Plants, like humans, need a healthy feeding, according on the genetics and depending on the growing stage. Calcium and magnesium are two of the indispensable nutrients in their diet, as important as phosphorus, iron, nitrogen, potassium, and manganese, in the right amounts. A lack of this essential nutrients can cause problems in the plants while they are growing and we get bad final results.

Knowing some of the symptoms of a lack of basic nutrients in plants, we can control better the plants growth and we will ensure that they have the right amounts of food.However, it is important to distinguish between the macronutrients, that are absorbed in big amounts, and the micronutrients, which are also necessary for plants nutrition, but only in small amounts (high levels of this nutrients can damage them).

Previously in other post, we talked about the importance of calcium and magnesium in plants. Today we are going to talk about the skills of the rest of essential nutrients, starting with the macro-nutrients, the ones plants need in big quantities.

What are the essential nutrients for our plants?

Phosphorus

It’s an essential nutrient, because it is one of the necessary elements for carrying the energy through the plant. Phosphorus helps to build cells, DNA, proteins and enzymes. The higher concentrations of phosphorus are in the plants roots, the growth peaks and the vascular tissue, what it means, in the develop parts of the plant.

In young plants, the presence of phosphorus is indispensable for a good growth, because in the first quarter of plants life is when more phosphorus they absorb.

When there is a lack of phosphorus: the plant stops growing and the branches development slow down; also it turns in a dark green color. Finally, if the time goes by and we don’t fix the lack of phosphorus, can appear necrosis in the oldest leaves and deformation.

Nitrogen

It’s one of the most important nutrients that the plants need, and an essential part of proteins, chlorophyll, vitamins, hormones and DNA. Nitrogen is a component of the enzymes, so it has an active role in the plant metabolism, promoting their growth. Some positive effects of nitrogen in the plants are bigger leaves, more quantity of branches and a longer growing season.

But a lack of nitrogen can cause the opposite effects. A lack of this nutrient delay synthesis protein, and the plant have to broke its own proteins to keep satisfying its needs. When this happens, it produces a surplus of carbohydrates due to the proteins breakdown. That’s why leaves stems and plant stem turn into purple color.

Due to the lack of nitrogen, also appears with time a chlorophyll breakdown, turning green color of the leaves into yellow or whitish green, till they finally wither and fall down.

A lack of nitrogen also can affect the plants roots. If there is a lack of nitrogen during the early stage of growing, the whole plant is damaged and it doesn’t grow enough (the plants organs don’t grow right, stooping general growth). If it happens in advanced age, effects aren’t so devastating as when the plant is younger.

Potassium

Potassium is present around the whole plant and it’s essential to carry the water through all the plant structure. It’s also indispensable for opening and closing stomata and get strength and quality to the plant.

When there is a lack of potassium there is an evaporation reduction. When this happens, the leaves temperature increase and cells burn, mainly in the edge of the leaves.A lack of potassium makes that leaves tips show a grey edge, which then turn into rust-colored, till leaves fall off. Another symptom are yellow leaves from the edges to the leaves nerves, and brow and rust-colored spots of died tissue.

An overload of salt (sodium) around the plants roots can cause the lack of potassium. That’s known as a Nutrient Lockout, when plant roots are blocked and they can’t absorb the rest of nutrients they need.

In the other hand, we have micronutrients. Despite being needed in less amounts by the plants, they are also essential for they growth and healthy.

Iron

It’s a common nutrient in the soils but in large amounts, could be toxic for plants, so it’s a micronutrient. Furthermore, iron is more difficult to absorb than other nutrients because usually it’s present in the soil as an insoluble component. There are only few soils where iron is available for plants in the necessary form.

The absorption of iron by plants greatly depends on the pH. Normally, acid soils have enough iron available for plants. Some symptoms of a lack of iron: leaves that continuously turn into yellow, or even into white; leaves with necrosis and plants that stop growing.

Manganese

Manganese is found in high concentrations in the meristem (the most active part in plants), and to a lesser extent, in plants roots and stems. It’s an essential trace element for plants, which turn on enzymatic actions, as for example, the water division during photosynthesis or the cell membranes formation.

This nutrient is absorbed by plants through the roots and goes across the whole plant haltingly, but easier than other nutrients, like iron or calcium, less soluble.

A lack of manganese cause physiological changes in plants: the proteins production decrease, minimizing the plant capability for absorbing nitrates. When this happens, the plants growth is delayed and appear symptoms in the leaves, similar to the symptoms of the lack of iron or magnesium.

