Extended Vacation – What Happens to Your Houseplants?

While there are some tricks for short absences where houseplants can self-sufficiently care for themselves, a longer vacation requires a significant effort if you don't want all your plants to be wilted in the window upon your return.

There are several vacation watering systems available commercially. These are designed for various quantities and function differently. If considering purchasing such a system, it's best to simply seek advice at a garden center. However, other small tricks are also known that make it possible to supply plants without such a watering system.

A clay cone is pressed into the substrate. It is connected by a tube to a higher-standing vessel. This way, the cone is always filled and releases water to the plant through its clay wall. However, if you have many pots, this is quite elaborate.

A woolen thread, running from a water reservoir into the plant soil, ensures a certain water supply here. Because it remains constantly moist and releases water to the plant. It is absolutely essential to ensure that the thread is not too thin and that no sheep's wool is used. This is because sheep's wool has an extremely high fat content, which impedes water flow.

"Another old trick is to stick an open, filled water bottle into the soil. Based on this principle, there are also glass spheres that can be inserted into the soil with a long tube and also look nice. The principle is that water only flows out of the container when air enters it. This only happens when the soil is dry. However, whether this system works well depends very much on how permeable the chosen substrate is and how quickly it drains water.

All these tricks are intended for indoor use, so that houseplants do not have to go without water during your absence. In principle, other variants should be preferred for outdoor areas, but that depends on the location. If some potted plants are covered, for example in the entrance area, and thus do not get any rain, you can work with the same methods as for houseplants."