How to Keep Plants Alive While You're on Leave
Whether you're going on vacation, traveling for work, or simply being pulled away from your home life, having a plan for your plants while you're away is a must. The last thing you need is to be worrying about your indoor plants while you're gone. No worries, because we have a few things you can do to make sure your plants stay happy and healthy while you're away enjoying yourself.
Not All Plants are Good for Frequent Travelers
If you're someone who likes to go on vacation a lot or is frequently pulled away for work, consider getting plants that are more resilient and easier to maintain. We have many varieties to choose from, and there are plenty of choices for the frequent traveler out there. Here are just a few of our favorite plants:
Plants Like Comfortable Temperatures
Not so different than people, plants love a nice room temperature, so don't turn off that thermostat. Plants prefer a temperature around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. This is the optimal temperature that most indoor plants like for nice healthy growth. If it's winter time and you keep your house too cold, you run the risk of killing your plants. Many plants love tropical temperatures, but allowing your home to get too hot could risk drying your plants out. It is a good idea to group your plants in one location, this will increase the humidity around your plants.
Move Your Plants to Lower Light Areas
While you're away, your plants will likely have less water at their disposal. Now, we don't want to be putting our plants in a dark room. However, in your absence, it's good to move your plants a little further from their regular light sources. This advice may slow down the growth of your plants, but it will allow them to maintain themselves for longer than normal without their regular care routine.
Use Recycled Bottles to Keep Your Plants Watered
If you have some empty glass bottles handy, you can use a simple trick that'll keep a steady supply of water for your plants over a short period of time. The size of the bottle used will depend largely on how much water your particular plant needs. For larger plants, you can use an empty wine bottle. You'll fill the bottle with water and quickly stick the stem of the bottle in the soil. This will slowly water your plants over the course of a few days. Of course, it's very important that you clean the bottle thoroughly before you do this!
Before Your Vacation, Make Sure You Groom Your Plants
Just like people, plants need to be groomed to look and feel healthy. Make sure that any stagnant leaves or dead flowering have been removed before your vacation. We want to give our plants the best possible experience while we're gone and making sure they're at their best is a great start.
Get a Friend to Watch Your Plants While You're Gone
Sometimes we need an extended vacation and we want our leafy friends to stay nice and happy for those longer stretches. In this case, it's best to reach out to a friend to visit your home periodically to check-in. Be sure to leave instructions on how to take care of them. One thing we find useful is to put sticky notes that remind them exactly what your plants like. If you're lucky, you might even get them to sing to them.