But in the lack of manganese cases, yellow spots are between lateral nerves, and the rest of the leaf keeps its green color. No whitening. So this must not be confused with the lack of iron, which turn yellow al the leaf.

High levels of pH can make a lack of manganese, because with a high Ph, manganese becomes manganese dioxide, which can’t be absorbed by the plant.

Reverse osmosis to prevent the lack and the excess of nutrients

There are a lot of fertilizer products and nutritional supplements to feed our plants: compost products, fluid products or even solid. Adding these products, we give all the essential nutrients to the plants, according to their needs in each growing stage, to prevent the symptoms and problems explained above.

But in advance of adding these nutritional supplements to the irrigation water, it’s very important to control the EC of water. In such way, we will know the amount of salts and minerals already dissolved in our tap water. However, we can’t control the exact amount of each mineral and salts in water only with an EC meter. So if we add to this water high amounts of calcium, for example, and the water already have a lot of calcium (hard water) we’ll cause a Nutrient Lockout in the roots. Or we can cause the opposite situation if the water we are using have low levels of calcium.

Using reverse osmosis water, we lower EC up to 95% and get water free of salts and minerals. We achieve the perfect balance between water and the right amounts of nutrients for feeding our plants. How? We know that plants can receive an EC of up to 1,4 to 2,2, according to its genetics and depending on the growing stage. The higher the EC level is, less nutrients we can give to our plants. So if we start with an EC in the water of only 0,1 or 0,2, then we will be able to add much more nutrients.

Essential nutrients and pure water

Most exigent growers prefer to use directly ultra pure water (000 ppm), to be sure that all the nutrients they give to the plants are exactly from the nutrients solutions and supplements, but not from water. And for that, they use reverse osmosis systems like Maxquarium 000PPM, which has been designed for hydroponics and also for aquariums industry, where they need the most pure water, and that produces up to 20L/ h of pure water.

GrowMax Water also offers the de-ionization filter Kit to achieve an ultra pure water (000 ppm). This is an available accessory to install in all reverse osmosis systems.

Using ultra pure water, growers only have to add the amount of nutrients they want to the water with their nutrient supplement,  without worry about the EC of the water they will use.

To sum up, using reverse osmosis together with nutrient supplements, we can prevent growth and nutritive disorders mentioned above. We must keep in mind the right amounts of nutrients our plants need, according to their growing stage and features, and control their growing.

Grow it to the Max with GrowMax Water!

In this article we would like to help you to understand how a reverse osmosis membrane works. The following information is valid for all reverse osmosis membranes, supplied by GrowMax Water or other manufacturers.

A reverse osmosis membrane is made of different polyamide layers through which tap water is filtered. With this process, we obtain a water with a lower EC (with a low salt level) and free of bacteria and virus. The pores of the polyamide layers are able to filter up to 0,0001 microns.

Production specifications of the reverse osmosis membranes

The specification is made by the Membrane Manufacturers and is based on the following parameters:

1 – Water Temperature: 25º C

2 – Water Pressure: 60 psi (4.3 kg/cm3

3 – TDS (Total Dissolved Solids): 500 ppm (0.7 EC)

Therefore the production will increase or decrease according to variations in the above water conditions. Example:

-Water production will decrease by 3.6% for each degree below 25º C. So, if your water temperature is 15ºC, then; 10º (less) x 3.6% = 36% decrease. Now, 20 L/h can be about 13 L/h.

-If the temperature is even lower, let’s say 10ºC, then: 15º (less) x 3.6% = 54% decrease. 20 L/h can now be as low as 9 L/h.
-Also, at the same time if the inlet pressure is lower than 60 psi (4,3 kg) then your production will also decrease.
-Also if the TDS is higher than 500 ppm (EC higher than 0.7), then again, you will have another lower production rate. The higher the EC, more inlet water pressure is needed.

How long will a membrane last?

We cannot know exactly how long a reverse osmosis membrane will last, because it depends on three factors:

1- The quality of the water
2- The amount of water passing thru
3- The amount of waste water.

For example, the higher the EC, the worse is the quality water filtered, means the membrane can sooner be incrusted with salts. The higher the amount of water filtered, the less is the life of the membrane, and the same happens because of the amount of waste water, that is to say, the less waste water amount the sooner the membrane will be full of salts. This last point is very important, so we will explain it in more detail below.

