Watering by diffusion

 


Last year I bought a set of watering kits for potted plants which were quite successful, but have only just remembered about them this year, well into the drought.  They consist of a pointed terracotta pot (top photo) which you push in the soil.  You find your own bottle, the neck of which will fit into the pot.  The bottle should be filled with water then inverted with your hand over the opening before putting it quickly into the pot.  The water diffuses into dry soil through the terracotta (see above).  I set this one up this morning with fingers crossed!

I bought the kit from Chimney Sheep, though they're not on their website at the moment.  I've broken two of the pots through pushing the bottle in too hard.  There are tougher looking versions in Emsworth Hardware which are made for using with wine bottles - worth a try!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Splitting Calathea 'triostar' - an Easter Monday project.

Image
 I bought the original plant from an EHS plant sale - I can't remember how long ago - and it cost me £4.  What great value it's been.  I think it only had 4 leaves, and now, at least four years later, there are four 'shoots' in the pot each with five or six leaves.   Calathea triostar before it was split. It was in its original 1.5 litre pot, so I decided to use the same size pot for the separated plants.  I chose Melcourt Sylvagrow peat-free multi-purpose compost to plant them in, my current favourite.  The plant came cleanly out of its pot.  Each shoot comes from a rhizome, so to separate the shoots the rhizome has to be broken.  I did this by gently breaking them apart (you could cut them). The four transplanted shoots were watered and are now recovering in the (empty) bath, where it is well lit but not directly.  It's an ideal place for them but not very practical in the long run.  Calathea does best in warm humid conditions....
Read more

Aeoniums

Image
 Aeoniums are fascinating succulent plants.  A few years ago I was given one, and since then it's gone through a number of different forms.  The most recent was quite unpredictable. Six months ago I had two plants they weren't doing much.  I transplanted them in fresh compost in bigger pots, as a friend suggested.  In retrospect I should have used a much grittier growing medium, but nevertheless one plant thrived, shown below, and the other didn't.     I cut the stem of the less vigorous one in half and planted the top half.  The top isn't growing, but the stem of the bottom half has produced lots of little rosettes.   What will happen next?  Will all the rosettes grow out of the stem?  I'll keep you posted.
Read more

Is it a weed? Depends on your outlook!

Image
I'm often asked if a plant is a weed.  The plant in the photo, commonly called Garlic Mustard or Jack by the Hedge ( Alliaria petiolata ) , is a spring flowering wildflower.  It's a biennial, flowering in it's second year, and it tends to grow in shady places at the edges of woods or by hedges. Whether it's a weed or not depends on whether it's growing where you want it or at least tolerate it in your garden. From a wildlife point of view it isn't a weed - it's a food plant for the orange tip butterfly, one of the earliest butterflies to emerge in the the spring.  The photo shows a male.  The females' wing tips look grey. Another butterfly which feeds on it is the green-veined white Read more about these butterflies by visiting https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies As you might guess from the name, humans eat it as well.  The leaves can be used in salads and for making pesto, or as flavouring for fish or meat.  I've never tried them but leav...
Read more