How to Water your Plants while Away on Vacation

Have you thought about how you will water your houseplants when you are not home?

You need a watering plan if you want to keep your potted plants happy and hydrated while you are away for a while.

The best plan, of course, is to have someone else take care of your plants while you are on vacation. But if you don’t have a plant sitter or fancy plant watering service, no problem.

There are a few different ways to water indoor plants while on vacation depending on how long your trip will be. From a week or two to a month or more.

How to Water Plants While Away

Watering your indoor plants while away is different than your regular watering regime. Long-distance watering involves a bit more planning and preparation.

The ideal plan is to find a trustworthy friend or neighbor willing to drop in twice a week while you are away (once a week in non-summer months).

Remember to leave out your watering can and give your plant sitter easy instructions: Feel the soil around each plant, about one inch down. If it’s dry, the plant needs watering. If it feels moist, don’t.

If you don’t have someone to water your plants while you are on vacation, there are ways to help your plants fend for themselves until you get back.

There are self-watering planters and globes, DIY greenhouses, and plant watering systems that you can easily build yourself.

Related reading: Beginners Guide to Basic Houseplant Care.   

Prepare your Plants Before You Leave

Take a few easy pre-departure preparations to keep your plants green and healthy during your trip away.

There is more! Learn all about summer houseplant care. Keep your plants thriving during hot sun-filled days.

Water Plants when Away: Up to a Week

If you are going away for just a few days or a week, most plants won’t have too much trouble surviving. Thoroughly water your plants right before you leave, they’ll stay moist for up to one week. Succulents and cacti even longer.

You can group the plants, to raise the humidity around them. Place the plants where they’ll get light but no direct sun.

After your vacation, if plants are drooping, a quick watering should revive them.

How to Leave Plants for 2 Weeks

If you will be away longer, like a two-week vacation, you should start thinking about some kind of watering system so your houseplants don’t dehydrate while you are gone.

• Put each plant on a saucer or tray. Fill those with pebbles or a wet towel and place in the center of the room where they will get indirect light.
• Group your plants together and water each plant thoroughly.
• Then pour water into the saucers or trays. Resting on the pebbles or wet towels, the plants get plenty of humidity without getting waterlogged.

Another option is to use self-watering planters or drip water globes. More on these later.

How to Water Plants While Away for a Month

Will you be away for an extended period? Somewhere between two and six weeks? Let’s say a month. How do you water your houseplants while on vacation for a month?

You can purchase self-watering planters. Each plant will need one, so if you have more than one or two plants, you might not want to buy so many planters. Although often you can buy self-watering planters with multiples in a set.

You can make a temporary DIY greenhouse with a plastic bag (see below for how-to), or put your plants in the bathtub and turn your entire bathroom into a vacation greenhouse. And if you have some string you can make an automatic plant watering system!

There are a few plants that you can leave behind without concern for a month or more, while you go off on vacation. Cacti and succulents can do without water for one or two months.
Further reading: When to water succulents – When to water cactus plants.

DIY Plant Greenhouse

It is fairly simple to make temporary DIY greenhouses for your plants. With clear plastic bags, you can create a humid environment for your humidity-loving plants to sit in while you are away on vacation.

• Set the pot on a saucer and water the plant thoroughly. Let excess drain through the bottom of the pot.
• Put several sticks (or bent wire coat hangers) into the soil. Gently, be careful with the roots. The sticks or wireframe should be taller than the plant.
• Then cover the container with a plastic bag. Pull around and over the frame. Make sure the plastic does not touch the leaves.
• Position where the plant gets indirect sun, or provide artificial grow light on a timer.
• When you return, cut open the top of the bag. Allow the plant to remain in the opened bag for several days to prevent re-entry shock.

With large plants place the pot only inside a large plastic bag. Tie the bag closed at the base of the plant’s stem. You can place multiple plants together into one large, plastic dry-cleaning bag.

Bathroom Greenhouse

If your bathroom has natural light, you can create a more elaborate greenhouse for your large plants using your bathtub.

You’ll need several plastic dry-cleaning bags, tape, and an empty flowerpot for each plant.

• Plug the drain and fill the tub with about five inches of water. Place a towel on the bottom to prevent scratches.
• Set the empty pots upside down in the water and place well-watered plants on top of the inverted pots.
• Tape plastic bags together to form a sheet. Tape one side of the sheet to the back wall (high enough to clear the top of the plants) and tape the other side to the edge of the tub, forming a canopy to create a greenhouse effect.

For smaller plants, you can tape the plastic sheet over the top of the tub. Make sure the plastic is not touching the leaves. Punch a few holes for ventilation.

Plants can survive this way for at least six weeks. In bathrooms without ample natural light, timed artificial light must be provided.

Note that the greenhouse method is not recommended for plants that do not like humidity, like succulents and cacti. Or plants susceptible to root rot, like rubber plants.

Self-Watering Planters and Globes

Regardless of how long you’ll be away, self-watering planters can be the solution. These pots hold a supply of water in their base which is slowly released into the soil.

Self-watering planters are great for water-loving plants, such as Boston ferns, fittonias, polka dot plants, and many flowering plants.

Another automatic watering option is to use watering globes. These are glass or plastic bulbs with long, thin stems. You fill the bulbs with water and insert the pointed end into the soil. Water drips slowly into the soil, giving the plant a drink as needed.

As an alternative, you can make a DIY water globe with an upside-down plastic water bottle. You can even get handy spikes to position the bottles on and control the flow of water.

DIY Indoor Plant Watering System

It is quite simple to water multiple plants while you are on vacation if you set up a homemade self-watering system.

All you need is a bowl or bucket of water and, as a wick, a piece of cotton string or a strip of fabric torn from an old sheet.

• Put the potted plant on the floor out of direct sunlight. Set a bowl of water next to the plant. Keep in mind that the higher the water is positioned, the quicker water will be dispensed to the plant.

The longer you are going away, or the more plants the bowl is watering, the larger you will want the bowl or bucket to be.

• Cut string to reach between the plants and the bucket. Soak the strings first, then place one end in the water and rest the other end on the soil.

Through capillary action, water will travel up and through the string and keep the plant top-soil moist. You can place three or four plants around a single container; just use a separate string for each. Use more than one string to water large plants.

To slow down evaporation from your water source, cover the bowl with a plastic lid, or plastic wrap and thread the strings through holes cut in the lid.

When you Return

If the weather was very hot during your time away, your plants may look dried out when you return. Assuming your house plants haven’t been wilting for too long, you may be able to revive them.

The first time back, don’t water from the top. Submerge the bottom of each pot, and let them soak up water through the drainage holes. Then leave the plants in a cool spot in indirect light.

You may need to prune some plants back a little too. Wait until the plants look healthy before you put them in any direct sunlight.

Further reading: How and when to water indoor plants – How to use a moisture meter.