- the essentials in brief
- Where does automatic watering make sense?
- Build your own automatic watering system
- How the clay cone sucks in water
- What products are there on the market?
- frequently asked Questions
If you are away from home for a long time, you don't have to worry about your plants. There are numerous methods how you can automate the water supply. This works with ready-made sets or self-made models.
Inexpensive irrigation systems can be built with PET bottles
Table of Contents
Show all- the essentials in brief
- areas of application
- build yourself
- Products from different manufacturers
- frequently asked Questions
- A simple, automatic watering system (€32.95) can be made for indoor plants using upside-down PET bottles
- Clay cones or clay pots are filled with water and gradually release their moisture to the bed
- Water buckets with strips of fabric that connect the water to the planter are suitable for temporary watering during holidays
- Prefabricated systems such as those with drip irrigation are suitable for irrigating larger areas
- indoor plants: Weekend or holiday watering
- lawn: uniform area irrigation with sprinklers
- hedges: continuous humidification by drip irrigation
- raised bed: targeted watering of seedlings
- Glasshouse: constant water supply for peppers and tomatoes
- bonsai: Micro-irrigation system or self-made water supply
- Porosity determines how fast or slow the water seeps through
- Bottles have different capacities
- warm ambient temperatures increase water evaporation
- Put the clay cone with the suction hose in the substrate
- Place the end of the suction hose in a bucket
- Fix hose with stones
- Fill bucket with water
- no glazing or painting
- without a drainage hole in the bottom
- narrow opening and bulbous shape
- Drill holes in the bottom of the bottle
- Insert hoses and fill bottle with stones
- Put the bottle in a rain barrel
- Reduce the hose openings with a clamp so that the water only drips out
- Suck up water and place hoses around the plants
- high quality but expensive
- work with a pump and storage tank or with a water connection
- cannot be operated without electricity
- Power supply via mains unit, rechargeable batteries or solar modules
- Water supply as needed
- Solenoid valves are opened or closed by humidity measurement
the essentials in brief
Where does automatic watering make sense?
Golf courses and landscaped gardens are automatically watered. There are now such systems for the home garden that make watering with the hand shower superfluous. Self-contained irrigation systems are effective and save water. Irrigation systems are suitable for all plants that prefer fresh to moist conditions.
There is a wide range of systems not only for the kitchen garden but also for potted plants indoors or on the balcony and terrace. While underground water pipes are laid in the garden, drip irrigation systems supply the plants on the balcony, in the greenhouse or in the terrarium.
The variety of automatic systems:
Build your own automatic watering system
If you are planning a longer absence and could not find a watering aid, you can build your own watering systems with few resources. These DIY alternatives are suitable for small pots as well as large raised beds or greenhouses.(72.95€)
Automatic irrigation systems are easy to build yourself. All you need is a means of water transport and a water supply.
Indoor plants: PET bottle
The PET bottle is a good option for thirsty indoor plants
Fill a PET bottle with water and insert a special watering cone, which you can buy in specialist shops, into the opening. There are attachments made of porous clay or plastic with holes. The bottle is then inserted with the attachment into the substrate of potted plants. Moisture is continuously released through the material.
Advantages and disadvantages
Irrigation cannot be adapted to the water needs of the plant, which can lead to over- or undersupply. It is only suitable for indoor plants, since the environmental conditions are more uniform here and the water loss through evaporation is controllable. This automatic system can bridge a period of between eight and 25 days, with various factors being decisive:
material selection
Which attachment you choose does not only depend on price and durability. The PET bottle that is to be used also influences the decision. Plastic caps work better with solid plastic bottles. Soft bottles buckle due to the negative pressure in the bottle, which allows the water to escape too quickly. Clay attachments usually do not fit on all bottles.
| plastic | volume | |
|---|---|---|
| functionality | Water seeps through small holes | Water diffuses through porous structure |
| special feature | Irrigation only works with negative pressure | Bottle needs a hole to equalize pressure |
| advantage | inexpensive and fit on every bottle | very even water supply |
| disadvantage | Holes clog easily | usually only fit on thin-walled bottles |
Balcony plants: suction hose
Plants on balconies and terraces consume more water if they are exposed to direct sunlight. Fluctuations in temperature cause irregular moisture losses. Therefore, an automatic irrigation system must guarantee a larger water supply. You can easily implement this variant:
This irrigation adapts to the water demand. Water is drawn from the reservoir as the substrate around the clay cone dries out. The clay cones work without electricity because the water is sucked in by capillary forces in the dry earth.
