|
Container gardening
continues to be hot. But one downed about container gardening…you have to
water them! Well, here are a few things available today at your local
garden stores to help cut down on watering.
-Soil Moist I love
this stuff! When these small polymers are added to your potting mix, they
actually absorb water when you are watering the container…they hold it, and
when the soil mix begins to dry, they re-release the stored water back into
the soil, cutting your watering time way back!
-Plant Sitter This
little gizmo is actual a miniature drip irrigation system. Hang it on the
side of the pot, fill the tank, insert the dripper into the soil, and it
waters thru a slow drip. Perfect for those houseplants when you’re on
vacation.
-Plantastic Pretty
simple yet very effective way to water containers. Fill the bottle with
water, insert into the soil, and it slow drip waters your container.
Depending on the size of the container, it may extend the watering needs for
as much as 10 days or more.
-Plant Quenchers A
fancier version of the Plantastic, giving you a more colorful and artsy way
of supplementing watering your containers.
And don’t forget the new
lines of self watering containers. There are several styles available…I
think the best designs either have a water reservoir in the bottom with an
overflow – as well as a separation screen between the soil and the water, or
a water reservoir with the actual pot separating the roots from the water.
The water is slowly absorbed thru the pot. Either way, the water in the
reservoir is separate from the soil.
And if you’re asking why
a saucer can’t be kept filled with water and act as a self watering
pot…well, in self watering pots, the water and the soil are separated. With
the saucer, water sits constantly in contact with the soil, which keeps the
soil constantly wet and eventually causes root rot and decline or death of
the plant. That’s why we never recommend leaving water sitting in the
saucer for extended periods of time. |