The waste water in RO systems

All the reverse osmosis systems must send waste water to the drain. Why? The different polyamide layers of the membrane retain the salts from the water, but that portion of the water doesn’t go to the drain needs to be flushed out of the membrane, so that the membrane doesn’t become incrusted with those salts.

GrowMax has designed its reverse osmosis systems for the Hydroponic and Gardening markets. Because we are not using pressurized holding tanks, different from residential RO units, we have designed our units to REJECT MUCH LESS water than others conventional units.

Most RO systems are designed to reject 4:1, 5:1, 6:1 or more. This means for each liter of water produced, 4, 5 or 6 times of the amount of water is needed and send it to the drain (or garden). GrowMax units are designed to reject only 2:1. This saves a lot of water.

However, the downside to this design is that if the TDS or EC is very high, more than 500 ppm (> 0.7 EC) then the lifespan of the reverse osmosis membrane can be diminished.

GrowMax Water reverse osmosis systems use 150 GPD (Gallon per Day) membranes for the POWER GROW, MEGA GROW and MAXQUARIUM.

This is the highest production membrane currently available in this size and configuration, without using much higher cost membranes that require much higher inlet pressures, pumps and motors.

Reverse osmosis membrane diagram:

Accessories to improve the reverse osmosis membrane

GrowMax offers solutions to improve your installation or help in the case of adverse water conditions. These solutions are different accessories that will help you to boost the membrane production:
– If your inlet water pressure is low (less than 40psi/3 kg), you have to install a GrowMax Water Booster Pump to your RO system. This will increase the water pressure to a 4-5 kg constant inlet water pressure. We have a Booster Pump Kit valid for use with POWER GROW and MAXQUARIUM and also a High Flow Booster Pump Kit, valid for use with the MEGA GROW.

– In case your water has a high EC level, the membrane can be saturated and clogged sooner. You can change out the FLOW RESTRICTOR in your unit, to a larger flow restrictor, to allow for more water rejection to the drain, thus helping to prolong the life of your membrane.

POWER GROW 400ml 550ml (foto)
MEGA GROW 550 ml 800ml (foto)
MAXQUARIUM 400 ml 550ml (foto)

Learn more about GrowMax Water Reverse Osmosis Systems designed for hydroponics and gardening.

The pH shows the acidity or alkalinity value of the water. We can measure the acids through the concentration of hydrogen ions: strong acids have high concentrations of hydrogen ions and weak acids have low concentrations. Plants, like the humans, have a shifting pH value. If they don’t have a proper pH they will not enjoy good health, being more exposed to be attacked by fungi, viruses and unwanted insects. With an appropriate pH, we get stronger and healthier plants.

To understand the pH it’s important to consider the acidity, which determines the absorption and solubility capabilities of different nutrients. The pH level varies between 0 and 14, so water with a pH below 7 is considered acid water, while with levels over 8 is considered alkaline water. A pH level of 7 it’s considered neutral.

pH levels

The pH levels of the irrigation water also modify the pH levels of the soil. Tap water, in most cases, have pH levels higher than 7 on most places, especially in the cities, because it contains more calcium. The recommended pH for all kind of growths, varies between 6,5 and 7,5, so if you irrigate plants with a higher or lower pH, it could damage the plants.

With a lower pH (lower than 4), more acid, the plants roots can be damage. Furthermore, some nutrients are easily dissolved with these levels of pH, being absorbed by the plants easily, but this can cause an overload of aluminum and iron, and a lack of other important nutrients like magnesium, potassium or phosphorus.

With a lower pH, the heavy metals can cause also necrosis in the plants roots.

The water with a high pH has also negative effects in the plants, because the more alkalinity the water is, less capacity of nutrients to be dissolved. This can cause a lack of nutrients in the plants and consequentially problems for their growth (yellow leaves, plants that don’t grow enough…).

How to stabilize the pH of water

With the pH meter we can measure the hydrogens concentration in the water. Once we know the pH of water we have, we can control it value using some acid/alkaline products that we can add to the fertilizers and nutrients solution we give to the plants.

However an easy way is using reverse osmosis water ¿why?

Reverse osmosis water  has a pH value of approximately 6,5. If we use this type of water, we always know the Ph of water we have, which will help us to water the plants. We also have water free of chemicals (chlorine) as well as salts and heavy metals, or in other words, a lower EC water. Using a quality water we will warranty a healthier plants and protected from fungi or viruses attacks.

Know more advantages of using quality water and grow it to the Max with GrowMax!

How many times have you forgotten to turn off the water before the water tank reaches its maximum capacity?

