How to keep your plants alive while Traveling

1. Move your plants out of direct sunlight. Place them close together – this will provide shade and retain moisture.

2. Water your plants and place wet newspaper on the soil around them to retain the moisture.

3. If your plants are in flowerpots, you can also put damp newspaper or a wet oasis in the bottom. Then the plant can suck up the water when it needs it.

4. Not gotten around to recycling your bottles yet? Excellent! Wine bottles, beer bottles, and plastic bottles make great self-irrigation systems. Water the plant well, so that the soil is saturated, fill the bottle up with water, and stick it upside-down into the soil next to the plant. The water will be sucked out of the bottle as the soil begins to dry out, automatically watering your plant. Use a big bottle for a large plant and a small bottle for a small plant.

5. Another easy do-it-yourself irrigation system can be made from a bottle of water and a thick piece of cord. This can be a cotton shoelace, knitting yarn, or twine that you have wound together. Stick one end of the cord deep into the bottle and the other end a few centimeters into the soil next to the plant. Put the bottle on a book or brick, so it is slightly higher than the plant. The lace will then suck the water from the bottle and carry it down into the plant’s soil as needed.

6. Pick buds, flowers, and ripe fruits off the plants and give them away. Then the plant will not use up energy and water trying to maintain them. In any case, they will already be past their best by the time you get home.

7. Succulents and cacti can survive a long time without water, but they still need to be protected from direct sunlight so they don’t dry out and burn.

8. Going to be away for more than 2 weeks? Then find yourself a plant sitter who can water all your green friends for you.

Text by Lise Hannibal