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Going away for the weekend and am having a tough time finding someone who will be around to water my potted plants... mainly tomatoes and peppers. I live in Atlanta and the forecast is calling for temps in the low 90's and no rain all weekend.
I was thinking I could water them heavily right before I go and move them to a spot near some trees that only gets about 4 hours of sun per day. Figure this might hlep to keep them from drying out too bad while I'm gone. Is this a good idea? Should I move them to a completely shaded area?
I'd move them to the shady spot AND get some small plastic bottles, (water bottles are a good size) take the lid off, cut the bottom out of the bottle, push the bottle upside down into the potting mix so the neck is buried then pour water into the hole you've made in the bottom of the bottle. That should give your plants more than enough water to survive the weekend on their own. Water crystals will help too.
When I left my home for 2 week stay in CT from Florida we placed all ( 10 ) plants in shaded area and rigged electric lawn sprinkler timer which comes on for 7 minutes every day,works fine.
I use empty 2 liter bottles or 16oz bottles.
I take a push pin and make ONE hole in the bottom. The I fill up the bottles and screw on the cap. The day I leave, right before I go, I water real good and place a couple bottles in each pot. Then I unscrew the caps a little bit until the water barely trickles out. It works OK. I use it mostly for houseplants. I would definitely move your pots to shade and mulch them.
Going away for the weekend and am having a tough time finding someone who will be around to water my potted plants... mainly tomatoes and peppers. I live in Atlanta and the forecast is calling for temps in the low 90's and no rain all weekend.
I was thinking I could water them heavily right before I go and move them to a spot near some trees that only gets about 4 hours of sun per day. Figure this might hlep to keep them from drying out too bad while I'm gone. Is this a good idea? Should I move them to a completely shaded area?
Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!
Hi NYCtotheATL,
I use 5 gal containers and most are self watering but not all of them. You can also wick with burlap and a gallon jug. Just take a tomato stake and lay it across the pots. Thread in the gallon jugs between the pots which should sit hang with the tops level with the top of the container. It can be done 4 at a time. Stick one end of the burlap in the water and the other in the soil.
I experimented with this last year as proof of concept(that includes upside down proof of concept). Coco liners are known to dry out quickly and need to be watered every day. This lasted to the third day. Its not my preferred method but its doable.
Self watering using a build in reservoir is certainly preferable.
Lastly, Harbor Freight has a cheap $25 irrigation system which I have available to use for the hanging pots, though when I am home and have available rain water I don't run it.
Those watering bulbs are cool...fill 'em with water, stab 'em into the soil...you're good for a few days.
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Water crystals will help too. 
Hope it works out well for you. 
