Good afternoon friends!
Leaving on vacation in Crimea, I thought about how to leave indoor flowers for a long time, what to do so that they do not dry out during the holidays (I also call my days on vacation a vacation).
How to water flowers while on vacation: do it yourself autowatering
To prevent the flowers from wilting during the holidays, it is necessary to somehow arrange automatic watering for them. Special systems are now on sale automatic watering, but I wanted to do everything simply and with my own hands. I want to offer you several ways that I learned about. I must say right away that they all give a positive result, but you just need to approach each flower individually, because someone loves abundant watering, and someone, on the contrary, is categorically opposed to being poured.
First, our flowers must be prepared:
- Remove wilted buds so that they do not pick up excess moisture.
- Remove flowers from windows and, regardless of their preference for light, put in a shaded place.
- All methods must be tested in advance in order to correct and understand which is best for watering.
- On the day of departure, it is good to water the flowers.
Watering flowers by immersion in water
Highly convenient way: put flowers in pots in a large basin and pour water. In this case, it is advisable to put a spongy napkin made of porous fabric under the bottom of the pot, which will absorb and retain moisture. And fill the space around the pots with crumpled newspapers, which will not only hold moisture, but also prevent the rapid evaporation of water.
With this method of watering, the plant will take moisture little by little and without the danger of root rot.
This method is suitable for those plants that like moderate watering, for example, violets.
To be honest, I found out about him long before the trip, and when it came down to it, I forgot about the sponge and newspapers. But I know that in general, flowers from time to time should be placed in a bowl of water for at least a day, so that the walls of the pot and the roots of the plants are well wet.
I have not performed this procedure for a long time, so before leaving I immersed spathiphyllum, euphorbia and zephyranthes in water. I poured a lot of water and did not dare to put the violets.
All the days of my absence, the flowers, apparently, felt great, the ground remained moderately moist. Spathiphyllum even bloomed while I was away.
So leaving flowers for 10 days is quite possible, I really liked it.
Wick irrigation
I put a bucket of water in the center of the table, and around I placed violets, gloxinia and hippeastrum to accompany them.
From the bandage I twisted the flagella, dipped one edge of them into the water, and the other into the pot with the plant.
Thus, water gradually enters the ground through this wick from the bandage and watering is carried out. To ensure this, the water level in the container must be above the ground level in the pots.
I covered the bucket with a lid so that the water does not evaporate in vain.
And be sure to check the work of the method in advance, determine the acceptable width of the bundle. At first I tried to twist a bandage 14 cm wide. But after a day, the ground in one experimental pot with gloxinia was too wet, and even the tray was filled with water.
Therefore, at the time of departure, I cut the bandage in half lengthwise, i.e. it was 7 cm wide and my flowers did not wilted during my holidays.
An excellent method, I liked the fact that the width of the bundle can be adjusted to the speed of watering and you can leave the flowers like that for 10-15 days. If the flower is large, then several flagella can be laid to it.
But only with hippeastrum I had a misunderstanding: the wick fell out of the pot and all the water poured onto the table. The plant was not upset because of this, it does not really like water, it seemed to me that it even got prettier and stronger.
But you need to take this point into account and dig the wicks a little into the ground for reliability, and the length of the bundle should be such that its other edge is well immersed in water.
Drip irrigation
Here you need a five-liter bottle of water and a dropper - the same one that is sold at the pharmacy for medical procedures.
All needles are removed from it and a tube is left, which is placed in a bottle, the tip is suspended over the plant.
A clip in the dropper allows you to control the amount of water.
Watering flowers with a dropper is suitable for plants, especially loving moisturesuch as cyperus, lemon, azalea, begonia.
In this way, you can water the flowers when you leave for a long time, for 2 - 2.5 weeks.
Watering flowers while on vacation: a video, the tips from which I took note of and in which the above methods can be seen clearly:
Watering from a bottle
For large plants growing in large pots, you can arrange drip irrigation from a bottle, it is not at all necessary to buy a special dropper.