While we wait to full our tank of purified water, we often prepare fertilizers and nutrients or focus on other issues like cleaning the grow room or even leaving for a while. However, after a long absence, we may come back to find a mess in the grow room: the water overflows and the room is flooded.

This is a very common situation that has happened to more than one of us, but this can be prevented by installing a float valve in the tank.

How does the float valve work?

Commonly known as float buoy, when the water reaches the top of the float valve, it stops the system and so the water production. Thus, water overflow as well as water waste is prevented.

The Float Valve controls the water level we need in the tank according to our irrigation needs. Now we can mix in in our tank the nutrients and fertilizers we need to water our plants till we obtain the necessary EC level without wasting any water.

Installing this equipment is very easy and will help us to prevent more than one surprise in our grow room. Growmax Water offers the Float Valve Kit  which includes all the connectors to be easily installed.

“Forget about wasting water and time cleaning a flooded floor”

Find more information about GrowMax accessories available in our website or contact us through our costumer service.

Autumn is here and we start a new season of indoor growing. It’s time to prepare our grow room and review all the indispensable accessories to get the best results. A Water Filtration unit or Reverse Osmosis system is the first accessory you will need to get the best quality water for growing

As a house must be built with a good and strong foundation, you must also start with pure water to have a strong foundation for growth. A clean, free of chlorine and low EC water, is the right way to help our plants grow to their full potential. Just us we keep in mind the nutrients and fertilizers we are going to use, is also important prepare the water before we start to irrigate our plants.

Water quality control in indoor growing

With indoor growing we can control the light hours, the temperature and humidity in the room according with the plant’s needs and we can even control the water quality that we will use to irrigate them. There are different accessories for this that must be in our indoor room: the EC meter, for measuring the quantity of dissolved mineral salts are in the water (but which doesn’t tell us the quantity of each salt component), and a pH meter, very important to control the pH levels.

These water treatment systems and control accessories are very helpful for growing, because water is not the same everywhere. We can receive soft water (low EC) or hard water (high EC), according on the amount of mineral salts we have in our tap water. Hard water contains a high level of dissolved salts, that will directly influence the quantity of nutrients we need to add to the water we give to our plants.

-Keep in mind that our plants can receive an EC of up to 1,4 to 2,2, according to its genetics and depending on the growing stage. The higher the EC level is, less nutrients we can give to our plants. Here an example:

“If the water we use has an EC of 1,0 then we will only be able to add from 0,4 to 1,2 of nutrients to reach our maximum levels. If on the other hand, we start with an EC in the water of only 0,1 or 0,2 or even an EC of 0,0 then we will be able to add much more nutrients to our plants.”

– Less nutrients we can add, more risk for deficiencies in our plants, like deformed leaves or with yellow and brown spots because of a lack of calcium ; yellow leaves because of the lack of magnesium, among other problems.

-With a high EC level, the water will have high levels of calcium, and will cause lime scale in the roots, decreasing its absorption capability.

-If we irrigate with hard water and then we add even more nutrients to our soil, we can cause a nutrient lockout , that can inhibit the growth of our plants.

Reverse osmosis systems eliminate up to 95% of all dissolved salts, lowering the EC, getting pure water. They also eliminate heavy metals and chlorine up to 99%. Also, reverse osmosis helps to stabilize the pH, between 6 and 6,5.

“Using reverse osmosis you will get clean, pure, quality water for growing to the max indoors.”

However, even if the water from the tap doesn’t have high EC levels, chlorine will be the enemy, because as we all know, it is a chemical that attacks plants roots, burning them, while also killing off beneficial micro-organisms (link to the article) whom live in our fertilizers.

Water Filtration Systems are the solution to eliminate chlorine up to 99% and also reducing sediment, rust and oxidation. These systems also eliminate Herbicides, Pesticides and Volatile Organic Contaminants that also affects the plants.

In summary, if you are preparing your indoor room with indispensable accessories for the new growing season, remember to include a water treatment system (link). Together with the EC meter and pH meter, you will achieve clean, quality water that your plants deserve.

Grow it to the MAX this indoor season, with GrowMax Water!

A good maintenance of Reverse Osmosis and Filtration systems will always guarantee the best water quality. For this reason, knowing when to replace the filters will help you to ensure your system will maintain optimum performance and reliable service for many years.

