Watering Plants while on Vacation.

[DawnCt1]

We will be going to Hawaii for 3 weeks this summer and there are about 4 plants that I really care about. For shorter vacations I have inverted a 2 L soda bottle and it emptied into the pots as the soil dried out. This time I am thinking about buying a child sized swimming pool, putting it in the basement in front of a sliding glass door, putting the plants in it and putting water in the bottom, thus watering the plants from the bottom up. Any thoughts? Any better ideas?

 

[NAB]

Maybe a family member or friend could come water them for you. Almost like a house sitter.

 

[lynxstch]

Put some water in the bottom of the tub..set your plants in..(use more water if you are gone longer and put your plants on something to hold them up off the bottom)..I did this and then put a piece of plastic over the top to hold in some of the humidity..left the bathroom window open a little for fresh air..my plants thrived in the amount of time I was gone..they didn't want to go back to their original spots..lol!..
Have a great time in Hawaii!

 

[DawnCt1]

Maybe a family member or friend could come water them for you. Almost like a house sitter.

No, I have no family members who live in town and I don't want to inconvenience a neighbor. I already have asked one neighbor to chlorinate my pool.

 

[Jockaroo]

When you are using the inverted soda bottles, are you using the watering spike adaptor that twists onto the bottle? Are you watering the plant well before inserting the spike? Have you tried using 2 of the 2 liter bottles?

I have some plants that I really like and they will go for 2 weeks and a couple of days with the inverted self-watering bottles. I also put the plants in trays and add water to the trays as well. Another idea, which might be a pain in the rear-end, is to repot the plants and use the moisture crystals in the soil. Add an ample amount of the crystals to the dirt, they will absorb a large amount of water and feed it back to the plant. I have a huge peace lily that I only need to water every three weeks. I know I need to repot when the plants dry out quickly between waterings. Good luck and happy Hawaii trip!

If you have 3 weeks before your trip give your planned idea a test run to see how well it works.