Thread: New bulbs. Switching it up, but what's better?

yeaaaaa. idk about the goin away for 2 weeks thing.. thats gonna be tough.. you dont have anyone who could look after them?? or anywhere you could bring them?? like a friends house?? Hmmmmm.. idk. i wouldnt just kill them now tho.. fuck it. just set up your self watering system.. and give it your best shot.. i mean im sure theres a chance they'll survive. probably not a big chance but it is possible.. do you have one of those aqua globe things??? my mom uses them for her plants and sais they worl good.. as long as you make a hole in the dirt before you stick it in.. or the bottom will get all filled up with dirt...

its gonna be funny tho.. cuz 2 weeks is a pretty long time.. when you get back theyre gona look friggin huge!! because they gona grow a pretty good amount.. good luck with that tho.. i might try to ask around.. see if anyone has done anything like that (leave for 2 weeks and have their plants live) and see hoe they did it.. ill let ya know if i find anytjhing out

ok.. heyy i think i found something for ya... ive been lookin around google and stuff like that for ya.. and ive found a couple idea that might work for you...

the 1st one was to get an empty milk jug (maybe even 2) or you could probably use a 2 liter soda bottle (or maybe 2).. and take like a safety pin... or a sewing needle.. or a tac. something you can poke very small holes with.. and start poking some holes in the bottom of the bottle(s)/jug(s)... and just fill it up with water (watever water you usually water with)..... just realized tho that you have more than 1 plant right...?? well if you do then you should probly use the smaller soda bottles.. or basically anything you can find thats small enough that you can place in your pot. =-) im not sure how long it will last fpor.. but its better than nothing.....

i saw another kid say that he got a plastic baggie (with a zipper) and put a whole bunch of ice cubed in it.. and poked holes in the bag and left it in the pot.. but i was thinking if you were gonna do something like this.. you would be better off just filling up a bag with water.. and sticking it in your freezer and freez the whole thing... and then poke holes in it and place it in your soil.....

another quick and simple way was to go to the store.. and get some of those moisture crystals that are supposed to hold in and lock in moisture.. and put alot of them in your soil... and water the hell out of it.. ( i dont really think its a good idea.. but im just giving you all the ideas i found )

another thing was the "wick" method...?? ill be honest,, i dont get "exactly" how this works.. but i have an idea.. im sure you can figure it out as well... but its something like... you take a soda bottle and cut the top of it off.. (not sure exactly how much) and you fill that up with water.. and then get some kind of like.. cotton..?? maybe a whole bunch of cotton balls.. and make some kinda of a wick out of it.. basically.. you put one end in the soda bottle ( or any other type of bottle you want to use ) and then place the other end in your soil.. and its supposed to suck up water wen it needs it... someone said that they used their 100% cotton T-Shirt.. and cut a long strip of it off.. and put one end in the soda bottle.. and then the other end in the soil.. one thing youll have to remember is that wen you put it in the soda bottle.. make sure it goes down to the bottom.. or as close as you can get it so that wen the water runs low.. your t shirt or cotton will still be able to soak it up...

another method.. is that you get some kind of container.. maybe a milk jug again... and fill it up with water.. and get a cotton t-shirt.. cut some of it off (the amount depends on how much water you have and how big the container is) and place the t-shirt in the contaier.. soo it soaks up all the water.. and then place you pot in the container with the water and t-shirt.. and it should soak it up through the bottom...

and yet... ANOTHER method i found.. was to get a soda bottle (probably the smaller ones.. like 20 ounce or w.e. they are) fill that up with water... ok.. now when i say this method.. they said to use your cap.. and make an imprint in your soil.. as deep as the cap it.. if that makes sense.. basically so that if you put the cap in the.. it would lay flush with the soil... (take the cap out of the soil.. and DONT put it back on the soda bottle.. just leave it somewhere) and then it sais to tilt you whole plant/pot to the side.. and place the soda bottle (without the cap on) upside down in the whole... almost like an aqua globe.. just with a soda bottle instead.. not sure how long that would last tho.. soo you might want to use 2 per pot/plant... but if i was to do that.. i think i would just poke some holes in the cap.. some pretty descent sized ones.. maybe like the size of a BB for a BB guns.. and place the bottle upside down that way.. because in my opinion.. i think there would be too much water coming out if you do it without the cap on.... =-/

