It’s hair-pulling. At first you can’t keep up with the mowing, then the blades of grass dry up within a few days and the meadow is covered with ugly light brown spots. In the garden and holiday month of July, caring for the lawn, but also ornamental plants and vegetable beds, is a real challenge. Because many turn their backs on their gardens for two or three weeks during the holiday season to dangle their legs in the pool. But who takes care of the lawn, the tomatoes and other plants when there is no neighbor in sight? One solution: automatic irrigation systems. The following three tools have what it takes to step in as watering can replacements in July.
Dozens of potted plants and no neighbors to take care of them while you’re on vacation? The Gardena City Gardening plant watering set could save your plants from drying out. Up to 36 plants can be individually cared for indoors and outdoors. An integrated and programmable timer makes this compact set a versatile temporary assistant. At Alternate there is holiday watering for balconies, terraces, window sills or gardens in July for just under 80 euros.
How does Gardena City Gardening work?
A 14 volt submersible pump, 30 meters of drip hose, a distribution pipe (nine meters), a few different watering nozzles as well as clamping sleeves and sealing caps, a transformer with a timer and a power supply unit are supplied. In addition, you need a container. Depending on how long and how many plants you want to water, this should hold between six and ten liters of water.
Important: Your plants will be watered daily at the exact time you connected the pump to the power supply.
Depending on how many plants need to be fed, you connect one, two or three manifolds to the pump and run them to the drip manifolds. From there, the drip hoses (must be shortened beforehand) lead to the individual plants. Hose holders are designed to ensure water drips where it’s supposed to drip. Then place the pump in the water tank and plug in the power pack. Tip: The colour-coded drip dispensers release different amounts of water (15, 30 and 60 ml). So think about which plants need how much water before you connect the pipes and hoses to the drip distributors.
Suitable for: balcony, terrace and raised bed
The Esotec irrigation set works on a similar principle. Small but subtle difference: instead of electricity from the socket, a solar module and battery supply the required energy. Advantage: You are not dependent on a socket nearby. Instead of 36, only 15 plants can be automatically supplied with water with “Waterdrops”. The water is sucked in and distributed via a filter at the end of the two meter long inlet hose. A water butt, a bucket or a natural inflow (e.g. a small stream) are suitable sources. The watering cycle can be set to between 30 seconds and 12 minutes using a dial on the pump housing. The plants enjoy 0.5 to six liters of water per cycle. A sensor monitors the water level and switches the pump off automatically if necessary.
Suitable for: Greenhouse, raised bed and patio
Amazon currently charges just under 70 euros for the Esotec solar irrigation set. The green replacement watering can for the holiday season in the electronics online shop ELV is two euros cheaper. There you can get the Esotec system including shipping in July for only 67.95 euros.
The Vitavia watering set is specifically designed for use with a rain barrel. And the principle is just as simple as with the two sets already presented. First, a garden hose (included) is clamped to a water barrel and connected to the 15 meter long drip line at the other end. This is divided into 50 units, each 30 cm long, on which a maximum of four drip wands can be positioned. The line can be laid as a closed circle on a bed. Alternatively, the drip line can be separated and the two ends laid out in the greenhouse or other bed as required. Ground spikes fix the drippers in the desired places. Mail order company Otto is offering the system in July for just under 50 euros (plus shipping costs). With OBI, the shipping costs are already included in the same price. Click here for the Vitavia rain barrel irrigation RWK50 at OBI.
Suitable for: beds, hedges, greenhouses
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