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Summer Irrigating Help

oboesushi

oboesushi

Hey THP!
 
I may be going out of town some time over the summer, and need a way to keep my plants from dying.  It can get over 100 degrees during the day here in Tucson.  These temperatures coupled with the extreme dryness mean that containers can dry out quickly.  I normally hand water all my plants, but I obviously cannot do this if I am not in the same state as my plants. 
 
For those of you who live in the desert, what irrigation schedule would you recommend for me (how much water, how long, what times of day) to guarantee that my plants do not dry out and die?  Perhaps I could put the containers in a pan and have the irrigation drip into the pan so that the plants bottom water and absorb what they need?  Please share your advice.
 
Thanks!
 
There are many posts on here about drip irrigation, but most I've seen are into the tops of the pots. Look for Alabama Jack's videos, for examples.
 
If you want to truck them over to the Pantano / 22nd area, I'll plant sit.
I have my container plants on a big table in the back yard, but will soon run out of space all by myself.  We'd have to find more elevated area, or build an anti-bunny fence at ground level.  (Javelina do visit several times per year, and they'd just laugh at a bit of chicken wire, so that's not an entirely adequate solution.) 
 
Or, if you're not too far away, I could probably be persuaded to go water them - possibly in exchange for tasty glass-bottled 'people fertilizer.'   :beer:   
 
:D
 
 
 
Otherwise, I suspect you'd almost need an automated system with a soil moisture sensor.  With peppers, the line between over-watered and limp-and-dying is fairly fine; a monsoon storm or heat spell would probably push a simple timer-based system out of whack.  (?)
 
Or maybe someone here has an elegant solution....
 
Thanks so far everyone.  Geonerd, I think there are too many plants for your offer to be practical, and I could have a neighbor check on them every so often, but thanks anyway!  D3monic, we already have tubing and a timer, the question is what schedule to run it on.
 
If its AZ id prolly do a few minutes at sunrise and sunset depending on your drip flow rate. I grew up in south mountain Phoenix and remember how easy it is to burn a plant watering. Had a hell of a time just keeping half the yard green
On my raised beds I do 20 in the morn and 20 at night but that would water log a pot probably. Experiment. Run it for 10 min in the morning. Come out in afternoon and stuff a finger in pot. If its dry to the nuckle increase time. If still damp or soaked reduce. Only thing you can do is experiment in your conditions before you leave.
 
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