Ashford Allotments
  • WELCOME
    • About this website
  • NEWS and What's On
  • SEASONAL STUFF for this part of Kent
  • HOW DO I GET AN ALLOTMENT?
  • YOUR NEW ALLOTMENT
  • TRADING STORE and the bulk buying scheme
  • TOUR OF THE ALLOTMENT SITES
  • ADVICE AND INFORMATION
  • FRUIT & VEG A - Z gardener's notebook
  • SWAP SHOP: free stuff, stuff wanted etc
  • GROWERS CLINIC - your problems.
  • USEFUL LINKS & ADDRESSES
  • ALLOTMENT ORGANISATIONS
  • Ashford Borough Council
  • CONTACT
  • SUMMER SHOW 2015
    • Tips for showing
  • SUMMER SHOW REPORT 2014
    • SUMMER SHOW 2014
    • PRIZES FOR THE 2014 SHOW
    • "Best Plots" competition 2014
  • Other local allotments

Going on holiday? Then you need capillary matting!

31/5/2014

0 Comments

 
Even if it's only a few days away, at this time of year looking after plants in containers or young stuff in pots can be a real worry. Will the person who promised to look after them remember? Or will they over water them?

Capillary matting is cheap and easy, the professional's choice for ensuring a steady supply of water. Often used to cover greenhouse benches, can be a godsend. There are several ways you can use it to create a 'self watering' system to keep your plants moist.

Set up a bench, ideally in the shade, either in the greenhouse or outside, covered with waterproof fabric (a sheet of polythene will do fine). Cover it with capillary matting. Get a big bucket, fill it with water and place it on the bench. Now cut a long strip of the matting and weight one end down at the bottom of the bucket of water. Lead it up and out of the bucket, down the side and then tucking the other end of the matting strip securely under the main sheet of mat on your bench. Water will soak up the strip and into the main sheet, as long as the end of the strip is under water.

Your plants can then be placed on the capillary matting, where the moisture will wick up into the pots. The bottom of the pots will need to be in direct contact with the mat (no seed tray in between) and they will need to be filled with compost right to the bottom - no layer of crocks. Clay pots need a single crock to cover the hole of course, but otherwise the water will wick up through the absorbent clay.

A leaky plastic bucket, with a small hole pierced in the bottom, will do the job even better!

Your kindly carer will just have to top up the bucket every few days
if you are away for a long break. For a few days to a week, this will do the job all by itself!

In the house, lay a sheet of capillary matting in the bottom of the bath - PLUG OUT! - and leave the cold tap gently dripping onto the matting. The bath will need a good clean when you get back but all your houseplants will be happy as anything. But remember - remove all saucers and make sure the bottom of the pot is in direct contact with the mat!

Capillary matting of a luxurious thickness is available from the Trading Store at just £1 per square metre.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Kent's climate is drier, hotter and has a longer growing season than the average for the UK. Advice in gardening books may not fit Kent. This blog has local tips on what will grow and when to do garden jobs.

    SEND YOUR SEASONAL SUGGESTIONS IN BY USING OUR ONLINE POSTBOX 

    Our postbox

    Archives

    December 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    Categories

    All
    Asparagus
    Beetroot
    Blackcurrants
    Cabbage Family
    Cabbage Family
    Carrots
    Courgettes
    Cucumbers
    Currants
    Diseases
    Flooding
    Flowers
    Fruit Bushes
    Garlic
    Gooseberries
    Greenhouse
    Leeks
    Marrows
    Onions
    Parsnips
    Peas And Beans
    Peppers
    Plants For Free
    Potatoes
    Propagating
    Raspberries
    Rhubarb
    Salads
    Seedlings
    Seeds
    Shallots
    Soft Fruit
    Soil Preparation
    Squash
    Storing Produce
    Swede
    Sweet Peas
    Tomatoes
    Watering
    Weather
    Weed Control
    Winter Squash

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.