Christmas and holidays are coming and it is frequent to travel away to meet with family and friends. What happens to your plants when you are on holidays? You may have asked your neighbours if they can take care of your plants at that time, just to find that they are similarly going away. However, you can ensure your plants are going to be well taken care of by following these useful tips. Some time before you go on holidays you can take some precautions to help your plants go through this period without the daily care they need. Even though you may find some minor damage in the plants when you come back, these can be minimized if you follow certain guidelines. Check out the special needs of your specific type of plant. With the right preparation, some interior pot plants can live by themselves for up to two weeks. 1. It is very important to take the plants away from direct sunlight, as they can get easily burnt with too much light. However, the lack of sunlight is equally dangerous, so it is best to place your plants in a room with tenuous light, not too bright nor too dark. The best is a room facing North. 2. Your plants need to be well watered at all times. Nowadays, there are automatic watering systems that do not require electricity, and which guarantee your plants enough water while you are away. 3. You can also create a home-made system to ensure your plants are watered in your absence. Place a large container or a bucket with water next to the plant, and place one end of a piece of cotton rope in the water, and the other end about half an inch into the soil. The water will moist the cotton rope and will reach the soil. If you experiment with how much water your plants need before you go, you can ensure you will be using a big enough container so that they have water for a long period of time. 4. You can prevent the evaporation of water of your plants by placing them inside a transparent plastic bag with holes. If the temperature of the room exceeds 25 degrees Celsius, it is advisable to place a large container with water in the room to ensure it has enough humidity. 5. The plants can also be placed in the bath and covered with a transparent piece of plastic with holes. Very importantly, remember to always water your plants abundantly just before leaving! Sign up for my newsletter, The "Beautiful Gardens Email Club", for more useful tips to care for your pot plants. Enjoy your gardening! |
