Ok, here is the deal. I am going on vacation in a month for a week. I have about 30 or so figs in various 3,5,10 gallon pots. I have three in Bills SIP barrells and I went totally crazy this past winter and I have maybe 100+ new cuttings in 1 gallon pots. I am going to really try hard clear out al the duplicates and get down to 75 or so. It is possible in a a few weeks some of them could be in 2 or 3 gallon pots. I am going through now and uppotting anyihing that looks like it needs it.

 I am looking to see if I can build a simple irrigation system or drip system or something to realiably water everything. Even better if there is a kit out there! I will be keeping everything in a in a straight line a long a fence. Last year I tried a soaker hose and it didn't work. I was saved by three days of down pour. My last option is asking a neighbor who I trust won't just blow it off, but you know nobody takes care of your stuff the way you would... Any advice or suggestions or if you can point me to some information to build something would be greatly appreciated.

Here is something I was looking at, but I don't know if a drip system is what I want for large pots.

http://www.dripdepot.com/125

I was thinking about the same thing I wondered if you ran a soaker hose  attached to a hose timer and a across the top of the pots and had the water turned down just enough to keep the trees 

I understand your problem, and I have no easy solution.  Some people do a wicking thing, and I have no idea how that wick works.  We actually have a vineyard on a drip system, and the figs in pots go on that when we are gone for a while.  Just the cost of another emitter, like really cheap.  But they are all on a battery operated timer/controller (not cheap), and we set what day, how much, and what time.  If you have that many plants, it might just be worth your sanity to spend the bucks, get a controller and a proper drip system, and enjoy your vacation!
Suzi

What I did for some plants was soak them a day before I left, then watered them again the last second before I walked out the door. But I kept them indoors in my basement. It was cool with bright light. The light they got was not like as if they were outside in full sun but I figured that it be like they had a cool cloudy week. When I came home I put them back outside in the shade for a couple days then reintroduced them back to full sun. No sunburn on the leaves and it didn't seem to really affect them.  

Dave the soaker hose on timer didn't work for me. I used one of those foam ones some spots poured some didn't drip at all. I think it is designed to lay flat on the ground not suspended with high and low spots. 

i have noticed that 1 gal pot with soil mix up to the top will go 1 week without problem at high 80 under the shade. i watered the pots about a week ago, and they still don't need water.

i think they are retaining water.. but the plants look good so..

pete

That is a good point. I am using a different mix of soil this year and I think it holds water a little better then the old mix. I have to admit I have not really given them a chance to see how long they can go. I give them a little bit of water daily plus we have and decent amount of rain. I'm starting to lean towards this basement idea. 

Here is what did. I bought everything online and made my own system. Alot cheaper that way. If you need all the details let me know. Frank


http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/nn202/fespo/Garden%20pics%20before%20big%20dig/0531121457.jpg

Hey 71 take a look at this it might work i see threes 3 holes in each you might be able to close one or two for less water etc i had them in my hand today look well made i just didn't get them cause i don't need them http://www.harborfreight.com/6-piece-watering-cone-set-93182.html

simple drip system..
200 ft 1/2 inch black irrigation tubing.  14.00

Raindrip 1/2 In. Poly Drip Watering Hose, 200 Ft. Coil, Black

Trading? I have a few already punched and everything. You would just need to find a 5/8 connection.

Thanks Guys!

Al, If I did a simple system like that its pretty self-explanatory?

I just poke holes in the 1/2 or larger tube where I want them and feed the little tube to each pot? Is a 1/4 gallon enough a day for larger pots? What would you recommend i do if I try to have the 1 gallon pots on there? I guess I should up pot them in the next few weeks to a 2 or 3 gallon and that might make it a little easier to set up.

Brent, Let me look into this a little more and let you know.  

I used a battery powered control system hooked up from my hose bib.  Got it from home depot.  Hooked that up to the hose bib.   Then, I added a pressure reducer and then an adapter for 1/4 in drp tubing.  I ran the tubing among all the pots that needed watering.  I staked the tubing to the soil with stakes made to hold tubing.  I just poked holes in the black tubing wherever I needed the water to come out.  Btw, the rubber tubing that just exudes water didnt work for me either. The regular black drip tubing works fine.  

I bought a large cheapo blue plastic pool (the kind that toddlers play in) at Walmart, I filled it up about 3/4 full of hose water and a 1/4 cup of fish fertilizer. My vacation was about 1.5 weeks. They were fine, in fact, better looking when I came back :-)

Ohh I stuck two five gallons nursery pots and squeezed in about 10 or 15 gallon pots- when I didn't have enough room, I bought another one (except smaller). 

Thanks guys, I was at lowes yesterday and checked out the drip system stuff. It doesn't look to bad. I think I definetly can set that up and take care of the large pots. The 1 gallon pots I'm still not sure what to do. My wife just extended the trip 3 more days. I was really starting to lean towards giving them a good watering and putting them in the basement since I didn't want to try to hook up an emitter to each one of those small pots. I did see they have emitters that are like sprinklers, but I think even that would be hard to work out since a sprinkler would need to be on longer. I did see .5 gallon emitters. I could hook them up to the large pots and have the system run longer. If these sprinklers put out enough water to hit a all the surrounding pots that should work?

Jennifer, maybe i'm not picturing this right, but if that pool is 3/4 full of water won't a 1 gallon pot be underwater or floating?

Maybe I make a combo and baby pool in the basement with an inch or so of water at the bottom and put that in the basement? That would last I would think.

To change the water amount to the larger pots just change the emitters to a higher gph. for that individual pot. You can get more specific emitters at an irrigation supply house. What ever you set up you need to run tests to make sure there is enough water and not too much.  Allow the emitter to drip into a pail run the system and measure the water output adjust and do it again until the desired amount is achieved. This is not something you want to set up saturday and leave for vac. monday.... Also heal in all the pots and you can leave it run the rest of the summer.

The "Mister Landscaper" option from Lowes is a good system.  I've been using it for 3 years and never had a problem.  I put mine on a timer to run once a day for 30 minutes.  Twice a day in July when its hot for 45 minutes.   With good drainage if you go over, it should drain out the bottom of the pot and not be a problem.  The emitters come in .5, 1, & 2 gph incremements.  The spray stakes which would cover a 10' circle with 10 gph could be used. 

What about incorporating plant gel into your pots?
http://www.seedman.com/plantge.htm

That's a great idea Sara and if he doesn't want to mix it directly into his soil he can put it into a stocking type material and bury it in the pot and then just pull it out when he gets home 

Hello Marcus,

  What if any supplies did you pick up so far. Main line can be 1/2" with the 1/4" lines coming off. If your going to go this way your better off buying the a good hole punch, the one's that are made like pliers kinda. If you try the kind that is like an awl that you manually have to put the holes in, you will regret it. Also make sure that it's a universal one, what I mean is, it can be used for 1/2" and 3/4" plastic pipe. Just in case you change size of piping at a latter date. Or later. Al's right about going with different emiters. A bigger plant will need more water. I would also put this together a week ahead of time, just so you can get a handle on how the timing needs to be set. I would not put them in the basement at this time of growing season, to lose out on 7 to 10 days of good growing time. I knew I'm no expert, but what I do know is, when the growin good get growin.


luke

I didn't buy anything yet. I just looked everything over. The lowes didn't have Any punches like pliers, only awl types. I will check out home depot, maybe they will have something. I am going to try to set this up as soon as possible. This week though I want to see if I can clear out as many extra trees as possible to make it easier and repot. I think it will be easier to run everything if it's larger pots. The basement is a back up. I don't want to hamper them, but I don't want to come home to dead trees.