How to Keep Houseplants Alive During Vacation-Without an Expensive Plant Sitter
Lots of people who have houseplants get really worried about leaving them when they go on holiday for a week or two. This is especially true if you have lots of plants, and many of them are tropical ones that need a lot of water. The idea of coming back to plants that are all drooping, brittle, or dead can ruin the fun of your trip. However, if you do a few easy things before you go, most of your houseplants will be fine for a fortnight without you, and will usually be doing better when you get home than you’d probably think.
For Trips of One Week or Less
If your houseplants are in the right size pots and are otherwise healthy, they’ll generally be fine for a week without being watered, as long as you soak them well before you go and don’t leave them in direct sunlight or near anything that gives off heat. Really, really water them the night before you leave. We’re talking water until it runs out of the drainage holes, then wait half an hour and water one more time to get as much water as possible to the roots. Also, take plants that usually sit in south or west windows and put them in a place with plenty of bright, but not direct sunlight, because this will mean they don’t lose water from their leaves so quickly and the soil will stay moist longer. Put all your plants together in one place too, as when they all ‘breathe’ (transpire), they make a little bubble of moisture around each other, and each plant won’t dry out as fast. For most types of houseplant, just a good soaking, lower light and being together will be enough to get through the week with no further attention.
For Trips of 10 to 14 Days
If you’re going to be away for over a week, plants that need a lot of water will need some extra water supplied to them. Luckily, there are many cheap ways to do this yourself, and they’ll steadily moisten the soil, without needing any electricity or complicated programming. One way, called the wick method, is to put one end of a cotton string or a strip of capillary matting up into the hole at the bottom of the pot (or into the soil from the top), and have the other end sitting in a container of water that is next to or a little above the plant. Water will then be pulled from the container, through the string or matting, and into the soil at about the same speed as the plant is using it. You should try this for two or three days before you go to be sure the string is giving enough water, but not too much.
You can also get self-watering globes or stakes, which are made of glass or ceramic. You fill these with water and push them into the soil and they will slowly let water out as the soil gets drier. These are easy to find, don’t cost much, and will give your plants a few extra days between waterings. And for bigger plants, or lots of little pots, you can put them on top of a layer of wet capillary matting inside a waterproof tray. The plants will then soak up water through the holes in their pots as the soil around their roots becomes dry. This is a simple way of watering from the bottom and can keep plants going for a fortnight or even longer depending on how big the tray is and how much water is in it.
For Extended Trips (Three Weeks or More)
If you’re going to be away for more than a fortnight, your plants will likely need someone you trust to look at them weekly, or a way to water them automatically. You can get easy-to-use drip watering systems for inside plants for between twenty and forty dollars, and these hook up to the tap or a water container, slowly releasing a set amount of water at times you choose on a timer. They work well, you can use them again and again, and you won’t have to rely on locating a friend or neighbour who is good with plants. If you’d rather not buy anything for this, another good option is to take all of your plants to a friend you trust and give them short, written instructions on how to look after them, so they get the care they require whilst you are gone.
What Not to Do Before Leaving
Surprisingly, two things people often do to help plants before going on vacation can actually hurt them. Firstly, giving plants a lot of fertilizer right as you leave builds up salt in the soil and stresses the plant. Then, since you won’t be around to water normally, this salt can’t be rinsed away. And secondly, putting tropical plants in plastic bags to keep moisture in, which you might have heard of, is risky. If sunlight touches the bag, it gets too hot inside, and the plant can overheat and run out of air, and it happens very quickly. It’s better to forget the fertilizer and plastic. Water the plants very well, move them to a place with less light, put them together in a bunch, or use something to draw water up to them from a reservoir. Those are the things that will work best.
Key Takeaway
If you really soak your houseplants, put them in fairly bright but not direct sunlight, and cluster them together (they like each other’s humidity!) most of them will be fine for about a week while you’re away. For ten to fourteen days gone, you’ll need to get some extra water to them somehow – think cotton strips leading to the water, those glass self-watering bulbs, or a tray with a mat that draws water up to the roots. If you are going to be away for longer than two weeks, a friend you trust to pop in weekly or a system to slowly drip water is a good idea. And to prevent the things that ruin plants when you’re on vacation, don’t fertilize before you go and don’t cover them in plastic bags.
