How My Plants Survived A Week Without Me

My husband & I recently took a week's vacation in the Smoky Mountains and I was surprised by how many messages I received about my houseplants. Did you have someone water them for you? How did they know how much to give each one? How did they know which ones needed to be watered? I asked myself those same questions for weeks leading up to our vacation. We hired a house/pet sitter but considering the number of animals & plants that we have, I felt bad asking them to tend our plants too. Plus, I was looking to save a few bucks.

The truth is, I made it very simple for everyone involved and I am so pleased with the outcome.

I didn't have our house sitter worry about the plants at all. Mainly because I didn't want them to have a heavy hand when watering. Overwatering is the #1 killer of houseplants all over the world! If your house sitter isn't a plant person, then knowing how to gauge the amount of water each plant would need & when they would need it is practically impossible!

Here are a few tips when planning a vacation away from your houseplants:

• Plan to be away for a week at most. Most plants don't need to be watered more than once a week. Too much water can do more harm than good so if they get thirsty before your arrival back home, that's okay! They will recover quickly, just make sure you water them upon arriving.

• Schedule your vacation in the Fall/Winter months. As summer fades and the leaves start to change, so do your houseplants. New growth slows down and sometimes completely stops in the winter. This means you don't have to water as frequently. Your houseplants actually become less needy.

• Water every plant the night before or the morning of departure. While it is impossible to get all of your houseplants on the same watering schedule (unless you have the same type of plant) I recommend trying to have your plants ready to be watered by the time you are ready to leave. Ex: For my pothos, I simply extended the days between waterings, so that I could give them a drink the day before departure.

• Set a timer. For our herb wall, we simply bought a timer that most use for Christmas lights. We plugged our grow light into that. Every morning at 7am the lights switched on and switched off at 5pm.

I had originally planned on teaching my sister how to water my plants for the few months leading up to our vacation but decided that would be too much work. She was up for the task, but it was asking a lot. I may have over thought this task in the beginning but I am so glad I came up with this simple solution.

Do you have any other tips or suggestions for vacationing away from your houseplants? Let me know on Instagram @always_willow & don't forget to subscribe!

Always,

Erikka