Irrigation Disaster - Advice Needed

[ERClover]

I went away for the first extended trip I’ve had that my wife and daughter were also not home for to help with watering. I rigged up an irrigation system using a hose timer and some 3/8 tubing that I drilled holes in that I tested and worked really well. Thought I was going to be able to set and forget and check in here and there on the backyard camera. A couple days in so far so good. I started noticing though that the ground around the bench wasn’t wet like it should’ve been when I would check up. I monitored throughout the next day (the hottest of the year thus far amid the hottest week) and to my dismay realized the system did not seem to be working at all. I spent the next long travel day worried about what I would find when I got home. I was supposed to go away for the weekend straight from the airport but I had to take the time to stop home and see what happened. Unfortunately, my fears were realized. The compression nut on the adapter from the hose to the 3/8 line failed at some point during the week, severing the connection and leaving the hose watering my deck multiple times a day. I set up a simple sprinkler on the timer and left which worked fine but my question now is this.

Thankfully, at this point it seems like everything has pulled through to varying degrees. None of my conifers seem to have had any issues (and my crassula of course seemed to love it). My deciduous trees on the other hand did not fare so well. Silver maple is alive but foliage is almost entirely burned out and the two outer bend branches I was encouraging seem like they may have completely died. Crabapple just has some crispy leaves at the end of most branches. My Elm I pulled out of a bush a couple months ago that survived the transition is definitely a fighter. It got to this point after an early summer pull out of the ground only to be waylaid like this. What should I do from here? Defoliate dead leaves? The maple is already budding further back so although my plan was to just let it grow this year maybe this is an opportunity to trim back a little bit and reign the structure in. Otherwise just thinking I may remove the dead leaves on the crabapple and elm and see what happens.

I’m thankful they are alive but disappointed in the setback and all the effort I put into setting up the irrigation system being dashed by a weak compression nut. Thinking I will try to rig something with a push fit up that won’t fail as easily.

 

[Tieball]

If the leaves are dry, defoliate them. But leave a little stem from the leaf still attached to the branch so you preserve the bud. The dead leaves will not magically get healthy again. If some leaves are okay healthy leave these on the branches.

 

[roberthu]

I used to keep reef aquariums and I think the stepping pumps that are commonly used in those can be useful in watering our trees when we are gone. Those pumps have a pretty long running life and you can get them for relatively cheap price (below $100 for a unit without the timing function). I still have a few left and I plan to test them out sometime this year.

 

[Tieball]

I see neighbors in the background. Perhaps asking for help could work.

 

[ERClover]

I see neighbors in the background. Perhaps asking for help could work.

Yeah we’re fairly new to the neighborhood, haven’t met too many folks yet but there’s a neighborhood girl we have crate our dogs at night when we’re away for short trips, maybe I’ll ask her. I also ordered a hose adapter with a 3/8 John Guest fitting which should be more reliable which I will try. Mostly hoping for advice on what to do with the trees as they are. I defoliated dead leaves and will monitor the buds. Hopefully only a minor setback in the end.

 

[BrianBay9]

Auto watering systems are good, but never fool proof. I had mine all set up and tested, and then had a squirrel chew off one of the lines while I was gone. Fortunately I was only out for two days.

 

[Tieball]

Yeah we’re fairly new to the neighborhood, haven’t met too many folks yet but there’s a neighborhood girl we have crate our dogs at night when we’re away for short trips, maybe I’ll ask her. I also ordered a hose adapter with a 3/8 John Guest fitting which should be more reliable which I will try. Mostly hoping for advice on what to do with the trees as they are. I defoliated dead leaves and will monitor the buds. Hopefully only a minor setback in the end.

I would suggest contacting and asking the girl for help. You’re building your character in the neighborhood. And, younger people can always use some pocket money right now or for saving to cover the cost of something later. Be generous even though it may not be that much work. She will appreciate it and so will you. Sometimes one of the best investments is kids in the neighborhood. Save the hose watering only for emergency circumstances.

