Leaving your plants when you have to travel for a while can be heart wrenching for true green lovers. While plants survive even summers for a couple of days without water; any longer can lead to deterioration in health.
Jump to
The old Bottle-In-The-Pot Trick (Recommended for 1-3 days watering)
The Rope Trick (Recommended for 1-3 days watering)
The Agriculture Way (Recommended for longer durations)
I am planning on a long travel of 20 days outside the country and wanted to setup something which would keep my plants well fed during my absence. (Even though, I’m going to miss them quite a bit!)
Here are some budget friendly ways to water your plants when you’re traveling.
The old Bottle-In-The-Pot Trick
Recommended Time Frame: 1-4 days
So when I’m traveling for shorter periods of time, I’ve tried this method to great success in the past. It’s also free, and is very easy to set up.
Take a small (preferably tall) plastic bottle with a cap.
Use a screw driver or any metal sharp object you might have and make some holes along the sides of the bottle. A simple way to do this is to heat the metal end on the stove for a minute and punch holes in the glass bottle.
Cut a large hole on the bottom of the bottle, or just completely slice it off.
Be very careful in this step! Make some space in your pot where you’re going to bury your bottle face down. The top of the bottle with the cap screwed on has to go deep inside the pot so that all the holes you made are inside your pot.
Fill the bottle with water from the top.
As the soil needs water, it will take it from the bottle. This is super efficient as water gets used when needed. This can last quite a bit as well.
You can cover the bottle with a white lid to further avoid evaporation if you keep your pots in direct sunlight.
The Rope Trick
Recommended Time Frame: 1-5 days
This is a project, kids love to do and is very simple and safe. We’re using the laws of physics (capillary action and potential difference) to water our plants.
You need a bucket and thin strips of cloth or rope or wicks. Anything that absorbs water is a good fit.
Setup your bucket in an open space on a raised platform. Place your plants around this bucket so they are close to it
Fetch the cloth ropes. Put one end in the bucket and bury the other end in the soil.
The water will rise in the wick as a result of capillary action and keep the soil most. Keep the bucket covered to avoid loss through evaporation.
This method works best if your plants are already in a shady place which isn’t too hot.
The Agriculture Way
Recommended Time Frame: 1-30 days
If you’re taking a long vacation and don’t want to give your house keys to someone else, here’s a way you can make sure to keep your plants healthy.
This requires you to buy some apparatus and needs work, but rest assured works extremely well.
You can setup a mini drip irrigation system for your garden. This is popular in large agricultural farms but the technique works in your backyard as well!
You’ll need a drip irrigation kit. There are many available on Amazon. Pick the one based on the number of plants you have.
How to set it up?
All drip irrigation systems have some sort of an inlet, pipes to carry the water and drips which slowly hydrate your plants.
You can connect the inlet to a tap, or as I did it – plug it into a bucket if you don’t have a tap in your balcony.
Spread the mesh of the thin pipes across your backyard garden. Ensure that only the tips of the pipes are near the main stem of the plant. Attach the drip to the ends of the pipes.
Fill the bucket with water. Switch on the taps and voila – you have an automatic drip irrigation system ready to go!
I find watering plants quite therapeutic. If you usually run a busy life – leave the drip irrigation setup as is for later too. Keep topping up the bucket as water runs out and keep your plants growing.
Safe Travels!
Leave a Reply