In mid-July, I have to go to a wedding in Hawaii, and I will be away about 9
days. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, and I have a variety of tropicals in a
variety of pot sizes. Usually I water about twice a week ... depending on
the weather, etc.

Someone has suggested that if the opening of the base of the pot (below the
stem) is covered with plastic food wrap (i.e. Saran Wrap), the watering
cycle can be stretched out ... in an "emergency". Would this work? Or would
it be necessary to perhaps cover the plant itself, to some extent (to
minimize evaporation) ?

It is not practical to have someone come in to water the plants.

Any tips are appreciated !

-RS-

"RS" wrote in
:

In mid-July, I have to go to a wedding in Hawaii, and I will be away
about 9 days. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, and I have a variety of
tropicals in a variety of pot sizes. Usually I water about twice a
week ... depending on the weather, etc.

Someone has suggested that if the opening of the base of the pot
(below the stem) is covered with plastic food wrap (i.e. Saran Wrap),
the watering cycle can be stretched out ... in an "emergency". Would
this work? Or would it be necessary to perhaps cover the plant itself,
to some extent (to minimize evaporation) ?

It is not practical to have someone come in to water the plants.

Any tips are appreciated !

-RS-

Here is a trick I picked from Martha Stewart. Fill a container with
water. Connect the plant and water container with a wick or some other
water absorbing material. As the plant becomes dry, the water should be
wicked over to the plant. I don't know if this works and don't have any
more information on what material you should use for the wick.

-- Salty

"RS" wrote in message
...
In mid-July, I have to go to a wedding in Hawaii, and I will be away about
9
days. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, and I have a variety of tropicals in
a
variety of pot sizes. Usually I water about twice a week ... depending on
the weather, etc.

Someone has suggested that if the opening of the base of the pot (below
the
stem) is covered with plastic food wrap (i.e. Saran Wrap), the watering
cycle can be stretched out ... in an "emergency". Would this work? Or
would
it be necessary to perhaps cover the plant itself, to some extent (to
minimize evaporation) ?

It is not practical to have someone come in to water the plants.

Any tips are appreciated !

You might look around a garden center for ideas. I have seen tips that
screw onto plastic soda bottles that you insert into the pot. The tip is
like a drip emitter and keeps the soil moist. Here is an example:
http://www.inline-ponds.com/kanta2.htm

The trick is probably older than Martha herself! Some close to fifty years
ago, my mother used this method every time, we went on holidays for some
three weeks and longer.

You arrange your plants in a circle arround a bucket large enough to hold
water for all plants. If memory serves me right, we always raised the bucket
above the hight of the tallest of the pots. Also choose the place for your
plants carefully. We always had ours on a table close to a window, but out
of direct sunlight. You don't want the sun to dry out the yarn before the
moisture can reach the pots! If you have lots of plants, make several
groups.

Buy some thick cotton yarn in a craftstore. Cut pieces a fair bit longer,
than the distance from the bottom of the water bucket to the plants. Align
all ends and tie a knot. Place the knot on the bottom of the waterbucket and
weigh it down with a brick. Place one thread into each pot, below
earthlevel, securing it well. A toothpick with the yarn looped around will
be ok. Fill the waterbucket to the top and watch the yarn get wet.

Happy holidays! IS

Salty Thumb wrote in message
...
"RS" wrote in
:

In mid-July, I have to go to a wedding in Hawaii, and I will be away
about 9 days. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, and I have a variety of
tropicals in a variety of pot sizes. Usually I water about twice a
week ... depending on the weather, etc.

Someone has suggested that if the opening of the base of the pot
(below the stem) is covered with plastic food wrap (i.e. Saran Wrap),
the watering cycle can be stretched out ... in an "emergency". Would
this work? Or would it be necessary to perhaps cover the plant itself,
to some extent (to minimize evaporation) ?

It is not practical to have someone come in to water the plants.

Any tips are appreciated !

-RS-

Here is a trick I picked from Martha Stewart. Fill a container with
water. Connect the plant and water container with a wick or some other
water absorbing material. As the plant becomes dry, the water should be
wicked over to the plant. I don't know if this works and don't have any
more information on what material you should use for the wick.

-- Salty

Cheap, simple and free:

Group the plants tightly together in a place with extremely dim light. Water
them normally. Go to Hawaii. Less light, less need for water. I have indoor
tropicals which have gone 14 days this way. They've muttered a few
obscenities upon my return, but they fared OK.

Just one thing: If any of the plants' roots are pot-bound (close to filling
up the pot completely), there will be problems. You can spot this easily,
since water runs right through those pots very quickly, and the plants dry
out much faster than the others. Re-pot them now.

On Thu, 19 Jun 2003 15:44:31 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

Cheap, simple and free:

Group the plants tightly together in a place with extremely dim light. Water
them normally. Go to Hawaii. Less light, less need for water. I have indoor
tropicals which have gone 14 days this way. They've muttered a few
obscenities upon my return, but they fared OK.

Just one thing: If any of the plants' roots are pot-bound (close to filling
up the pot completely), there will be problems. You can spot this easily,
since water runs right through those pots very quickly, and the plants dry
out much faster than the others. Re-pot them now.