 

[Shibui]

Scorched leaves on trees won't hurt the trees so not necessary to remove them. The trees may still get some energy from partly damaged leaves until new leaves grow. Most damaged leaves will fall naturally when the tree has grown some replacements.
On the other hand, removing scorched leaves will not hurt either so if the withered look worries you feel free to snip.

Beware of relying on non bonsai people to water bonsai. Does not matter how sincere they seem or how much you pay. Non bonsai people just do not seem to understand that every day means EVERY day. Sometimes it is just that they are not in that habit and forget.
Checking that a watering system is still working properly is another matter. I have people check my place every day or 2 if we are away just to make sure the water appears to operate properly.

Good lesson that any system is only as good as the weakest part so it pays to be thorough and use good quality parts every time.

 

[rockm]

This result is why I'm very cautious about automatic watering systems. There's always a chance it will crap out, usually at the worst time possible. Humans can do that too, but at least you will have a person to blame if things go south

Not to be an a-hole, but a few things to think about (and you may have already done these)--

testing a system should happen at least two weeks before you go on vacay. That "shakedown cruise" will turn up issues that you can address in time or that might show up later as the system ages.

A simple lawn sprinkler set up with a timer can be more effective in the short run (like a week to ten days) than a more complicated drip irrigation system. Overwatering in hot weather is preferable for a few days, than underwatering. You can get one that waters broadly or directionally. Simple sprinklers have fewer points of possible failure.

You might also consider using a service to either water for you while you're away, or check on things every few days.

Joining a club can also get you in touch with people that can help as well. Your collection seems relatively small (in size and quantity), which means it might be possible to take it to someone else's house for the duration of your trip.

and BTW, leave the dead leaves be. Removing them is more trouble than it's really worth and you can wind up doing damage to twigs/branching, as shock induced drought struck leaves can want to hang on a bit tighter than usual.

 

[ERClover]

This result is why I'm very cautious about automatic watering systems. There's always a chance it will crap out, usually at the worst time possible. Humans can do that too, but at least you will have a person to blame if things go south

Not to be an a-hole, but a few things to think about (and you may have already done these)--

testing a system should happen at least two weeks before you go on vacay. That "shakedown cruise" will turn up issues that you can address in time or that might show up later as the system ages.

A simple lawn sprinkler set up with a timer can be more effective in the short run (like a week to ten days) than a more complicated drip irrigation system. Overwatering in hot weather is preferable for a few days, than underwatering. You can get one that waters broadly or directionally. Simple sprinklers have fewer points of possible failure.

You might also consider using a service to either water for you while you're away, or check on things every few days.

Joining a club can also get you in touch with people that can help as well. Your collection seems relatively small (in size and quantity), which means it might be possible to take it to someone else's house for the duration of your trip.

and BTW, leave the dead leaves be. Removing them is more trouble than it's really worth and you can wind up doing damage to twigs/branching, as shock induced drought struck leaves can want to hang on a bit tighter than usual.

All very good and sensible input. Running the system for a time in advance of leaving I imagine definitely would’ve revealed the flaw. I will do the same with the better fitting on order to see how it performs.

 

[ERClover]

Hard to believe this was only 3 weeks or so ago. Since taking some of the advice in here I have seen good recovery in every affected tree. I think I got home just in time. I have made some tweaks to the system should it have to be used again but for shorter trips I will be using a neighbor’s help who comes for the dogs and the system as a redundancy.

There were even some positive outcomes. I was able to do an initial styling of the American Elm and it looks quite nice at the moment with its new flush if I do say. Wound up getting some unplanned for ramification. Same with the Silver Maple. I’ve found simply through some selective leaf removal earlier in the season and then this almost total defoliation mid summer I’ve gotten quite a bit of reduction on the mature leaves. These are both still second year trees so none of it is super important at this time but good to know how they respond.