For this in plastic bottle pour water, screw it with a lid, in which you need to make a small hole, and install this structure in the pot.
I was going to water the palm and cyperus, which are sitting in my buckets. But my mistake was that I made the holes with a hot nail, they turned out to be too large, and the liquid dripped at too high a speed.
When using this method of watering, you need to make tiny holes with a needle and check the work a few days before leaving.
I didn’t experiment any more, but simply filled the plants with water well: I poured it as usual and poured one and a half liters more. Such watering was enough for them.
Hydrogel
The fact that you can use the hydrogel on vacation, I learned only now, when I began to write this post.
Hydrogels are small balls that swell in water and release moisture as needed. You can buy the hydrogel at flower shops.
Before leaving, the plant is watered and covered with hydrogel balls on top. And you can safely rest for 10 days, during which time the plants will feel comfortable.
There are probably other ways to water flowers on vacation. Share who knows what, write in the comments. And I was completely tripled by those I told about.
Interesting information for you:
If vacation is a joy to you, then for indoor plants this is a serious test.
Before leaving, try to make sure that they painlessly go through the separation and welcome you green and blooming.
The most serious problemthat flowers will experience during your vacation is the lack of water. You can solve it by purchasing special devices. The simplest is powered by a Krona battery and has a reservoir for irrigation. This should be enough for 2-3 weeks. If you don't need additional expenses before the vacation, you can do without store equipment.
Eight tips to prepare plants for extended loneliness.
1 Remove the flowers from the windowsill or draw the curtains tighter. The less light, the slower the life processes in plants, which means they need less moisture.
2 Water the soil well so that it is saturated with water. The pot can be wrapped with damp newspaper and cellophane on top. This will reduce moisture loss.
3 Small plants should be covered with plastic or glass domes, bottles, but so that their edges do not go beyond the pot and let air through from below. The evaporated water will condense on the walls and drain back into the ground.
4 You can place a clay pot in a larger plastic one, and cover the space between the walls of the pots with expanded clay, abundantly moistened with water.
5 Take a plastic bottle, fill it with water for irrigation and pierce the cork with a heated awl or fine knitting needle. Make the same hole at the bottom of the bottle. Then put it in a pot with the neck down, burying it 2-3 cm into the ground. Water flowing out drop by drop will moisten the soil for a long time. But such "bottle" watering requires a preliminary check. The holes may be too large and the soil will become waterlogged. Or, on the contrary, the water will flow out too slowly. Pick up optimal size holes are only possible by trial and error.
6 You can collect the pots in a basin and put them in the bathroom. Plants for a long time will remain fresh if the bottom of the basin is covered with a well-absorbent pad (felt, rug), and then several layers of newspaper are placed. Open the tap so that water flows out of it drop by drop. Just do not forget to leave the drain open, otherwise the neighbors will not be flooded for long. However, this method is not suitable for flowers that cannot do without sunlight for a long time.
7 Effectively moisturizes the soil and such " plumbing system": a woolen thread or bandage is dropped from one end into the ground in a pot, and the other end is dipped into a container with water, which should be located above the pot. You can also use wicks from any fabric that conducts water well. It is only important to take into account the size of the pot. one connecting "pipe", and for plants located in containers of a larger diameter, several threads or wicks will be required. If the plant is not afraid of waterlogging, you can place the pot in plastic bag and seal it on top with scotch tape.
8 For plants that are grown in pots with good drainage holes on the bottoms, can be used next way... Lay an oilcloth on the table (so as not to spoil the furniture), on it - a wide strip of any dense, well-moistened fabric (cloth, felt, gabardine rug, old baby blanket). Put pots with already watered plants on the fabric. The end of the fabric should hang off the table and sink into a large container of water placed just below the plants, for example high chair... In this case, the fabric lying on the table will not dry out for a long time, and the plants will receive water through the drainage holes of the pot.
Remember that all these methods are designed for a maximum of three to four weeks of your absence. If you have to go away for a longer period, then you cannot do without complex store-based automatic irrigation systems. However, they can be successfully replaced by neighbors or relatives.
