Holiday Watering by Andy Peasgood

Recently, my family and I took a break in France which was exciting, relaxing, and needed. Before going away however, I could not help but worry about the watering of my tomato and sweet pepper plants. In particular my tomato plants which require regular watering as too little can result in a smaller, nutrient deficient crop and too much can cause the skin to split.

For context, I have two raised vegetable beds which I installed tomato grow houses over and these serve as a home to my tomato and sweet pepper plants. They are cheap, effective and provide a reliable solution to season long cover when you do not have a greenhouse. It has worked fantastically, and we now have tomatoes ripening and sweet pepper plants flowering.

To bring us back on topic, I did not want any issues occurring whilst I was away due to a lack of watering. Cue, slow drip watering devices.

I landed on slow drip watering devices as I have no irrigation system but more-so, working on a budget, these fit my criteria.

Are they worth it or are they a gimmick product? We will revisit this question at the end.

After searching through images and product descriptions it was clear that there is not a difference in quality when spending under £20, as such, I ordered a pack that had reviewed well and cost me £12.

When they arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. The material used was sturdy, which gave me confidence that these will stay with me for some time. As well as this, they were simple to use. Tighten the nozzle, insert it into a bottle, insert into the soil next to the plant and loosen the nozzle until you have your desired drip speed.

It is simple usage, however there are two major caveats. The first is that these slow drip feeders generally require a single use plastic bottle. It is unfortunate but we can give these bottles a second purpose by reusing any you have already. In-between slow drip watering, give it a thorough clean with warm water and store away for next time. The second caveat is that under no circumstances will these devices stand straight upright with a bottle of water attached without falling over. Instinct would be to push the device further into the soil, but this will only bury the tap and nozzle. There is a simple fix to this though which is to use an item many gardeners will have laying around the garden, a cane.

I plunged the cane next to the plant until it was secure and could take horizontal pressure from my hand. I placed the bottle and slow drip device next to the cane at the desired height and angle, finally taping the bottle to the cane. This created a very secure set up and with each plant having an individual slow drip device, I easily adjusted the nozzle to achieve the desired drip speed and left them be.

We were departing for our holiday the next day and I was concerned that all the water would seep out of the devices through the night. To my surprise the following morning, each bottle had released the desired amount. Was it a success? I would only know when I returned home.

Back in Scotland, I am standing in front of my tomato plants which have an increased number of trusses and my sweet pepper plants are looking strong and healthy.

So, to answer my previous question, ‘Are they worth it or are they a gimmick product?’ The answer is it does not matter if one deems the product to be a gimmick or not as they worked successfully!

There you have it. Raised vegetable beds can drain quickly and these slow drip watering devices took care of that issue whilst I was away. So, if you are concerned about watering while you are away and do not have an irrigation system, then why not try a little experiment with this solution and see how you get on.