All GrowMax Water Filtration and Reverse Osmosis systems include high capacity green coconut carbon block filters. These ECO Friendly Filters utilize high performance coconut shell carbon that is manufactured using a patented process that significantly reduces harmful green house gas emissions. They also have superior absorption capabilities compared to other types of carbon, having more micro-pores and a unique binder system delivering a product with superior absorption capacity and kinetic dynamics. So GrowMax Water filters are not only better performing than anything on the market, but also good for the Earth.

When to replace the filters in your Filtration Systems

Filtration systems are the best option to eliminate chlorine, herbicides, pesticides and volatile organic contaminants. All GrowMax Water systems have a 5 micron sediments cartridge that reduces dirt, sand and rust, and a high capacity carbon block filter to eliminate up to 99% of chlorine.

To best guarantee that chlorine and other contaminants are eliminated from the water efficiently, you must replace filters before they arrive to their maximum absorption capability. If you don’t replace in a timely manner, filters can become saturated and will not absorb anymore chlorine. To avoid this problem, it is recommended to change filters regularly, according to the unit capacity and water use, following instructions we give you in this table.

You can purchase GrowMax replacement filters in your local shop or we can refer you from the Growmax Water website. Replacement filter packs contain 1 – 5 micron sediment filter and 1 high capacity carbon block filter.

When to replace Reverse Osmosis filters

If in addition to eliminating chlorine you want to lower the EC of your water, eliminating salts and heavy metals, then you need a GrowMax Water reverse osmosis system, the best way to get pure water.

In reverse osmosis systems you must keep in mind that more water passes thru the carbon block filter and so the importance of replacing the carbon block filters on time is higher than in the filtration systems. If the carbon block cartridge doesn’t absorb the chlorine, this chemical will arrive to the membrane and will eat away at the membrane material. If this happens, you not only will need to change the filters, but also the membrane.

Here  you can check when to replace the reverse osmosis filters, according to the water use and your GrowMax Water unit capacity. You can also visit our website to get more information about where to buy replacement filters, or ask at your local shop.

How to change the filters

It’s very easy to replace filters in GrowMax Water systems, as we show you in these tutorial videos, with all the steps you must follow:

Replace Filtration systems filters:

Replace Reverse Osmosis filters:

GROW IT TO THE MAX, WITH GROWMAX WATER!

When growing plants there are two important nutrients that often we forget: calcium and magnesium. If we provide plants correct doses of both nutrients, we get better results.

CALCIUM

Calcium builds strong stems and leaves. When calcium is taken up by the plant it forms pectin, the glue that binds cell walls together, so a steady supply of calcium is necessary throughout the plants life cycle to strengthen its vascular system. If the plant has a healthy vascular system, it is also able to take up water and all the other essential minerals more efficiently, resulting in a stronger, more disease –resistant plant. 

MAGNESIUM

Maintaining adequate levels of magnesium throughout the crop cycle is also essential. Magnesium is the central element in chlorophyll, essential for absorbing light energy and converting it to high-energy sugars. Magnesium also activates more than 300 known enzymes in plant cells, including the enzymes that load sugars for transport throughout the plant. It is especially important when the energy need of the plant are highest, such as during periods of rapid vegetative growth or during heavy fruiting and flowering.

DEFICIENCIES

When plants are suffering a deficiency of either of these two nutrients, there are some symptoms that appear in plants. A Calcium deficiency normally shows up in new growth at the growing tips of the plant, causing deformed leaves and reduced root growth. If there is a magnesium deficiency, part of the leaves will turn yellow, because of the lack of chlorophyll, the green pigment in plant leaves and the central element of magnesium. Magnesium deficiencies are fairly common in indoor gardens, due to the powerful HID grow lamps that indoor gardeners often use. As the light become more intense, plants need more magnesium to efficiently use the light energy.

CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM SUPPLEMENTS FOR PLANTS

There are different kinds of calcium and magnesium supplements for our plants. If we add these products, we will give plants the nutrients they need for growing healthier and to the max. Calcium and magnesium supplements may be derived from carbonates, nitrates or sulfates, and it can be added in standard concentrates, powdered supplements or organic supplements.

It is important to be careful with supplements derived from nitrates during flowering, because an excess of nitrates during this stage may delay or event prevent flowering. That’s what happens with standard concentrates, derived from nitrates.

Calcium and magnesium are 98% water soluble and available to the plant, just make sure the powdered supplement is thoroughly diluted with water and mixed well. They should be added to water before any other fertilizers or additives. Powdered supplements contain some nitrates, but not nearly as much as liquid concentrates.

