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The Fate of Camellia, Queen of the Sun

Some time ago, I told a story on twitter about Camellia, the Queen of the Sun, also known as Camellia sinensis, my Japanese tea tree which has been suffering in the heat of recent summers.

I described how I put together a slow-drip irrigation system to keep poor Camellia alive this summer. By "put together" I mean "avoid spending any real money on".

Without further ado, the pictures (click any of them to enlarge):

The $7 trash can

The 30 gallons of water

A hole in the can, with a $3 hose bib attached. Also a hunk of old hose.
Camellia herself, with the drip irrigation end of the hose.

The drip end was made by plugging the end, drilling some 1/16" holes in the tube and wrapping it with several layers of landscaping fabric (I had some scrap in my workshop). This not only keeps the holes from plugging up with dirt and debris, it slows the outflow to a steady drip. I secured it all with a dozen zip-ties.

Finally, the drip irrigation system in action:


That 30 gallons will slow-release over (roughly) 48 hours, which is MUCH better for deep root structure than 30 gallons dumped on in 20 minutes from the end of a garden hose.

Use that water and thrive, Camellia, thrive!

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