Indoor Gardening

Hassle Free Watering

Watering indoor plants is certainly no epic endeavor, but just like any other maintenance item around the house, it’s an easy task to defer until tomorrow. One day becomes two, then three, then a week or even more. And while that may not be the downfall of your average Croton or Snake Plant, inadequate watering of edible plants can have a tremendous impact on the quantity and quality of their output. Procrastination isn’t the only threat though, there’s also that well-earned vacation you want to take or that business-trip you’ve been dreading.

You can certainly give your green-thumbed neighbor the garage door code and ask them to stop in once every couple of days, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a bit more freedom and not be forced to rely on someone else? I certainly think so! Fortunately, there are a number of tools available to automate indoor irrigation that I’d generally classify into three categories: 1) Passive, 2) Electrical and 3) Mechanical.

Passive systems rely on natural forces such as gravity or wicking. Although they are the least precise of the three categories, they’re also the simplest, cheapest and easiest to implement. In a gravity-fed system, a reservoir or container is placed above the plant’s grow medium and allowed to drain down to the plant’s roots. This can be accomplished with irrigation tubing and drippers above the soil’s surface, but most commonly it takes the form of a full water bottle turned upside down and attached to a stake placed in the soil. As the soil dries, water is released. Wicking systems, on the other hand, work in opposition to gravity by placing water in a container below the plant. Absorbent material such as rope connects the soil above to the water below. A force known as capillary action allows water to pass up through the rope, rehydrating the soil as it dries.

Electrical systems offer a high level of precision but can often be quite expensive and susceptible to failure, especially in the event of

a power outage. An electric pump pressurizes water, forcing it out of a reservoir through irrigation tubing, eventually being released from drippers that control the flow. The system can either run continuously or periodically by connecting the pump to an electrical timer. In either scenario, faulty drippers, timers or pumps have the potential to either overwater or underwater your plants.

Mechanical systems use a combination of natural forces and valves that open or close based on outside forces, other than electricity. Not only do these systems avoid the risks presented by power outages, but they also do a great job of watering only when needed. A reservoir filled with water is placed slightly higher than the plant it’s intended to supply with irrigation lines or tubes leading from the tank to the soil. At the end of each irrigation line is a mechanical valve that’s influenced to open or close based on the level of saturation in the soil. One common valve made of ceramic is placed in the soil and shrinks as it dries out, causing it to open. After the surround-

ing soil is thoroughly saturated, it too rehydrates and expands to close the flow. Another valve uses a float connected to the base of each plant’s container. After the soil is fully saturated, the float rests atop a small pool of water. As the soil dries, the float follows the drying water until it reaches a specified point, opening a valve and flooding the soil back up to full saturation.

Whichever system you choose, the size of bottle, container or reservoir holding your water has the potential to limit how long your plants can be left unattended. One way to overcome this constraint is by connecting the cold-water lines in your house directly to your irrigation setup. Tap water is piped into your reservoir, where a float valve controls its flow. When the floating bobber sinks too low, the valve opens, allowing fresh water to refill the tank. Once it reaches the proper level, the valve closes, shutting off the flow. By refilling the reservoir, as opposed to routing the tap water directly to your plants, you provide a staging area where fertilizers and pH balancing

solution can be added prior to delivery. You also minimize the risk that a faulty valve sends highly pressurized water streaming into every single plant’s container. If the float valve becomes stuck open, flooding will only occur directly at the reservoir. A best practice would be to place your reservoir in an area with a floor drain nearby. Personally, I also use a flood sensor connected to my home security system to receive alerts if I have an accidental water mishap.

Automated watering may also involve a combination of the three methods. As an example, if a reservoir can’t be placed higher than your plants, a water pump can be set to continuously pressurize water through the irrigation lines and mechanical valves at the end of each line can be set to only allow that water to reach the soil when it’s needed.

JASON MISPAGEL Indoor Gardener

Jason Mispagel is the co-owner and operator of Year-Round Garden, a grower’s supply center serving both home and commercial customers since 2016. To contact Jason, call 816-216-6917 or jason@year-roundgarden.com.

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