Organic supplements are derived from calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate. One of the benefits of calcium and magnesium carbonate is that they contain no nitrate. Therefore, it won’t interfere with flowering. The down side of going organic is that calcium and magnesium carbonate are only sparingly soluble, so in some ways, organic calcium and magnesium may actually change clean water into hard water. The result is the potential for limescale in the root stem. To avoid this, if you choose to use an organic calcium or magnesium product, always use an amino acid supplement with it.

DOSE OF CALCIUM AND MAGNESIUM IN PLANTS

However, added high doses of calcium and magnesium supplements can cause deficiencies too in our plants, like limescale in the root stem, damaging roots and avoiding the plant capacity to absorb necessary nutrients. So it’s important to quantify the doses of nutrients we added to our plants, according to the type of plant or growing stage.

Saturation of calcium and magnesium happens when we add these supplements to water without knowing the exact doses of calcium and magnesium that our water already contains. We can use our EC meter to measure the total quantity of dissolved mineral salts in our water but that still will not tell us what the percentage of calcium and magnesium are.

To simplify this process, most growers prefer to use Reverse Osmosis water (RO). That way, they can start to irrigate with pure water (0,0 EC), without dissolved salts, that means without calcium and magnesium. By starting with pure water, growers can then add the exact quantities of nutrients and supplements their plants really need. Learn more about reverse osmosis.

Grow it to the Max, with GrowMax Water!

Summer is here and it’s time to take a deserved break. It’s time to pack your bags and go to the beach, to the mountains or, ultimately, anywhere without stress. But, what we do with our plants if no one can water them while we are off? There are a few tricks for watering plants while we are gone that keep them hydrated until we come back.

We must avoid our plants dying and try to keep our plants as healthy as we do during the rest of the year. One easy solution would be to ask a friend or neighbor to irrigate them twice a week, but during holidays it’s difficult. If we go on holiday for a short time (a week) we can prepare the plants and keep them ready until our return. If we are planning a longer trip, there are also some tricks to prevent lack of water in our plants.

Prepare our plants before we go

If we are going to be away of home only for a week, we can leave them without any irrigation system. However, it’s important to follow some advice before we leave so that upon our return home we see little damage in plants and they are easy to fix with our usual care.

First of all, we have to water them well before leaving to maintain the maximum humidity for as many days as possible, but without flooding the plants and also never put them into a bowl full of water directly in contact with roots, because they will rot.

We have to put the plants in a cool place where sun and heat don’t affect them constantly. This way, they will benefit more from the environmental humidity and they won’t get sun dried. If you have indoor plants, you must put them in a room with dim light and some ventilation.

If we cut back the biggest leaves, dry leaves and branches before going on holidays, it will also help our plants to keep better humidity and they will be stronger without constant water.

Automatic systems to irrigate

If we stay away of home for more days, we have to find alternatives to irrigate the plants. But also following the steps explained in the previous paragraphs before leaving. If we have outdoor plants in our garden or terrace, it will be useful to install automatic irrigation systems.

A sprinkler system or drip irrigation installation in the garden or terrace will allow us to program watering for all the plants during our absence. They are also useful during the year. But if we don’t have the budget, or they are indoor plants or in a balcony, we can use home remedies that will help to maintain plants hydrated.

Homemade systems to irrigate plants

We can easily create a watering system with a plastic bottle. It consists of a drip irrigation system that will provide constant water to plants but without flooding them. We have to open a hole in the cap (just as big as a water drop), fill up the bottle and put it upside down, staked in the soil of the pot, and the water will be provided gradually to the plants roots. The bigger the bottle, the more water that will be provided.

We have to put one bottle in each pot or near each plant, so we guarantee all the plants will have enough water and will be hydrated during our absence.

There is a similar homemade system, but using little clay cones. They are dispensers that we have to screw in the bottle, and then stake in the soil with the bottle upside down. As in the previous system, water will be provided to the plant drip to drip, but there is a difference: the clay. This material has microporous qualities that guarantee that water will be better dosed.

Plants always need quality water

With these tricks to irrigate plants during our holiday, we avoid problems caused by lack of water. In summer, plants suffer more problems due to high temperatures, so irrigating them when we are off  on holiday is important for taking care of them. However, water quality, water without chlorine, is also very important for their care. That’s why we shouldn’t forget to always use clean water, treated by filtration systems. These systems can also connect directly with the installations of automatic irrigation systems.

Now we can pack our bags and start a happy holiday, knowing that our plants will be well hydrated and healthy for the days or weeks that we will be gone.