Plant Care While on Vacation
How to Ensure Your Plants Survive while you are Away from Home
Summertime is when people go on vacation. If you have containers and potted plants around the house, learn how to keep them healthy while you are away.
Containers need watering on a regular basis in the heat of the summer, but that is also the time when most families go away on vacation. Some people prefer to get a neighbor to water the plants along with feeding the family pets, but others need to be a little more creative. In assessing the needs of the container you will need to figure out the best way to keep them alive by:
First considering how large your container is. Obviously smaller hanging baskets take more water than very large patio containers.
The second consideration is where the container is and how much direct sun the container gets
Finally consider the plants themselves. Some plants are more drought tolerant than others.
With these considerations in mind you can gauge whether the plants will survive alone without your care. If they can, water them well before you go and remember to water again when you return.
For the rest, there are several options:
Move them Inside: This is ideal for smaller containers such as hanging baskets. Water the containers and let them drain well before bringing them inside. Place them in bright light but away from direct sunlight. When you return, take the plants back outside and water them well.
Move them To a shady spot: If the plants cannot be brought inside, then consider relocating them to a shady position such as under the deck where they will not require as much water.
A reservoir of water with a wick: The wick really should be in place before you plant, let alone go on vacation, but if you didn’t think that far ahead you can still improvise. Assuming you cannot lift and move the container you will need a decent sized bucket, preferably covered to reduce evaporation. Take a few strips of an old towel and soak them in the water. With one end still in the water, bury the other end into the container, trying to get the wick close enough to all the plants so that they will receive water. The end that is in the bucket should ideally reach the base of the bucket so that it still works when the water level goes down. Place the reservoir on the shady side of the container. The wick should absorb water from the bucket and transfer the water to dry soil in the container.
Obviously none of these methods are ideal, but they do give you a few ideas that enable you to take a trip for a few days without loosing your beautiful containers and hanging baskets to the hot, dry conditions that occur during summer. So relax and enjoy your break, knowing that your plants will still be there to welcome you when you return.
