What to do with your houseplants when you go on vacation

How to leave them to fend for themselves, or at the mercy of someone else

I don’t tend to go on vacation for long stretches of time (primarily because I’m pretty much a hermit). But when I do go away, one of the first things I think about is figuring out how my plants will survive without me 😅

These are some of the options I’ve tried.

Photo by Annie Spratt via Unsplash

#1 do nothing extra

I tend to water nearly all my plants only once a week, maximum. And I usually don’t go away longer than a week, so I make sure that they’re watered before I leave and leave it at that.

#2 put plants in small bowls or dishes of water

I have a few plants that really like their soil to stay fairly moist, so during heatwaves or when I’m away for some time, I put them in a saucer or small bowl with some water in it. This only works, of course, if there’s a hole in the bottom of the pot. Otherwise, there are quite a lot of devices out there that you can stick into the plant and then fill with water, like watering globes.

#3 temporarily move a few plants

If your plants get less light, they’ll need less water. So moving them away from windows or into a darker area while you’re away can be a good idea. Supposedly houseplants also benefit by placing them close together as it helps them to retain moisture.

#4 communicate your watering schedule

If someone else is in your house while you’re away, or someone is coming in to water your plants, communicate your schedule to them.

I’ll be honest: this makes me nervous. I’m much more likely to tell someone to please, please, please leave my plants alone, than to ask them to water them.

Part of this is that I know that what is ‘normal’ for my plants is not ‘normal’ for someone else’s plants. I’ve written before about how the same species of plant can grow quite differently and have different needs in a different house—every house is an ecosystem to which the plant responds. And: not everyone waters the same. I’m a stingy waterer, but my partner is much more generous for instance.

If you don’t have that many houseplants, a moisture meter can be a good investment here, especially if you tell the caretaker when to water a plant.

#5 get very detailed

A few years ago, I went abroad for work for three months. Taking my 100+ houseplants wasn’t really an option, so I left them in my partner’s care. He’s good with plants, generally, but in our house, I take care of nearly all of our plants, so I was a little worried nonetheless. Especially as it turned out that he wasn’t able to tell a succulent from a non-succulent, and he’s a generous waterer.

I ended up putting little paper (cake) flags in the soil of the plants that had more special requirements (cacti, succulents, and one or two plants that needed to stay more moist). On those flags I wrote ‘cactus’, ‘succulent’ and ‘keep me moist!’.

I also wrote a little overview of how I water the plants, kept the schedule in mind when I was abroad and texted him whenever plants needed checking or watering.

Yes, this is a bit much, but I’m passionate about my plants.

What do you do about your plants when you’re away for an extended period or a short break? What tips do you give the people taking care of your plants?

currently

Watching a few plants more carefully while we’re going through a heatwave

Enjoying new leaves on some of my baby Hoyas