, even applied for a lengthy time, just covers a narrow column through coarse soil....like a vertical creek running through the small rocks out the bottom.

Hire someone nearby. Find someone retired from working with time available. Hire someone from your local bonsai group...pay them. Hire someone from a florist shop to come out and water. Hire a dependable college student that needs extra cash. Hire a nearby, walking distance nearby, staying-at-home mom to water.

 

[Anthony]

Just.wing.it,

got a neighbour here. Sweeps all of the organic material out of the yard, then hoses the vegetation with
a blast for a couple seconds each.

Offered a nozzle that allows the water to fall like rain --------- no thanks.
Suggested they compost and spread around the plants, hold water in the compost ------- no go
And the plants in the yard are naturally drought tolerant - chuckle.

Other neighbour leaves a bag of chow, top cut off and the tap on drip into a large tub for the
dog. The dog is about the size of basketball.
Gone for a week.
[ we secretly had to feed that dog --------- shhhhh ]

When folk use the fixture on the hose that lets water come out like rain, they get mesmerized
by the rainbow colours and pretty effects.
Actually encourages them to water for longer.
Good Day
Anthony

 

[just.wing.it]

Here's my opinion. Not sure if I can articulate this right or not. But test the dripping water volume "reach" per watering. A drip....is nice with certain soil...like garden soil for example...where surrounding soil can absorb some of the water like a sponge effect. With a coarse bonsai soil, a soil that drains well, a drip may not reach most roots at all. The coarse soil does not absorb dripping water that well....unless your dripping all over the soil surface....and even then you need to provide ample time to drain through. Anyway...my feeling is that a drip, even applied for a lengthy time, just covers a narrow column through coarse soil....like a vertical creek running through the small rocks out the bottom.

Hire someone nearby. Find someone retired from working with time available. Hire someone from your local bonsai group...pay them. Hire someone from a florist shop to come out and water. Hire a dependable college student that needs extra cash. Hire a nearby, walking distance nearby, staying-at-home mom to water.

I hear you... I'm flying solo as usual. I know one person who is kinda into gardening... but he lives an hour away and has 2 little kids, busy. ....
I will be using a combination of drippers and sprayers.
I figured if the drippers can at least get water down into the bottom of the pot, that they should be OK for a day or 2.....hopefully.

 

[JudyB]

https://bonsainut.com/threads/automatic-watering-system.19516/

This seems like more than you're looking for, but it's worth the trouble to be able to have the freedom that a good system allows. My work schedule is erratic, so I can't count on being able to water all the time. I have switched from the rust filter shown in my thread to a whole house rust filter that works so much better. I had an issue last year with rust buildup on leaves when that filter wasn't doing a good enough job.

 

[just.wing.it]

https://bonsainut.com/threads/automatic-watering-system.19516/

This seems like more than you're looking for, but it's worth the trouble to be able to have the freedom that a good system allows. My work schedule is erratic, so I can't count on being able to water all the time. I have switched from the rust filter shown in my thread to a whole house rust filter that works so much better. I had an issue last year with rust buildup on leaves when that filter wasn't doing a good enough job.

Yeah, I wish I had some overhead place to run pipe like you did...

 

[JudyB]

If it's really only a couple days I'd look at a regular oscillating sprinkler along with your drippers. Just test it out ahead of time, and make sure you pay attention to the direction of your prevailing winds.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

You can set up an automatic sprinkler system from Home Depot for less than $200 and a half day of labor (if you are digging the PVC into the ground). It is not hard, and it is highly dependable. Though broadcast sprinkling isn't the best method of watering bonsai, trees have been living under the rain for a while now and I think they are used to it

 

[GGB]

I fill big tubs with water and sit all my trees in there, pots half submerged. It's a god awful way to do things but I've never had a tree dry up while I was on holiday haha. If you use fast draining soils and stick with flood tolerant trees it works good enough. Trial by water!

 

[just.wing.it]

If it's really only a couple days I'd look at a regular oscillating sprinkler along with your drippers. Just test it out ahead of time, and make sure you pay attention to the direction of your prevailing winds.

That was my first thought... haven't ruled it out...

 

[Joe Dupre']

I do something similar to GGB for vacations. I lay out some 2x4's on edge on the carport. I lay on a double thickness of plastic sheeting and fill the depression with water. The slab has a bit of a slope, so I arrange the pots in there accordingly. Junipers go in the shallowest end........cypresses and elms go in the deep end. The trees get morning sun and are protected during the hottest part of the day.

I live near the swamps and ridges of South Louisiana. A ridge can be only a foot or so above the surrounding swamps. During the rainy summer season, the ridges flood for months at a time. The oaks, elms, pecans, hawthorns, etc. sit underwater for months with no ill effect.

 

[M. Frary]

I'll need to see a picture of the sister in law before I make a snap judgement.

 

[just.wing.it]

I'll need to see a picture of the sister in law before I make a snap judgement.

We're at a wedding reception, I'll see what I can do....it'll need to be a covert pic...

 

[just.wing.it]

I'll need to see a picture of the sister in law before I make a snap judgement.

Hehehe, sis in law....the soil blaster...

 

[just.wing.it]

And the pic wasn't so covert...the flash went off, and she caught me....

 

[M. Frary]

And the pic wasn't so covert...the flash went off, and she caught me....

Uh oh.

 

[ColinFraser]

Hehehe, sis in law....the soil blaster...
View attachment 148174

Looks guilty! LOL
Ive been using an oscillating sprinkler and a battery powered timer for a while now to cover a day or two here and there - seems to be working pretty well. I leave a small drinking glass sitting on one of the benches as a sort of "rain gauge." I also have a wifi security camera pointed at my trees, so I can check in at the appropriate time and actually see that the sprinkler is running

 

[ColinFraser]

Here's the timer I'm using, from Home Depot: