Do-it-yourself automatic watering systems for indoor plants. Smart indoor watering system for winter garden

Are you going on vacation? Automatic watering for indoor plants- This lovely way take care of them without bothering strangers (and without worrying that they might forget about the request). Autowatering is also popular with owners of large collections of flowers: it can be difficult to water them manually every time. Finally, the automatic watering system for indoor plants is useful both at home for very busy people and in offices, especially when there is no permanent “responsible” for flowers. In this article, we will consider different types automatic watering and figure out how to make this or that device.

Irrigation of flowers with drops is quite simple and reliable way watering in the absence of owners. For this, a regular plastic bottle is suitable. You need to make small holes in its lid, then fill the bottle with water, attach a mesh to the neck (so that the water does not flow out too quickly) and tighten the lid. Then the bottle can be stuck directly into the soil or placed in a pot with a lid down. The volume of the bottle should be directly proportional to the size of the flower pot. The bottom of the bottle can be cut off to make a funnel. Some automated water sprinklers work on this principle.

Wick system

Simple do-it-yourself automatic watering of plantsis to create "wicks", that is, cords, one end immersed inflower pots , others - in a container of water. And the cord can be attached to soil surface (using a peg or hairpin), and place it in a pot in advance, passing it through a hole in the bottom when planting. The "bottom" way is good for colors requiring a light substrate, such as violets. It is often used by breeders of these home flowers . Pots can be supplied with such cords in advance, if the owners periodically leave for a long time.

O note that you will still need it if you periodically water the plant in the usual way, if you intend to use only the lower wick irrigation, drainage is not needed. For therefore, only synthetic cords are suitable, since ropes made of natural materials quickly begin to rot and break. Such a system requires "configuration": hThe higher the water container is located relative to the pot, the faster moisture will seep through. Thus, you can pre-adjust the appropriate watering intensity for a particular plant.

Hydrogel and granular clay

Watering indoor flowers during the holidays can be provided with a hydrogel or special granular clay, which can be easily found in flower shops.

They quickly absorb moisture and then gradually give it to the plant. Pick up a large enough pot, fill it with a layer of hydrogel or clay, then place the plant on top. At the same time, the roots of domestic plants should remain in an earthen coma, as during transshipment.

Then fill the remaining space between the ground and the walls of the pot with the rest of the product and cover its surface with polyethylene. This method can be used for a relatively long period, especially since it is often not worth tormenting the plant with transplants. If necessary - if the hydrogel or clay begins to dry out - you can add water to the pot.

Droppers

With do automatic wateringcan be from a medical dropper.You will need one for each pot.Check all the tubes by blowing, then fasten them together without pinching, and attach to the weighting so that they do not float. Then, as in the wick system, one end of each dropper must be placed in a flower pot, and the other in a container of water of the appropriate volume. It must be placed above the pots, for example, in . Finally, open the drippers by setting the slow mode. By the way, create and configure flower pot with automatic wateringcan be done with a controller arduino: such a "smart pot" » may include dispenser , soil moisture control, indicator water level in the tank, etc.

a rduino quite easy to use and gives many options for flower carenot only during the absence of the owners, butand in Everyday life . In order to construct an automatic watering device using arduino, can often be dispensed with skill ov programming and circuitry:There are plenty of tutorials on the net,describing everything from the first step. AT in many cases, you can even do without soldering. Made with arduino gadgets can make life much easier for a flower loveror someone who breeds them professionally.

cones

Can be purchased the simplest and at the same time a bright and original sprinkler - a cone on a leg. They are different forms: in the form of balls, birds, snails, etc., can be transparent or decorated mi bright prints. Usually made of plastic.

The irrigation system is simple. Before as leave, you fill the flask with water and stick the stem into the ground. When the earth begins to dry out, oxygen enters the leg and pushes out water, which moistens the earth.Thus, water flows in only as the soil dries out, without flooding it. M many flower growers fell in love with such a sprinkler and that she serves excellent interior.

Capillary mats

Automatic watering of your indoor plants can be carried out using a special mat made of highly hygroscopic materials. Flowers in pots with a bottom hole are placed on such a rug, after which one end is immersed in water. Convenient when bundled with mats t two pallets. Water is poured into the large (outer) one, then a small one with holes at the bottom is placed in it.

A rug is laid on top and flowers are already placed on it. Thus , do-it-yourself automatic watering system for indoor plantsor purchased from a store will help your green pets it is easy to survive your absence for several days or longer . As you can see, there can be a lot of options - from a simple watering cone to smart pot made with and ruino.

Video "Drip watering plants"

In this video you will hear helpful tips to create an automatic watering system at home.

Worried about your indoor flowers and worrying about vacations, long stays away from home? If you do not want to leave the apartment in the care of relatives or neighbors, an automatic watering system for house plants will help solve the problem. Find out what it is and how you can organize a sprinkler on your own.

How to choose automatic watering for indoor plants

If you know in advance that you will have to be absent for some time, do a few things to keep the plants as moist as possible. In a few weeks, it is worth canceling all top dressing, you can cut the buds and flowers. It is important to reduce the illumination: remove the plants from the windowsill or curtain the windows. In parallel, choose the method of automatic watering that suits your conditions.

Flower pots with automatic watering

Sold in stores, designed for automatic subsurface irrigation. They work on the principle of capillary raising of liquid to the roots. They are called smart pots, automatic planters and so on. In fact, they are a double vessel equipped with a reservoir, a separator barrier, and a special liquid level indicator. A plant is planted in one pot, water for a flower is poured into another. Water percolates slowly, evenly, penetrates into the soil as it dries.

The plant, thanks to such a system, consumes as much fluid as it needs for full growth and development. Excessive moisture, acidification of the soil, the influence of extraneous factors are excluded. The disadvantage of a self-irrigating pot is that it is effective only if the plant is an adult, has a well-developed root system. Otherwise, the flower will not be able to draw moisture. If the plant has been recently planted in a pot with an automatic watering system, it will have to be watered in the classical way for the first few months.

Automatic watering of flowers with ceramic cones

Often flower growers use these simple designs, which includes a cone and plastic tubes. "Carrots" are stuck in an earthen clod, and the free part is placed in a tank of water. There is no need to control the process of supplying liquid - it comes after the soil dries under pressure from the vessel. Similar automatic watering systems for indoor plants are produced by Archimedes, Weninger, Brigadier Werkzeuge, etc.

Ceramic cones are reliable, differ high quality but have minor flaws. In some cases it does not form the right pressure, the flowers do not receive water, and you have to look for appropriate place for water container. If you set the tank very high, you can fill the plant and destroy it, if it is low, there is a risk of drying out the earth in a pot.

Micro-drip automatic watering system for indoor plants

It is convenient to use if the grower has a large collection of plants located in the same room (balcony, loggia), greenhouse. The microdroplet system is connected to central water supply, works at the specified time thanks to a special timer. For premises small size, medium-sized greenhouses can use options with a tank.

Among flower growers, the AquaPod 5 automatic drip irrigation system is popular (price - about 2000 rubles). Its main component is a barrel, from which 5 thin tubes come out with droppers at the ends. The system is connected to the water supply using a hose with a diameter of 4 mm. If you choose such automatic watering for indoor plants, keep in mind that it is not suitable for flowers with a delicate root system, such as orchids.

Autowatering for flowers with enema balls

Multi-colored cones-balls invented domestic producers especially so that people can go on vacation with a calm heart. They are practical, comfortable, look beautiful and serve as an additional interior decoration. In order for the balls to start working, they must be filled with water, inserted with a thin leg into the ground. When the earth begins to dry out, water is released under the influence of oxygen entering the tube. These devices are affordable, but inferior in reliability to other systems: they can dose liquid poorly.

Prices for automatic watering for indoor plants

To choose for yourself best option, read the overview of automatic irrigation systems of well-known manufacturers and approximate prices:

1. Blumat. The manufacturer produces droppers for automatic watering of plants that work without batteries and electricity. The cost of one drip drinker is about 300-340 rubles.
2. Idris. Simple drip devices production Claber with a clear principle of operation. Ideal for watering large plants. The price of the device is 800-900 rubles.
3. gardena. The company produces several kits for automatic watering plants. Prices range from 7900 to 11300 rubles.
4. Oasis. A well-known autonomous system that does not require connection to water supply and electricity. Prices start from 8000 rubles.

How to make automatic watering of indoor plants with your own hands

To avoid the death of home flowers during a vacation or a long trip, it is not necessary to purchase expensive automatic drinkers. You can remember the old "grandfather" ways, for example, put the pots in a basin of water or place jars of water next to the plants to humidify the air. Another well-known method of automatic watering for indoor plants is to twist a piece of cloth, gauze into a tube, immerse one end in the ground, the other in water. Check out other more aesthetic methods.

Automatic watering of plants with wicks

To build such an auto-watering can, during planting or transplanting a plant, you need:

1. Make a wick: take a thick rope, a piece of bandage, twist, leave one end on the drainage layer, lower the other into a tank of water. If necessary, moisture rises to the roots and saturates and nourishes them.
2. For the wick, you can use cotton fabric, woolen threads.

How to make automatic watering from a plastic bottle

A very simple way is to use the usual plastic bottle. For one medium-sized pot, 1 dish is enough, for large tubs, several pieces are needed. The method is simple, hassle-free, if the stability of the bottle is ensured. You need to do the following:

• take a whole bottle;
• perforate the lid;
• cut the bottom
• fill the container with water;
• insert the bottle into the ground with the cap down so that it stands as evenly as possible.

Drip watering flowers

Do-it-yourself auto-watering can be done using medical droppers. Their number should be equal to the number of pots. Technology:

1. Remove the needles, fasten the droppers together, weight the ends.
2. After that, you need to take some container from water, fill it, place droppers there.
3. The other end of the droppers must be placed in the ground, slightly open the regulator.
4. The drinker should be tested prior to travel to ensure that the houseplant is provided with the correct amount of water.

Video: do-it-yourself watering machine for flowers

For suburban areas. All of them supply water directly to the root zone of plants. drip method. The amount of water supplied and the regularity of supply can be dosed in all proposed systems. Similar devices are manufactured by companies from different countries, For example gardena(Germany), Brigadier Werkzeuge(Switzerland), Hozelock(United Kingdom), Elgo(Israel), Uniflex(Italy), Weninger(Austria), "Costa Blanca" (Russia). In order to be the best suited for you, you must first decide whether it will be operated on an ongoing basis or as a "lifesaver". The second important question is whether you are ready to connect the system to the mains and / or water supply in your absence.

Consider, for example, automatic system drip irrigation for potted plants Hozelock AquaPod 5 (United Kingdom). It is designed for both holiday watering and permanent use. hose with a diameter of 4 mm (10 m); adapter for connecting a hose to a faucet; additional adapters for 1/2 and 3/4 inches; pegs-holders (5 pcs.). This complete set allows to water up to five trays with plants. In each tray with compiled in it flower pots place one or more droppers, adjusting the water supply to the needs of the flowers. Watering if necessary large quantity colors, you can buy another set and build up the system. The number of droppers connected to the pallets depends on the needs of the flowers. For moisture-loving - more, for less demanding - less. The main difficulty when connecting to the water supply is predetermined, limiting the distance from the tap to the plants. You can add a timer to the system, which will turn it on at specified intervals.

But many prefer to shut off the water supply during their absence. In this case, the solution may be a system that does not require a connection to the water supply. Such systems are in many ways similar to those described above. AquaPod, only a container with water acts as a source of water. The volume of the water tank is different. In systems designed for watering "during the long weekend", they are the smallest, only 5 liters. A very small number of plants can be watered with this amount of water for only two to three days, so most manufacturers offer larger tanks. The second point that systems with an autonomous water tank differ from each other is the method of supplying water: by gravity or with the help of. The advantage of gravity, first of all, is that they do not require a connection to the network, it is enough to place a tank of water above the level of flower pots.

An example of a pump system is drip irrigation for potted plants. Gardena 1266 (Germany). The package includes a transformer with a timer; filter pump; 3 distributors with 12 outputs; (9 m); capillary tubes (total length - 30 m); pegs-holders (36 pcs.); end caps (20 pcs.); 9 liter water tank with lid. It can be used to water up to 36 plants daily for 1 minute at a time. The pump is turned off using the timer built into the transformer. Water consumption depends on the distributor through which watering is carried out. The kit includes three types: light gray (15 ml/min), gray (30 ml/min), dark gray (60 ml/min). When all droppers are used at full capacity, the system consumes 1.3 liters of water per day. By varying the number and diameter of the distributors, it is possible to provide the plant with 15 to 160 ml of water per day. If autonomous watering is required for more than seven days with maximum load system, when all 36 points are involved, you can use not the 9-liter tank included in the delivery, but larger-capacity dishes (not included with the system, any desired volume will do). If the number of plants requiring watering is less than the number of droppers, the extra ones can be covered with special plugs without disassembling the entire system. Not scary and a temporary power outage. As soon as it appears again, the system will return to work from the beginning of the program (daily watering of plants for one minute). The problem can arise only with repeated during the day: the plants will receive an irrigation portion of several days at once. In addition, the pump does not provide protection against "dry running". If the water tank is empty, it will continue to work "idle".

Therefore, it may be better to prefer completely autonomous system drip irrigation, for example G.F. AquaGenius (Italy). It consists of a water container with a lid (volume - 18 l); holders (16 pieces); plugs (20 pcs.); filter; a set of hoses; hose clamp. All that is required for normal operation system is to put the tank above the level. In this case, she is able to water up to 16 plants for up to 18 days, providing each with a serving of 15 to 120 ml per day, depending on how many drippers you have connected to the pot. The water consumption in all of them is the same.

The Austrian system can play the same role Tropf Blumat (Weninger ), originally intended by the manufacturer for watering flower beds, greenhouses and balcony flower boxes. When connected to the water supply, it allows you to water up to 500 plants at the same time. The kit includes a main hose, tees for connection, a mortise connector, through-port connectors, a pressure reducing reducer for connecting to a water supply system, ceramic cones Blumat, droppers. Ceramic cones act as soil moisture sensors, allowing plants to choose the irrigation mode themselves, which distinguishes the system from analogues in which the amount of water supplied is set during installation for the entire period of operation.

To use the system at home, a pressure reducer is not needed. A mortise connector must be put on the hose and lowered into a container of water of such volume that it is enough for the time of the expected absence. In each pot, it is necessary to install, after filling it with water, a ceramic cone, which plays the role touch sensor. In its cap is a membrane-drive for clamping drip hose. Attach to each cone using pieces of hose required amount droppers, depending on the size of the pot. All pots are connected in common network with hoses.

As soon as the earth dries out, the water level in the ceramic cone drops, the membrane goes down and stops compressing the hose - moisture begins to flow. And not only through the walls of the cone, but also from droppers located along the perimeter.
As soon as the soil becomes sufficiently wet, the membrane rises again, pinching the hose again - watering stops. Sensor cones are available in two sizes - 11 cm high (for pots less than 8 liters) and 30 cm high (for pots over 8 liters).