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How to Water While You're on Vacation
by Walter Chandoha
Water-soaked balls of newspaper nestled around potted plants in the sink will keep the surrounding air humidified while you're away. (Photo: Walter Chandoha)
All houseplant lovers face a common problem—how to keep their plants from drying out while they're away from home. Here are some ideas for keeping plants moist for a week or longer.
How To Do It
- Saturate the soil of your potted plants. Place each plant in a plastic bag punctured with a few holes and seal it with a twist tie. Put them all in the bathtub or in a large plastic tub, and have a nice vacation.
- Ball up sheets of newspaper, soak them in water, and stuff them around watered plants clustered in the sink or bathtub, out of the sun and away from heat. The wet paper keeps the air around the plants humid.
Walter Chandoha has been a professional freelance photographer and writer for over 40 years, specializing in flora and fauna of the world. Much of his inspiration is drawn from his 46-acre farm in northwestern New Jersey, where he has many experimental gardens of flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs, and ornamental grasses. His photographs and articles have appeared in books for Time/Life, Ortho, National Home Gardening Club, and Meredith Books, as well as in periodicals such as Good Housekeeping, National Geographic, Country Living, House Beautiful, Architectural Digest, Organic Gardening, Garden Design, Better Homes and Gardens, and The New York Times.