Hi this is Carl the Landscape Guy and today
i will be working with this balcony plant. It is a Chinese windmill palm planted in a
pot of about 18 inch in diameter. Especially in the summer it can easily happen
that the soil dries out quickly caused by the sun and wind and the increased water demand
of the plant. It can happen pretty fast that plants like
this die when people go on vacation or forget to water it. Therefore, I want to install and test an automatic
watering system today. Also I don't like how birds tend to burrow
through the soil and throw dirt all over the balcony. I will show you an easy way to stop that. In addition I will install a subtle lighting
that brings some pleasant atmosphere. All installs don't require any local water
or power plugs. This is not meant to be advertisement and
I bought all products myself, I just want to give you a couple ideas that might help
you to improve your plants. First, I will now install an automatic irrigation
system. For this I use 4 pieces of this watering cones
made of clay named Blumat XL. For this pot size I use four of them. With this system, the potting soil is supposed
to absorb the water by capillary through the fine holes of the clay cone. Through a small hose the cone sucks more water
out of a nearby water reservoir ensuring a continuous humidification of the soil. For a water reservoir I use this eight gallon
canister which I place behind the pot. It is important that the canister is at approximately
the same height as the pot. For this I m putting the canister on a stable
box. I think I have found a good and safe place
for the canister and will now fill it with tap water. This is a used canister that's why I rinse
it out a couple times to make sure there are no harmful remains in it. Now the clay cone must be completely filled
with water. For this I take the cap off and dip the cone
and the tube in a bowl of water until everything is completely filled. The system works the best if you close the
cone under water to have no air in it. This procedure I perform in all four irrigation
cones. With a spike I lose the Palm Earth a little
at the intended location and insert the first cone. I am hanging the hose into the canister. Now it's important that the loose soil is
soaked around and onto the cone so that the clay surface sort of connects to the ground. The other three cones are now put in the same
manner evenly throughout the pan. I pay attention that the cones sit in deep
enough and are watered well. I connect the four hose ends to a small metal
ring to have them lay at the bottom of the canister and not draw any air. This completes the installation of the irrigation
system for now. As announced, I would now like to install
a discreet lighting. For that I use a solar light chain with 12
warm white LEDs. During the day a small battery is charged
by solar power which then automatically supplies the LEDs at dusk. I position the mini solar panel in the main
direction of the sun and spread the LEDs uniformly around the palm. Now I spread one to two inch natural gravel
which combines multiple functions. It covers the wires, hoses and cone caps. It also holds the LEDs in place and provides
a visual enhancement. For this you can use all kinds of grits or
gravels. Using the stones I position the LEDs facing
towards the palm that way it's going to be illuminated indirectly later. The stone layer additionally ensures that
the soil is protected against drying out by the sun and wind and the birds can't dig in
the pot. Now the solar battery is being charged by
the sun while the palm is being watered invisibly. I put a mark on the canister and observed
the water level a few days. I can confirm the function of this irrigation
system. A full container lasts about one month for
this plant. Through the small opening only little water
can evaporate and the canisters can be refilled at any time easily. At night the LEDs provide a pleasant soft
lighting. The lamp radiate both the Palm from below,
as well as gravel which creates a pleasant mediterranean atmosphere. Overall, I hope my video could provide good
practical, and creative ideas. On my channel there are many landscaping videos
and I appreciate every like, every comment and every subscriber. Thanks for watching and until next time, I'm
Carl the landscape guy.