How to Water Plants While Away From Home

With a self-watering system, house plants can be left unattended for extended periods.

There are several ways you can look after your houseplants if you are going away for any time. If you are taking just a short vacation, plants should be fine if you give them a good watering just before you go, and immediately upon your return. While away, keep the plants in a spot that does not receive direct sunlight. This will prevent them from drying out too quickly. For longer periods of absence, provide a constant supply of water. Set up your watering system two weeks before you depart so you can make any necessary adjustments.

Things You'll Need

• Self-watering wicks
• Bucket

Instructions

1. Check your plants for infestations or disease. The plants are going to be living in close proximity to each other for a while, which may enable certain problems to spread. Put suspect plants to one side for the time being.

2. Put all your healthy plants in one place. The room should not receive direct sunlight, and the temperature should be maintained at your normal living temperature. This means that your plants will not get any warmer or colder than the temperature to which they have become accustomed.

3. Fill the bucket with water and arrange your plants around it. Ensure that the bucket is clean and free from contaminants. The size of bucket will depend on the number of plants you have, the size of their pots and the length of your absence. Try a container that's around 2 gallons.

4. Push a wick into the soil for each plant, and place the free ends into the water, ensuring they reach the bottom of the bucket. You can now leave the plants for two days.

5. Check the moisture of the soil. If it is dry, the soil may be too coarse and you will have to consider re-potting in finer soil which wicks better. You may also wish to try putting the plant in a lower position to the water source. Conversely, if the soil is too wet, try raising the plant to help reduce the flow of water. Over the next two weeks, make adjustments as necessary until you are satisfied with the results.

6. Set up individual pots of water and wicks for your less healthy plants. Other than keeping them apart from the rest of the plants, the procedure is the same.

7. Refill the water containers before you depart. If they are dry and you are going away for longer than two weeks, replace the water containers with larger ones.

References

• University of Saskatchewan: Gardenline