With summer on the horizon and vacation plans in full swing, the perennial question for plant lovers remains: how to water your plants during a prolonged absence? This concern is even more pressing when temperatures are higher than at other times of the year.
The Watering Gel: What Is It?
Upside-down bottles, drip irrigation, oyas… There are several ways to water outdoor plants or houseplants when you have to be away or simply don’t think about it. Some options work better for the garden, others for the vegetable patch, potted plants and window boxes, or indoor plants. One method remains less well known, but deserves more attention: watering gel.
Watering gel is the ideal product for keeping your plants hydrated while you’re on vacation, but it’s not limited to that. When it’s hot, this watering technique also helps provide the moisture plants need to prevent any risk of drought.
The principle is simple: placed in contact with the soil, this hydro-retentive gel will gradually degrade to deliver hydration to the substrate. It’s possible to water your plants for about two weeks. While the watering isn’t extremely intense, the watering gel will keep your plants alive in your absence or during heat waves.
How does it work? Just remember to water your plants generously right before you leave, then lay the watering gel on the soil at the base of your plant. Depending on the heat, it will gradually disintegrate to prevent fatal drought. Garden lovers can thus head off on vacation with peace of mind!
How to Make Watering Gel?
You can buy watering gel, but you can also make it yourself, a solution that proves to be more economical. So how do you make watering gel? Very simply! Here are the ingredients and tools you’ll need to prepare about a half-liter of watering gel:
- A container of about 500 ml
- About 2 grams of agar-agar (a gelling algae) or 4 sheets of food-grade gelatin
- A flexible muffin mold or silicone ice-cube tray
- 375 ml of hot water
Mix the hot water and agar-agar in the container. Pour this mixture into the flexible mold and let the whole thing rest for about 4 hours in the refrigerator.
Your watering gel is ready! All that remains is to place the necessary amount at the base of your plants, depending on their size.
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