5-7 days before departure, carefully check whether the plants are infested with pests and diseases. Remove all dried and diseased shoots and leaves, as well as large buds and flowers from the plant. Treat diseased plants with appropriate preparations.
It is better to cut off too large leaves.
Plants should be placed in a lighted place, but not in the sun.
Close both doors and windows so that there are no drafts in the room where the plants will remain.
Stop all types of feeding 2-3 weeks before departure.
If leaving plants in a pan of water, place flower pots on a dais of stones or on wooden coastersso that their roots do not freeze.
Flowers in ceramic pots tolerate separation better than those in plastic containers.
The most unpretentious
Tradescantia, begonia, dracaena easily tolerate a temporary lack of moisture. But in a week they will also want to "drink".
Aloe, agave, euphorbia tolerate temporary "droughts" and love sunlight, so it is better to leave them in the room on the windowsill, after well watering or providing drip irrigation.
Palm trees and ficuses that live on the balcony should be brought into the room during the holidays. And also provide drip (or other) irrigation. They, of course, are also unpretentious to moisture, but in three weeks of your absence they can get sick.
You love indoor plants. But you sometimes have to go somewhere, for example, on vacation. How to keep flowers during your absence? After all, do not leave them to their fate. Why can't you go anywhere because of the flowers? This is what will be discussed.
Even if you do not go on vacation, you may always need to go, for example, to your relatives or on a business trip. And that all "grown by overwork" will be lost? Oh no! 
... If there are no relatives or neighbors to whom you can entrust watering the plants, describing how, when and how much to water, then it does not matter. things are compatible. there is various options how to keep flowers during your absence.
The period of your departure is up to 7 days, if the weather is not very hot, the bulk of indoor plants can survive without special adaptations, here we are of course not talking about very delicate and moisture-loving plants... And if these are cacti and aloe, then they will calmly endure a two-week absence of watering.
In case of a weekly absence and hot weather, you can dress the pot along with the surface of the earth in plastic bag or put wet moss, felt material, or even just a piece of oilcloth on the surface of the earth, after watering the plants well. For the period of your absence, it is better to remove the plants from the windows, especially if these are southern windows.
For large flowers, you can organize drip irrigation from a small hole in the cork of a plastic bottle made with a thick needle. The bottle is placed vertically with the cork down on the surface of the ground, you can deepen it a little. A hole must also be made at the top of the inverted bottle (what used to be its bottom). To maintain the position of the bottle and give stability, it must be tied to some kind of support. How quickly water will flow out of the bottom hole depends on the size of the hole. This is determined in a practical way in advance.
If you are not at home for 10-12 days, then the most common way of watering plants will be watering them from a container of water supplied by strings.
Container with water
We remove the plants from the window, you can put them on the floor in a circle. In the middle of the circle, place a container with water, which should be located slightly above the ground in flower pots.
Watering plants while on vacation
We take a string or a narrow strip of fabric, one end of which we place in water, the other on the surface of the plant's ground. We do this procedure with all the plants placed around the container with water. Watering plants is carried out on a wet string.
As long as there is water in the container, the soil in the pots will be moist, so the water container should not be too small. The vents should not be left open. And it will be better if you limit the space in which you leave flowers by closing the doors to the room. Plants should not be placed in the bathroom, they still need light.
Plant under the jar
Small plants can be placed under glass jar... And you don't have to worry about them. The same jar can be used to cover low plants to the surface of the earth so that there are no gaps between the edge of the jar and the surface of the earth.
There are plastic wide jars on sale, they can also be covered, but already larger plants. Alternatively, you can use bottles from under drinking water... Cut off the top at the level of the tapering neck and cover the plants.
If you leave home for 2-3 weeks and there are a lot of plants, then you need to pack them more reliably. It is worth stocking up in advance plastic wrap big size... It is usually sold in a "stocking" 1.5m wide. For one package you will need 1-1.5 running meters depending on the height of indoor flowers.
