If you’re taking a much needed break after 2020 but you’re a proud plant parent, then your enthusiasm for your holiday might be a little dampened by the worry that your indoor plants won’t survive your absence if they aren’t watered regularly.
The key to watering indoor plants when you’re away on holiday is to understand exactly how much water each indoor plant will need while you are away, and selecting a self-watering method to suit.
Here are four DIY plant-hacks you can use to keep your plants hydrated while you’re away, using items you probably already have laying around at home.
1. Use a zip lock plastic bag and thread
This method is a cheap, easy and leak-proof way to water your indoor plants while you‘re on holiday.
- You will need: a plastic zip lock bag, cotton thread, an extremely fine needle, scissors.
- Thread the needle with a long piece of cotton and pass the needle through the centre bottom of the bag, off to one side of the seam so it protrudes from a flat surface.
- Fill the bag with water
- Put bag in the pot with your plant and lay the cotton thread (unobstructed) flat onto the surface of the soil.
- Do a test run before going on holiday to determine how much water your plant will need while you are away, and how much water you will need to have in the bag to cater to your plant’s needs. Go up or down a size to accommodate.
- You can increase the flow of water using this method by adding a second cotton thread to the same plastic bag.
2. Create a DIY water wicking system
Wicking is a tried, tested and true method of watering indoor plants when no one is home.
- You will need: a large bottle, bucket or vase, sturdy and absorbent cotton rope or twine.
- Cut a length of twine that can comfortably reach from the bottom of your water container to a couple inches below the surface of your pot plant’s soil, near to the base of the plant.
- Gently push one end of the twine into the soil and drop the other end to the very bottom of your water container. Ensure it stays at the very bottom of your water container, or it won’t wick all the water.
- Fill your water container with water.
- This system will very slowly wick water through the twine to your plant, keeping the soil moist.
3. Give your plants a bath
About the Garden reports that this method will keep most houseplants healthy for up to three weeks.
- You’ll need: a bath, water
- Fill your bath tub 1cm deep with water.
- Put pot plants in the water
4. Make a DIY self-watering pot using a plastic bottle
Plastic bottles can also be used to water your indoor plants while you’re away.
- You will need: a 1 to 2 litre soft drink bottle, a drill or a small nail and a hammer, scissors.
- Cut the top off the plastic bottle.
- Drill or hammer a few tiny holes into the screw top lid.
- Reattach the lid and push the bottle top down into the soil.
- Fill with water, and let it slowly drip water into your potted houseplant.
- Be sure to thoroughly water your plant first so it doesn’t immediately absorb all the water.
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