Once the travel season is in full swing, vacation days come calling. But unless you want to pester your neighbor, or hire a local person to come water your garden, you need a plan on how to water plants while away. A little pre-planning can help you water plants while away. Whether it’s your houseplants or the entire yard that will need care, here are some tips on how to water plants while on vacation so you can come back to thriving flora.
How to Water Plants While on Vacation
Stopping or getting mail collection and pet care are 2 possible items to take care of prior to vacation, but so is figuring out how to water plants while away. Watering plants on vacation may necessitate calling in a favor, investing in some tools, or moving plants to a more favorable location for a short period of time.
1. Ask a Friend, Family, or Neighbor
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If you have a close friend or family member, or have a good relationship with your neighbor, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Leave very detailed instructions on how and when to water, especially if the person isn’t knowledgeable about plants. A young person in the area would probably love the job if you give them a few bucks. Make sure you spend a few minutes before you leave doing a walk through and giving instructions.
2. Put Sprinklers on a Timer
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Technology to the rescue. Sprinkler timers are fairly inexpensive and easy to program. You can set the time, number of days, and duration of watering once you put batteries in the unit. Set it up a few days in advance so you can check your work. There are single to 4 hose timers so you can set up a whole system off one outdoor tap, timing each zone to water consecutively.
3. Plant in Self-Watering Pots
Self watering pots are a great way of watering plants during vacation. These have a water reservoir under the pots drainage holes. The plant roots can uptake water at their leisure. The amount of water in the reservoir is limited by the size, so these won’t work for weeks, but are sufficient if you will only be gone for a few days or up to a week.
TruDrop Rim Self-Watering Modern Round Planter
Entrust your houseplants with these beautiful self-watering planters from Crescent Gardens.
4. Try Drip Irrigation
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Directly targeting plant roots with drip irrigation is not only a way of conserving water, but when the system is set up properly, can be the answer to watering plants during vacation. This can be done with in ground or container plants. For container plants, group them fairly close together and then run the tubing to each with an emitter for each plant attached. In ground plants will be watered the same way, with tubing going out into the bed and drip emitters at the base of every plant. You can have the neighbor come turn the system on, or put a time on it for regularly scheduled watering.
5. Go Old School With an Olla
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If you don’t know what an olla is, essentially it is a terra cotta vase that is capped. The container must be unglazed to allow water inside to seep through the clay. Bury the olla in the soil and fill with water, capping the top. This is a slow release method of watering plants in containers or in the garden.
6. Recycle a Plastic Bottle
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As watering systems go, the plastic bottle method is inexpensive, readily available, and repurposes a discarded item. Poke several small holes in the lid and 1 or 2 in the bottom. Fill the bottle with water and cap it. Invert the bottle and bury it slightly in the soil. The small holes will slowly release water to the plant’s roots.
7. Make a Simple Wicking System
Take advantage of osmosis and build a little wicking system. This works great for container plants while you are away. For this system you will need an external water reservoir of some kind, wick or garden twine, and scissors. Group plants so several can be served by the water reservoir. Cut lengths of twine or wick that will sit in the water and can be inserted into the soil of the plant. The water will seep into the wick and travel into the pot.
Tips to Keep Plants From Drying Out
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There are water retaining products and hydrogels that will absorb water and release it into the soil over time. These can help but are costly and don’t last very long. There are some simple steps you can do to keep plants more comfortable and prevent water from evaporating too quickly.
Move Containers to the Shade
Moving plants to a lower light area will prevent the sun’s heat from scorching away moisture. It will allow plants to be cooler and less stressed. If you live in a high wind area, move containers where there is some protection from that drying wind.
Put Plants in a Sink or Tub
Put the stopper in the tub or sink and fill it with a few inches ( 7.62 cm.) of water. Ensure all the containers have drainage holes. Set the containers, minus their saucers, in the tub. The plant roots will uptake what moisture they need.
Make Sure to Mulch
Outdoor plants will benefit from mulch any time of the year but especially when you are gone on vacation. Mulch holds in moisture, cools the soil, and helps prevent weeds. So when water is applied, it will seep under the mulch and into the soil, making it available longer for the plant’s roots.
