Long holiday
Davidandnastya
Posts: 13
hello everyone
i have just recently joined GW magazine in the hope of advice and inspiration for our new garden in the south of France.
we have a worry if anyone could help us it would be most appreciated.
we are going on holiday for 4 months and leaving all our plants.
we live far away from anyone so it’s not possible to have help.
mostly they are cacti with a couple of exceptions.
i thought of using a gravity fed watering system on a timer run from a water barrel in a greenhouse.
But I wondered if anyone had better ideas or advice, especially for our adenium obesum.
unfortunatly it cannot be heated in the greenhouse.
The winters here can get cold sometimes last year it went to -5 but for only 4/5 days normally no colder than 3/4 degrees.
yours hopefully
D&A
i have just recently joined GW magazine in the hope of advice and inspiration for our new garden in the south of France.
we have a worry if anyone could help us it would be most appreciated.
we are going on holiday for 4 months and leaving all our plants.
we live far away from anyone so it’s not possible to have help.
mostly they are cacti with a couple of exceptions.
i thought of using a gravity fed watering system on a timer run from a water barrel in a greenhouse.
But I wondered if anyone had better ideas or advice, especially for our adenium obesum.
unfortunatly it cannot be heated in the greenhouse.
The winters here can get cold sometimes last year it went to -5 but for only 4/5 days normally no colder than 3/4 degrees.
yours hopefully
D&A
0
Posts
There are a few members who live in France/Spain/S.Africa and other hotter places but most are based in UK. I'm sure someone will be able to help.
Where are you going, and can I come too?
off to the Far East following the sun 😎
only 2 suitcases but if you fancy a watering holiday in the south of France I know the place
no wages but good views 🤭
One issue with most common water timers is that they need mains pressure to operate properly. Although you normally use a pressure regulator after the timer the valve in the timer normally needs to see 1-1.5 bar to operate correctly. If you are going to rely on a gravity fed system you would need to raise the barrel 5 metres above your watering point.
Minimum temps might also be a problem, looks like your adenium needs at least 10C. Has it survived lower temps previously?
i have been using a gravity fed water system with large barrel to water my tomatoes and it worked ok although it does have its moments.
will try to lift it higher thanks.
i know our indoor plants like orchids will suffer or possible die just trying every option to save them.
thank you
we stay in Penang island great place to hop to all the places you mentioned.
never been but Gambia sounds inviting.
on another subject because of your name any advice on stopping slugs and snails eating our Hostas we have tried egg shells,pine needles ,Vaseline,coffee from our used Nespresso capsules but they still get eaten.
The Gambia isn't The Maldives , by any stretch of the imagination,but it's not too far away and the weather is guaranteed and it's cheap to stay/ eat there.
I don’t know about your specific plants but have used a rubber perforated soaker hose hose attached to water butts, which lasted a two week holiday, only a metre above the beds. I’m afraid I do always have a house sitter (relative or friend) as well, to look after garden, pets and house. A friend of mine regularly uses free house sitters from a site which I think is called housesitmatch or some such, peer reviewed, and she has never has any problems. You correspond and chat beforehand to make sure you and they are happy. For a month, might it be worth considering, for peace of mind? She always has a days handover so she can show them everything and make sure they have got the task list in hand!