Whichever of the options you choose, be careful of the surface on
which the operation stands.

I went away for a month, and grouped everything on plastic,
so my housemate could water easily. Came back to find hardwood floor
discolored due to leakage. Major PITA to r efinish!!!

I may have to do that again for a longer period. I'll either put
plants on the kitchen floor, or on a much thicker and better plastic
underlay. And warn housemate not to overwater!

Good luck!

--

Persephone

wrote in message
news

Whichever of the options you choose, be careful of the surface on
which the operation stands.

I went away for a month, and grouped everything on plastic,
so my housemate could water easily. Came back to find hardwood floor
discolored due to leakage. Major PITA to r efinish!!!

I may have to do that again for a longer period. I'll either put
plants on the kitchen floor, or on a much thicker and better plastic
underlay. And warn housemate not to overwater!


Leave a measuring device, and tell the temporary plant servant to use it.

"Salty Thumb" wrote in message
...
"RS" wrote in
:

In mid-July, I have to go to a wedding in Hawaii, and I will be away
about 9 days. Any tips are appreciated !

-RS-

If you put 'vacation plant watering' in a Google search you'll get a
bunch of sites with good instructions on how to keep your plants alive
during extended periods of absence.

Val

RS wrote:

In mid-July, I have to go to a wedding in Hawaii, and I will be away about 9
days. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, and I have a variety of tropicals in a
variety of pot sizes. Usually I water about twice a week ... depending on
the weather, etc.

Someone has suggested that if the opening of the base of the pot (below the
stem) is covered with plastic food wrap (i.e. Saran Wrap), the watering
cycle can be stretched out ... in an "emergency". Would this work? Or would
it be necessary to perhaps cover the plant itself, to some extent (to
minimize evaporation) ?

It is not practical to have someone come in to water the plants.

Any tips are appreciated !

Long ago I heard someone suggest leaving the plants in your
bathtub. Leave some water in the tub. I think they also said
you should cover the whole thing with plastic, although I'm
not absolutely sure. It makes sense, though.

8^)~~~ Sue (remove the x to e-mail)
~~~~~~

"I reserve the absolute right to be smarter
today than I was yesterday." -Adlai Stevenson
*************************************************
http://www.eckhardt.net/suzanne/
*************************************************
Due to the receipt of unmanagable amounts of SPAM,
I have had to add an extra letter to my e-mail
address. Remove the "x" to contact me directly.

On Thu, 19 Jun 2003 17:14:25 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

wrote in message
news

Whichever of the options you choose, be careful of the surface on
which the operation stands.

I went away for a month, and grouped everything on plastic,
so my housemate could water easily. Came back to find hardwood floor
discolored due to leakage. Major PITA to r efinish!!!

I may have to do that again for a longer period. I'll either put
plants on the kitchen floor, or on a much thicker and better plastic
underlay. And warn housemate not to overwater!


Leave a measuring device, and tell the temporary plant servant to use it.

What kind of "measuring device"? The only one I know about is my
finger, stuck into the dirt. Seriously, please explain; thanks.

--

Persephone

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 19 Jun 2003 17:14:25 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote:

wrote in message
news

Whichever of the options you choose, be careful of the surface on
which the operation stands.

I went away for a month, and grouped everything on plastic,
so my housemate could water easily. Came back to find hardwood floor
discolored due to leakage. Major PITA to r efinish!!!

I may have to do that again for a longer period. I'll either put
plants on the kitchen floor, or on a much thicker and better plastic
underlay. And warn housemate not to overwater!


Leave a measuring device, and tell the temporary plant servant to use it.

What kind of "measuring device"? The only one I know about is my
finger, stuck into the dirt. Seriously, please explain; thanks.


Sorry about being vague. Most non-gardeners probably wouldn't understand the
"stick your finger in the soil" method. So, leave them an empty 32 oz yogurt
container or something like that, and a list of which plants get how much,
how often. Err on the dry side.

My direct experience: I have a friend who left her plants alone for 5 weeks.
I was only able to visit during weeks 1 and 2. Out of a dozen plants, one
died. The rest insisted on looking awful upon her return, in order to teach
her a lesson. You're talking less than two weeks for yours. Have a friend
trickle a little water and you'll do fine. Plants are pretty tough.

Take a look at this, works great..........................

http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page...,2280,33159&ab
spage=1&ccurrency=1&SID=






"RS" wrote in message
...
In mid-July, I have to go to a wedding in Hawaii, and I will be away about
9
days. I live in Edmonton, Alberta, and I have a variety of tropicals in
a
variety of pot sizes. Usually I water about twice a week ... depending on
the weather, etc.

Someone has suggested that if the opening of the base of the pot (below
the
stem) is covered with plastic food wrap (i.e. Saran Wrap), the watering
cycle can be stretched out ... in an "emergency". Would this work? Or
would
it be necessary to perhaps cover the plant itself, to some extent (to
minimize evaporation) ?

It is not practical to have someone come in to water the plants.

Any tips are appreciated !

-RS-