digression
How the clay cone sucks in water
Capillaries are tubes with a very small inner diameter. Compared to thicker tubes, certain surface effects occur here. The effect of capillarity causes liquids with a high surface tension to rise in the thin tubes. The smallest pores in the substrate are also called capillaries. Thanks to the adsorption forces, the water remains in the pores. If it is used up by the plants, the capillary forces suck in new water.Bonsai: strips of fabric
If you are only away for a short time, you can water your bonsai trees by simple means. Place the bowl on a brick in a plastic tub over the weekend. This is filled with water so that the water level does not reach the bowl. Place several strips of fabric from the plant substrate in the water. They soak up moisture and transport moisture to the roots without causing waterlogging.
Raised bed: clay pots
In Africa, people have used clay pots to constantly water their plants for centuries. This is where the so-called Ollas come into play. These bulbous vessels narrow towards the opening and can be sealed with a lid or stone to keep dirt and insects from collecting in the water. The clay vases are buried completely in the substrate up to the opening and filled with water up to the neck. You can use any clay pot that meets these requirements instead of the Ollas:
tips
Bury the clay pot so that it sits in the center of four plants. If the root system is not yet very well developed, you should additionally water the young plants at first.
Greenhouse: drip system
If the plants in the greenhouse are so big that you would damage the roots by burying them in clay pots, you can build your own above-ground drip irrigation system. To do this, you need a plastic bottle, several thin irrigation hoses, a water supply, clamps and stones.
Instructions for building your own:
What products are there on the market?
The online search will quickly lead you to the market leader Gardena. But it is worth comparing the products of the competition. Cheaper systems from less well-known manufacturers are often sufficient for the house and balcony.
Gardena
The manufacturer has a wide range of different irrigation systems that automatically water the entire garden. There are also microsystems that take over the water supply for balcony and indoor plants. The systems can be expanded as required with hoses and plug-in connections. Additional elements such as pressure reducers, filters or control computers offer individual solutions.
Properties at a glance:
Grow
In the online shop you can buy complete sets for automatic irrigation, which are available from around 30 euros. These systems work with a pump and supply the plants with drip irrigation directly at the roots. You can also put together your own system from a water pump, hoses and storage tank. The products are suitable for watering potted plants and can also be used in greenhouses.
Programmable Systems
If you want to be precise, you can buy a basic device yourself, program it and connect it to an irrigation system. The system independently measures the soil moisture at regular intervals and controls the irrigation valves. You can determine the minimum and maximum water requirements yourself and thus adapt the watering to different plants.
Arduino or Raspberry Pi are full-fledged mini computers that can be programmed. An additional sensor is required so that the moisture in the substrate can be measured. This can be built from a tube filled with plaster and two nails or bought as a whole.
How it works:
tips
There is a tutorial from E-Zubis that you can use to easily build and program a system yourself.
frequently asked Questions
How can I water my houseplants on vacation?
You can build your own irrigation system using a PET bottle. You can either use clay or plastic attachments, or hang an absorbent string into the water-filled bottle. The other end is buried in the substrate close to the base of the plant, automatically feeding water from the bottle to the roots.
Are there automatic watering systems for raised beds and greenhouses?
You can equip the plants in the bed and greenhouse with a drip irrigation system or a sprinkler system. Both models are connected to a water tap and can be fitted with a timer. Homemade models use capillary forces and work without electricity. A simple solution is clay jars buried in the ground.
What do I have to consider with an irrigation system for the lawn?
Thorough planning is important here. First find out how much water and water pressure is available. These factors change depending on the distance between the water connection and the irrigation valve. The choice of the system and the placement of the individual elements also determine the success of the irrigation.
What is the cost of automatic irrigation?
These depend on the selected system and the planned area of application. Complete systems for watering individual potted plants are available from as little as 30 euros. Expandable systems for beds and greenhouses, which can be individually designed, cost around 50 to 100 euros. The cost of irrigating a lawn can be significantly higher.