To keep your plants alive while you are away, deeply water them just before you leave. For a short trip, group them in a bright but cool, shaded area to reduce evaporation. For longer trips, set up a DIY wicking system, use a water bottle dripper, or group your plants in the bathtub with a shallow tray of water.
Use a self-watering pot or wicking system. These systems will help to keep your plants watered for a longer period of time. Ask a neighbor or friend to water your plants while you're gone. This is the best way to ensure that your plants get the care they need.
To keep plants watered for two weeks, deeply saturate the soil just before leaving. For longer-lasting moisture, use a wick system, insert glass or inverted wine bottles filled with water, or place your plants together in a sink/tub with a few inches of water.
#plants need water
They can survive 2 to 6+ weeks without water, depending on light and season. Dry soil is their friend, overwatering is a bigger risk than underwatering. During colder months, you'll need to water even less frequently. Watch for signs like wrinkled leaves to know when it's time to water again.
Group your houseplants together and set up a wicking system
Group them together to help maintain humidity. Ensure the potting mix stays moist. “Place plants in the bathtub or laundry sink and fill with a few centimetres of water to allow moisture to be absorbed through the drainage holes,” advises Angie.
One to two weeks away
For plants not in a self-watering container, adding a saucer beneath them is another option. Fill a deep saucer or a shallow bowl with pebbles and then with water. Set the plant you'd like to keep moist on top and water thoroughly before you leave.
- ceramic spikes that you screw a pop bottle into. These work well for larger plants. You soak the spike for a few hours so it isn't sucking moisture outta your soil, make sure your plant is already watered, then screw the water bottle full of water onto it, then jab it into the soil.
The Amish water their crops by prioritizing natural soil moisture retention over mechanical irrigation. For fields that require supplemental watering, they rely on gravity-fed systems or manual labor using buckets, totes, and traditional watering cans filled from nearby creeks, ponds, or cisterns.
October is a great time to plant those fall flowers. There are many varieties that can be planted this fall and start blooming early spring. Garlic (Zones 5-10): Garlic is a vegetable that can be planted in the fall for a larger and earlier harvest this coming spring.
The classic plant that universally says "I love you" is the Red Rose. However, if you are looking for long-lasting houseplants or specific symbolic meanings in the Victorian language of flowers, there are several wonderful alternatives to express your deepest affections.
Place the bag in the plant's pot with the wick touching the soil. The water will drain at a continuous rate into the soil, with the bag deflating slowly in the process. If you need to deliver more water to a particular plant, you can either add more wicks to one bag, or add more bags to that plant's pot.
Timing makes a big difference to how effectively plants use water.
Conserving water is a simple yet impactful way to help the environment and lower your utility bills. By making small adjustments—like fixing household leaks and shortening your showers—you can save thousands of gallons of water every year.
Here are our best tips to keep your plants alive:
You can easily make a self-watering system for your plants using a plastic water bottle, a cotton swab, and a wooden stick (like a chopstick or skewer). This homemade drip system will steadily release water, keeping your plants hydrated for several days.
Many houseplants can withstand some watering neglect, and if you aren't gone too long, they may not need any supplemental solutions if you're watered them right before your trip. Take care not to overwater, however, or you could be compounding the problem.
Orchids. Orchids are royal decorative flowers, and specimens in white symbolize "I miss you." White orchids also convey purity, innocence, and elegance. These flowers are easy to care for, which is why they will remind one of the senders.
Beauty is entirely subjective, but a few plants consistently capture the title of the world's most beautiful depending on whether you value classic floral elegance, rare exotic geometry, or unique foliage.
White Roses – A Clear, Sincere “I'm Sorry”
White roses are one of the safest and most meaningful flowers for an apology. They signal sincerity, respect, and a clean start. They can say “I'm sorry” without adding extra romance or pressure. This is why white roses work for almost any relationship.
Bill Gates argued against relying on planting trees as a primary solution to climate change, calling the idea "complete nonsense". He believes tree planting is insufficient, unproven at scale, and distraction from necessary technological solutions like direct air capture, arguing that emissions reduction requires fundamental industrial changes rather than relying on reforestation.
To help guide your fall gardening to-do list, here are 10 common perennials you should avoid planting in autumn if you want them to thrive.
The two birth flowers for October are the Marigold and the Cosmos. These flowers perfectly represent the autumn season, providing vibrant colors in gardens until the first frost, symbolizing warmth, creativity, and peace.
Many traditional Amish communities consider manufactured toilet paper an unnecessary luxury and use resource-saving alternatives instead. In outhouses, families often repurpose old newspapers, magazine pages, or catalogs (like the Sears and Roebuck catalog). To make the paper soft enough to use, they crumple it vigorously multiple times.
I'm sure you have heard the old saying that snow is “poor man's fertilizer.” The saying comes from the idea that snow storms deliver small but meaningful nutrients to the soil and there is real science behind that. As snowflakes fall, they collect nitrogen and ammonium and release them during the melt.
Can the Amish Use Condoms? Condoms are considered a modern and artificial form of birth control. The Amish reject modern and artificial things by nature. Therefore, the use of condoms by Amish men is strictly forbidden and condemned in most, if not all, Amish communities.