Any indoor plant watering machines/gadgets?

Hi,

In my flat, I have a 3 meter tall 'money tree'. It's very beautiful, but sadly it's loosing a lot of leaves, mostly because it isn't being regularly watered. I spend a couple of weeks, most months, away from London, and my neighbor is forgetful, so doesn"t always remember to water the plant.

I could design and build a system to water the plant myself, but there is no tap nearby and I don't really have the time at the moment.

Is there any *indoor* plant watering 'gagets' / machines that don't need to be attached to a running water supply, that cost less than GBP (£) 250, and can store & deliver a minimum of 2 liters over a period of 2 weeks.

Also let me know, is there any machine that is designed to generate 'mist' from stored water for house plants, as this is important for keeping tropical plants healthy.

Many thanks in advance for your help

Tom.

 

Hozelock make an "Aquapod", its rather intended for Conservator, rather than Living room, I think ... but see what you think:

http://www.hozelock.com/watering/auto-watering/easy/auto-aquapod-10-182.html

 

had a quick nose around while waiting for the rain to stop and found this

http://www.thirstygardens.com/Irrigation-Systems/c-1-91/


no idea what they are like or how good they work


Steve

 

Or maybe something like this?

Bag Drip Watering Kit, £11.95 available at: http://www.twowests.co.uk/TwoWestsSite/product/SDBAG.htm

 

Tom,

you definitely don't need to be spending £250 on an indoor watering set-up unless you're looking at a full-blown irrigation system. Since you're only dealing with one plant that's not the kind of thing that's required in any case, and would also mean using a reservoir or having a tap left on - not really what you want with two weeks away from home....

In terms of just supplying water to your Money Tree you need a water spike, or possibly a couple like these EcoCharlie ones:
http://www.ecocharlie.co.uk/aquadrip-water-spikes.html
You can adjust the flow to suit your plants time/water requirements, so with a bit of trial and error it should do the biz for you.

There are lots of greenhouse/indoor misting systems available too - you put them together in stages depending on the size, water delivery and area you want to cover - but generally you would have to leave them connected to a tap (rather than a stored water reservoir) whilst you're away.

If you want to increase the humidity what you might try is to put some open-topped water containers underneath the foliage of your plant (either around the pot or on top of the soil on the pot) and the evaporation will naturally increase moisture levels in the immediate vicinity of the plant..

 

I've a reliable, efficient, though "high maintenance" gadget for watering indoor plants.

My wife!

 

Hi, you could try just to fill plastic bottles with water and quickly "plant" them upside down in the pot. The water is released slowly when the moisture in the compost drops. Trusted trick, but I'd experiment before leaving the plant alone to see how it works and how quickly the bottles empty.
Another old holiday "gadget" is a bucket and some thickish cotton strings. The moisture seeps via the strings to the pot.
So no need to spend hundreds, I'm willing to sell my spare bucket for a tenner. :wink:

Please post a picture of your Money tree, I've never seen one so tall and absolutely love them... How old is it?