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Garden Guru

Ready, Set, Go on vacation...

Jim Boxberger
Posted 7/1/22

July already, where has the time gone? Now on to summer vacations, if you can afford the gas. But before you galavant around the country make sure you have things taken care of at home as far as your …

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Garden Guru

Ready, Set, Go on vacation...

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July already, where has the time gone? Now on to summer vacations, if you can afford the gas. But before you galavant around the country make sure you have things taken care of at home as far as your plants go.

Whether indoors or out your plants will need attention while you are away. For your inside plants, you can rig up special waterers for them that can help to keep a plant watered for a week or so, but longer than that and you may need to ask a neighbor or family member to come over and do some watering for you. If you have someone that can do it for you, that would be the best solution as they can tell if a plant needs more or less water. Outdoor plants can be easier depending on where they are. Gardens can be watered easily with a sprinkler and a timer. Other inground plants and flowerbeds can be done the same way, it is container plants that will need some additional care.

Containers should be moved to a shadier location where they are less likely to dry out on a daily basis. Yes, I said daily. I have containers on my front porch and they require water twice a day, morning and night. When I go away even for a weekend, I put my containers in saucers of water about two to three inches deep. As the plants need it, the water can be absorbed directly by the roots. It also helps that I have a Tuggy Tugboat kiddy pool on my porch for my granddaughters to play in when they come over. It makes a great vacation waterer. Nothing has to be fancy or professional, it just has to work.

Also, don’t rig something up and just expect it to work, try it out for a week or so to make sure that what you are doing will keep your plants watered sufficiently while you are away. There is nothing worse that coming home from a great vacation to find all your hard work from the spring dried up and dead on the porch. Water timers are another good way to make sure your plants get the water they need. But once again, test them out before you rely on them.

Every summer I hear from customers that used timers incorrectly or did not water long enough, so test first. If you get everything set up now, long before you go away, it could give you a little more free time to enjoy your plants instead of being a servant to them. Even hydroponic systems need to be watered. I know how crazy that may sound but think of the evaporation that will happen in a week or two even if your system is indoors, not to mention the water that your plants will use while you are away. So remember to set up an auto waterer for your hydro system if you don’t have one installed already.

One last note after last week’s column. If anyone would like to contact the Liberty Garden Club, you can call Debbie Stave at 845-807-6706. Gardening knowledge is a terrible thing to waste.

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