Small plants can be packed in separate bags. If you put on a bag on top, then tie it tightly with a string at the bottom, stationery rubber bands or scotch tape will also do. If you put the plant in a bag, then the bag must be sealed on top. It is easier to use paper clips, a stapler, rubber bands, or simply tie it with a string.
If there are a lot of plants, then we compose them tightly to each other, taking into account that each of them should receive a little light, we put the taller and less light-loving ones in the background. Two or three of the tallest plants can be placed on the sides, they will hold the top of the film, I usually have large ficuses.
When the main part of the plants is composed, carefully put on the stocking from the film, straighten the film, lifting it up and fasten it with clothespins around large plants from above.
Flowers while on vacation
We also connect the ends of the film at the top with clothespins or paper clips, forming an airtight space under the film, where flowers will live during your absence. It is better to place such a greenhouse at a distance from the window, but it is also possible to place it on the window.
If you placed flowers on the window, then leave a small gap in the upper part of the film, when the sun comes out the excess heat will come out a little upward.
Water the houseplants well before wrapping them in plastic. It is necessary to install one or two glass-sized containers of water under the film, then even if it is very hot inside, the humidity will help the flowers survive.
If you grow flowers on special racks, then the principle is the same, just a lot more film is needed. The film covers the entire rack to the floor and containers with water are placed inside.
From practice. Geraniums do not like moisture and they need light, in extreme cases, place them separately from other flowers, on north side and do not put a container with water inside, then maybe they will be preserved better.
After long-term storage under the film, do not remove it abruptly, first open the top a little, and after the heat and moisture come out, remove the film completely. Some flowers may develop aerial roots, which can then be cut off. Some flowers can shed their leaves; pachistachis and pomegranate will definitely do this. Some of the plants will not be happy with excess moisture, some will wither, but they will survive. Ficuses, lemons, dieffenbachia, violets, syngoniums, begonias, ferns, eucharis, the fat woman tolerate such a life quite well.
The main thing that plants will need in your absence is water. Globally, there can be two outputs:
Keep the moisture that the plant received with the last watering for as long as possible... it a good option for a two-week absence. He can work with reservations even up to three weeks. He has only one advantage: he practically does not require financial investments.
Figure out how to provide plants with water without human assistance... There are very different ones, including automatic ones. They are irreplaceable if the plants have to exist independently for three weeks or more.
First, let's look at how to get out of the situation with a minimum of costs. So, indoor flowers can last up to fourteen days without watering, and even a little more if they are properly prepared. Of course, this is a last resort method that has its drawbacks.
We remind you that this method of plant conservation is, after all, quite stressful. Therefore, if you are leaving for more than a week, it makes sense to prepare cuttings of the most favorite species. They will take root in a jar of water while you are away.
Now how provide moisture supply... The design described above will last longer if an additional source of water is added. It may well be "handicraft" option... For example, make holes in the caps, pour water, and place the bottles upside down between the pots. The moisture should seep out drop by drop and moisturize the expanded clay. The hole size is determined experimentally.
The bottles prepared in this way can also be placed directly in the. The required bottle size depends on the size of the root ball. For example, large-sized tubers may need several bottles at once. But for plants in small pots, this method is unlikely to work.
Meanwhile, this efficient method: there are similar devices industrial production
... The simplest ones in English are called aqua globs (glass aqua globes, glass watering sphere, watering tubesArchimedes from Brigadier Werkzeuge). They consist of a glass bulb connected to a ceramic cone, which is submerged in the ground to moisten the earth ball more evenly. 
Due to the capillary-porous structure of its walls, water flows into the pot drop by drop. For large plants, such devices are recommended to be used in the amount of several pieces at a time. Ceramic cones Blumat Austria can be mentioned in the same series). They don't have a water tank that rolls on top. They are connected to the water supply using a thin hose. 
Another well-known and most common among amateurs method of passive watering of indoor plants- "connect" plants to a container of water by means of improvised wicks. It can be ropes, laces, woolen threads different diameters, twisted bandages and so on. One end of the wick must be lowered into a container of water (for example, a basin), and the other must be attached to a pot (for reliability, it will need to be fixed, for example, with a peg). Water will flow to the flowers due to the difference in capillary pressures.
