I was away for a little bit over 2 weeks and to keep my plants hydrated, I made sure to let my plants dry until right before the trip then water them all. I then wrapped the pots with plastic bags or covered the soil with cling wrap to minimize soil drying out. Some plants I covered in clear plastic bags that you can get in big box stores.
I love this, and really needed the reminder to consider the impacts of my future plant purchases. One of the problems living in Australia is Christmas is in summer when temps can go over 40°C for days on end. Every year we're expected to drive a 2000+km round trip visiting various rellies along the way, usually taking 7-12 days. We pay for a stranger to visit our cat daily over Xmas, who also needs to look after anything I plant in my vegie garden, and now my growing houseplant collection too! This is one of the reasons I'm converting my house plants to semi-hydro and trying to only choose varieties that do well in SH - if they don't transition they're not the plant for me 🙃 I love the post-its idea, but knowjng my luck the glue would fail on a hot day and they'd fall off the pots! I've been using glass beads to permanently colour-code care needs for my plants. (I place a single coloured glass pebble on top of substrate as a memory cue for different categories, because I forget which ones like a dry period before refilling the reservoir, which ones need to be kept away from sun shining through the windows, and which like to be root-bound, etc). Anything impervious to water can be used to colour-code care needs: pot ornaments, butterfly/dragonfly clips, buttons, yarn, ribbon, etc. It's working really well for me 😝
I also live in Australia (Melbourne) which does not get as hot as other states. I transferred all of my plants to semi hydro and am in to process of changing most of them to the wicking system. I only water my plants in summer every two weeks, a few need topping up in between but not many. Now in winter I could go 3 weeks without watering. Semi hydro is the best
I saw a tip to switch to manual clicky timer plugs for going away because if the power goes out and comes back on, they will still work. I had an issue with my smart plug losing connection when our WiFi went down so my cabinet had several days with no light (the blackout blind in the window was also closed 😅)
Since having another thrip outbreak and some nutritional issues with some plants this season, I decided I can't be away for more than a week right now 😂 My roommate is very kindly looking after them for a week at a time but all the daily pest checks and fertilizer mixing can get too much. I also transferred so to a wick system and others to semi hydro which would just suffer even being underwatered gor a day 😅
I also found that instructions for non planty people work better on a plant to plant basis. I once made an excel sheet with pictures of the plants and notes like: likes to stay moist but not wet, has to dry out between watering Which was easier than saying: I think these plants will need dome water around tuesday 😅
There are also fleece/ felt mats for watering plants, which is essentially your towel method. They might hold more water for longer. You could cut the mat to fit drainage trays etc. if you have too many plants for the tub.
I'm trying the "wrapping the mosspoles" coming holiday, where we'll be gone for 3 weeks. I have a planty friend that will come once a week, so fingers crossed 🤞😊
Awesome Emma...thanks for the reminders 👌🏼👏🏼😻 For the future, I 'd like to see a video on how to prepare a prop box and maintenance of one. Thanks so much🙏🏼
Love this! I'll definitely use some of these next time I am gone! I am currenly experimenting with clay cones to see if they keep my plants watered well enough for a little while! Curious to see how it goes. Keep on trying the cling film trick for my bigger plants next time I am away! :)
I was away for a little bit over 2 weeks and to keep my plants hydrated, I made sure to let my plants dry until right before the trip then water them all. I then wrapped the pots with plastic bags or covered the soil with cling wrap to minimize soil drying out. Some plants I covered in clear plastic bags that you can get in big box stores.
I bet your plants did wonderfully while you were gone! Good tips!
I love this, and really needed the reminder to consider the impacts of my future plant purchases.
One of the problems living in Australia is Christmas is in summer when temps can go over 40°C for days on end. Every year we're expected to drive a 2000+km round trip visiting various rellies along the way, usually taking 7-12 days. We pay for a stranger to visit our cat daily over Xmas, who also needs to look after anything I plant in my vegie garden, and now my growing houseplant collection too!
This is one of the reasons I'm converting my house plants to semi-hydro and trying to only choose varieties that do well in SH - if they don't transition they're not the plant for me 🙃
I love the post-its idea, but knowjng my luck the glue would fail on a hot day and they'd fall off the pots! I've been using glass beads to permanently colour-code care needs for my plants. (I place a single coloured glass pebble on top of substrate as a memory cue for different categories, because I forget which ones like a dry period before refilling the reservoir, which ones need to be kept away from sun shining through the windows, and which like to be root-bound, etc). Anything impervious to water can be used to colour-code care needs: pot ornaments, butterfly/dragonfly clips, buttons, yarn, ribbon, etc. It's working really well for me 😝
I also live in Australia (Melbourne) which does not get as hot as other states. I transferred all of my plants to semi hydro and am in to process of changing most of them to the wicking system. I only water my plants in summer every two weeks, a few need topping up in between but not many. Now in winter I could go 3 weeks without watering. Semi hydro is the best
I saw a tip to switch to manual clicky timer plugs for going away because if the power goes out and comes back on, they will still work. I had an issue with my smart plug losing connection when our WiFi went down so my cabinet had several days with no light (the blackout blind in the window was also closed 😅)
ah interesting! Good tip!
I definitely needed this video, because I am going away for vacation and often go away for vacation for at least 2 weeks.
Since having another thrip outbreak and some nutritional issues with some plants this season, I decided I can't be away for more than a week right now 😂
My roommate is very kindly looking after them for a week at a time but all the daily pest checks and fertilizer mixing can get too much. I also transferred so to a wick system and others to semi hydro which would just suffer even being underwatered gor a day 😅
I also found that instructions for non planty people work better on a plant to plant basis. I once made an excel sheet with pictures of the plants and notes like: likes to stay moist but not wet, has to dry out between watering
Which was easier than saying: I think these plants will need dome water around tuesday 😅
There are also fleece/ felt mats for watering plants, which is essentially your towel method. They might hold more water for longer. You could cut the mat to fit drainage trays etc. if you have too many plants for the tub.
Great tips, Emma! I hope you have a safe and wonderful holiday!
Thank you 🥰
I'm trying the "wrapping the mosspoles" coming holiday, where we'll be gone for 3 weeks. I have a planty friend that will come once a week, so fingers crossed 🤞😊
I defo recommend so far! Mine lasted the entire 12 days and are still damp! Tempted to leave them wrapped to see how long it works for!
Awesome Emma...thanks for the reminders 👌🏼👏🏼😻 For the future, I 'd like to see a video on how to prepare a prop box and maintenance of one. Thanks so much🙏🏼
You're welcome! And yes I can defo make a prop box video soon! Thanks for the request!
Have a great vacation Emma 😀 Great tips 😀🇨🇦
Love your Pink Floyd shirt ❤
Thanks I love them!
Just in time for me 😊 thank you!! Hope you have a great trip as well.
Thanks you too!
Great tips! In September will be my first trip with moss poles...
defo reccommend wrapping them!
Thanks for tips & enjoy your vac Emma!
Thanks 🥰
Love this! I'll definitely use some of these next time I am gone! I am currenly experimenting with clay cones to see if they keep my plants watered well enough for a little while! Curious to see how it goes. Keep on trying the cling film trick for my bigger plants next time I am away! :)
Well done on experimenting before you actually go away!
Thank you for the video❤
Also beeing extra caution with pests maybe...
meowdy