and another method......... (this one is actually my OWN idea i just came up with on my own... =-D soo im taking ALL the credit for this one.. hahah... ) lol..ok.. sooo basically with this method.. you will need a........ come on.. you can guess what it is......??? your right... a SODA BOTTLE!!! or a..... MILK JUG!!!! with this method you will probably want a 2 liter soda bottle or a Gallon milk jug... pretty much with this method.. the bigger the better.. soo you will want to fill up wateva container you decide to use.. soda bottle or milk jug.. and get some type of tubing.. i would use one from a fish tank filter.. you can get them pretty cheap at the pet store... and then.. you will want to get a pen/pencil lead pencil (without any lead) would work best soo you dont get any lead or pen ink in your soil... then use the pen/pencil to dig a small hole in your soil.. maybe 1 inch deep.. then.. place one end of the tube in the soda bottle/milk jug.. and put it down as far as you can get it...also... you will want the jug/bottle to be up a little bit higher than your pot/container with your plant in it.. soo you may need to put a stack of DVD's or magazines down and put the bottle/jug on top of them..... then put the other end of the tube in your mouth.. and suck just enough to get the water close enough to your mouth.. and then take it out of your mouth.. place your finger over the hole.. soo it doesnt spill out everywhere.. and QUICKLY put that end in the hole you made with the pen/pencil..... you might want to put a little extra soil around the tube.. to make sure it doesnt come out of the soil.. or you may even need to dig the hole a little deeper if it doesnt work.. ive never done it before soo im not sure exactly how deep you will need to put the tube....

Phewwwwwwww... lol. ok... well thats all the ideas i found for ya.. in my opinion.. i think the last one (MY idea of course.. ) lol.. would probably work the best.. and like i said you could use a big ass container.. which would probably last the whole two weeks.. maybe even more.. if you have cats.. a cat litter jug holds about 2 gallons of water. well most of them anywayz...

if i was you i would try the last one out like right now.. and just test it out and see if it keeps them moist enough.. that way you can tell if its safe enough to leave it for 2 weeks. i think it will be fine. it should only take water wen it needs it. and you could even get 1 giant container.. like a big gian bucket.. or.. idk.. basically the biggest thing in your house you can find that will hold water. lol. and then.. say you have 3 plants.. get 3 tubes.. and put them all in the same bucket.. and water all 3 from the one bucket...

ok. ok. im gonna stop now.. lol. i hope this helpes.. even a little bit!! an dif you end uyp using one of these idea.. lemme know how it works.. just in case i ever need to do it. lol. Good Luck!!!

Originally Posted by greenarmy

Woah, haha. Thanks for all the info. Shit. I agree with your last method, works like a syphon. When water gets below a certain level, more water will flow out? Kinda of like a cat watering system with the soda bottle upside down (holes in the cap sounds like a better idea-agreed).

The wicking system is similar to the design I found and posted. Sucks up water when the plant dries out. Maybe I could incorporate both designs... hmm.

I dont think the ice idea would last to long, and the roots might not like the ice so much.

Gonna have to do some tests to make sure something works before I leave.

I'll keep you all posted on how the project goes and what happens after I get back :0 (assuming my landlord dosent get to nosey..)

Much thanks for the research!

GreenArmy

yup. Nooo problem.. yeaa wen i smoke. i tend yo ramble on a little bit. lol... maybe a little too much..

but yeaaa the wick idea seems good.. and the syphon one too.. but like you said if you can put both ideas together.. that would be awsome.. and yeaaa the ice idea... didnt think it was a good idea.. but i figured id just throw it in there for the hell of it. lol

but yea i would deff try them out before you go so you can perfect it for before you go.. deff lemme know what you end up doin... and when you get back.. let us know if they survived!!