In any case, both industrial and home-made humidification systems must be tested in advance. For example, trace the speed at which a particular wick conducts water. Otherwise, it may turn out that in an hour or two the basin will be empty, and the plants will find themselves in a puddle of water. It is also important to choose the capacity suitable sizeso that the plants have enough water, and determine at what level in relation to the pots it is best to put it: at the same height, higher or lower.
Good decision for passive irrigation can become capillary mats- mats made of hygroscopic material. They are sold in many garden centers and are inexpensive. (For home use, you should not purchase a capillary geotextile made from recycled materials.) The capillary mat can be spread on any flat surface, for example, on a table, dipping one of its edges into a container of water. Be sure to place a film under the rug to keep the surface dry. If it is difficult to lower the end of the rug into a container with water, you can cut off strips from its edge, moisten them with water, and then lower one end into the container, and place the other under the rug. By the way, you can try to adapt these same strips as wicks. 
There are ready-made trays for automatic irrigation of plants using capillary mats, for example, manufactured by Garland (England). They consist of a deep outer sump, an inner sump and a capillary mat. Pour water into the outer pallet, insert the inner pallet, lined with a rug, into it, and put the plants on it. The mat will draw water from the sump and give it to the plants. The producers promise that in this way the plants will be able to survive up to two weeks of your absence. Moreover, the plants are guaranteed not to rot the roots.
Do not put it directly into a container of water. Even if you do not want to buy capillary mats or expanded clay "in industrial" quantities. This method is well suited, for example, for, but in most other species common in room culture, if the pot is immersed in water for a long time, the roots are likely to rot.
It is likely that after considering all of these “easy” ways to water your houseplants, you’ll decide to buy an automatic watering system that is similar, but works more efficiently and reliably.
We are grateful to the online store Mastergrow.ru and Nikolai Vavakin for the samples provided for shooting.
If you are going on vacation for a couple of weeks, it is important to provide for indoor plants the necessary conditions... Then the flowers will greet you green and viable on your return. Watering flowers can be entrusted to relatives or neighbors, but this does not always work. How do you leave the plants in this case? In this article, we'll show you how to leave flowers while on vacation.
There are many ways to leave flowers on vacation without watering.
How to leave flowers without watering for a month
Indoor plants can easily live without watering for two to four weeks if you take the following steps:
- water the flowers abundantly before leaving;
- remove the pots from the windowsill and close the curtains tightly;
- wrap the pots with damp newspaper, and wrap the top with a plastic bag;
- cut off all buds and flowers, as well as thin out the leaf mass a little;
- small flowers can be covered with plastic caps, but so that air flows from below;
- place the pots more closely to keep the increased humidity around the flowers;
- place the pot with the plant in a larger container, and put expanded clay, which is moistened with water, in the gaps between the walls;
- you can put the pots in a basin, on the bottom of which put a material that absorbs water well, and on top of it lay a layer of newspapers, then open the tap so that the water flows out of it drop by drop (water will moisten the newspapers and material, creating the moisture necessary for plants).
Many of these methods are stressful for plants, but will allow them to survive your absence. Upon returning from vacation, you will have to try a little to return the flowers to their former splendor and beauty.
How to keep flowers and water them
If the vacation will be long, then it is better to purchase a special system drip irrigation... But this option is not cheap, so you can get by with improvised means. The easiest way is to use a plastic bottle. It is necessary to pierce the cork of the bottle with an awl (so that the hole is small), fill the container with water, screw the cork and put the bottle in the ground with the neck down, deepening it by 2-3 cm.
The droplets flowing from the bottle will gradually moisten the soil
Another well-known method is wick irrigation. For it, strips of fabric are taken that absorb water well. One end of the strip is placed in a pot and sprinkled with a little soil, and the other is placed in a vessel of water located above the surface of the earth in the pot.