Going away, what can I do?

J

joe1119

Active Member
I will be leaving my plants unattended for near one week. The best idea is obviously getting someone to watch them, but that would mean taking all my lights and plants to another house.
Is there anything I can do to avoid this?
I was thinking putting dishes of water under the plants' pots so the holes in the bottom would absorb the water, but dont know if this would work.
The plants just started the sexing process, with 12/12 lights on a timer.
Thanks for any help!:bigjoint:
 
Krypt

Krypt

Well-Known Member
or, if someone already knows about the grow, let them have a key to the room.
 
Aethersaegis

Aethersaegis

Well-Known Member
growing in soil is ok just water then real good should be fine im actually out of town atm myself soil gives u alot of breathing room since they dont need daily adjusting and ph balancing like hydro
 
Krypt

Krypt

Well-Known Member
o well, if u are growing in soil u can water just before u leave and right when u get back, marijuana is a weed and can decently grow without h20 for a while
 
420kush

420kush

Active Member
F

FlyinLow&High

Active Member
420kush said:
WATER IT JUST BEFORE YOU LEAVE AND DO WHAT YOU SAID WITH THE BOWL OF WATER IT SHOULD BE FINE JUST LIKE KRYPT SAID IT IS A WEED. ALSO YOU CAN USE A CHEAP WATER PUMP AND PUT IT ON A TIMER AND ONLY HAVE THE PUMP RUN FOR A COUPLE MINUTES EACH DAY... HERE IS A CHEAP PUMP I GOT IT WORKS GOOD AND YOU CAN GET THE TUBES AND SPLITTERS FOR MULTIPLE PLANTS AT LIKE LOWES OR HOME DEPOT. 92GPH Submersible Pump Water Fountain Garden FREE S&H - eBay (item 180300081558 end time Nov-17-08 19:35:04 PST)
Click to expand...

I like the pump automation idea. I am going to use a good 7 day programable timer to pump the water. I am going to experiment with the timer pumping the water NOW during each watering, so when I go, it will just work and I can sleep easy.

Hate leaving my babies!

Anyone else got anything to add?
 
juststartin

juststartin

Well-Known Member
i had to leave mine for bout 5 days. was REAL worried but just watered well, double checked my timers and came back to some healthy as plants!

It was kinda cool actually cos i wasnt checking twice daily they had doubled in size!!
 
Moldy

Moldy

Well-Known Member
Another thing that I heard from FDD is to turn your lights down to say 8-10 hrs a day saving a little water that they may use. I tried that just last month. My plants just started 12/12. They were in 3 gal dirt containers. I watered the shit out of them on Tuesday and got back on Sunday with no problem. They were thirsty but not wilting or any visual signs of stress. But I like the pump idea. For that kind of money it would be tits!
 
F

FlyinLow&High

Active Member
Ok, here is the setup I am going to go with during my job/vacation for 5 to 10 days:

Items needed:

· 2 pumps (1st to pump water to your plants, and 2nd pump for circulation so water does not become stagnent operating like a fountain in a pond). **The pumps have a filter in them too.
· 1 seven day program timer.
· 1 regular timer with 15min segments settings
· 1 reservoir tub for enough water for all your plants.
· hoses that fit your pumps and drip tips for watering your plants

1. Fill the reservoir up with water enough to support the number of plants you have taking into mind vegging or flowering stage. Check the PH, Ferterlizer etc in the water.

2. Connect the watering pump to your 7 Day Program, and set program times to come on for the length of time you will be gone.

3. Connect the recirculation pump to your 15 min segment timer, and program to come on for 30 min 4 times a day over a 24 hour period.

4. Connect the hose(s) to the watering pump and run hoses with the drip tips to all your plants.

5. TEST TEST TEST!

6. The moment I walk out the door, I will set the height or distance of my HPS light a little higher so my babies wont grow too far up and burn.

Of course this will have to be tested and debugged, and I am going to do some serious testing of this automation. Good thing for me I am a controls engineer and I work with PLC’s and networking and so on.


Here is food for thought and my eventual setup. If you have the money and skills, get a PLC programmer like Allen Bradley or something cheaper that can be configured/loaded on your home PC, then wire to the Allen Bradley output bank to control your lights,pumps, etc... Then load remote desktop/Remote Admin/PCanywhere on your PC at home and you can be on the road with your laptop but connect to your PC at home and turn on your lights & pumps remotely,,,, even setup WEB cameras in your groom so you can see from MILES away. I am also looking into small motors that turn slow to raise the lights. More on this advanced setup later.


*****Any suggestions are surely welcome, we can figure this out, FAILURE IS NOT AN OPTION.
 
C

CuriousSoul

Well-Known Member
I agree with the watering well before you go. If you put them in a much bigger pot then they'll retain water for longer. You can also add some water control granules to help them along the drought. You'll be fine mate, happy growing!
 
BigBudBalls

BigBudBalls

Well-Known Member
bucket, timer pump about $30.

I grow in 4 gal buckets. its a week between watering.

Hell, just came back from a 2 week trip. My Basil is just fine with *zero* water during that time.

Depending on size and maturity you might be fine.
 
homegrwn

homegrwn

Well-Known Member
if its only one or two or three plants I can suggest using cotton balls or rope strumed together, Put you plants on a brick or platform and run the cotton from the bottom of the plants near a drainage holeand down into a dish with fresh water... its a simple wick system<viable but not often used except outdoors and short of irragation>The roots use the water as they need it and you dont have to worry about over watering or underwatering. When you come home let the pot on the platform and water normally this gives the lower half a chance to dry...

Bam your off no strangers in your shit and babies are tended to on there own!
 
jimmy44

jimmy44

Well-Known Member
Make sure to turn the fan down really low pointed away from the plants to circulte air or turn the fan off if the plants are well established. The fan makes the soil dry out way faster then if there is no fan at all What Size of pots are they in, Large pots retain moister much better then small pots.
 
GypsyBush

GypsyBush

Well-Known Member
You know those things to keep the dog dish full, ca you adapt?

If you did hydro you could do this...

Cheers..

good luck...


 
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