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Tricks to care for and protect your plants when you go on vacation
Plants
Putting them together, avoiding direct light and promoting hydration are key to surviving your absence
If the care of plants sometimes becomes complicated, when we talk about summer it can be even more so: heat, dehydration and travel, which make us separate from them, make us need to follow some guidelines for our plants to arrive in the fall in perfect condition.
They comment from ‘Monstera’ that summer is actually an ideal time for plants, as there are more hours of light and more heat. “Even so, these changes can stress them out, so it is necessary to update our routines a bit», They assure from their technical team.
First of all, they recommend increasing the frequency of watering. “Plants absorb water more quickly and high temperatures also promote its evaporation,” they explain. They also recommend rotate the plants 90º with each watering, so that all sheets receive a uniform and balanced exposure.
Caring for plants in summer
“Do not place them near doors or windows that open and close constantly, or near sources of heat or air conditioning, as they dry out the environment,” they warn from ‘Monstera’. Also, remember that, the hotter the heat, the more plants are grateful for a humid environment. “If you have tropical plants at home, you can group them according to their needs and provide them with more environmental humidity: spray them very often, add a plate at the base of the pots with stones and water, put glasses of water around or use a humidifier”, they say.
Still it is important to keep in mind that not all plants benefit from spraying. Those that have fleshy, velvety leaves or that store a lot of water, tend to be very wet if they are sprayed, so it can favor the appearance of fungal infections.
Must have be careful with the use of compost. They explain from ‘Monstera’ that this product is not a medicine, so it should not be used to solve problems or diseases. “It is useless to fertilize a diseased plant, you have to treat it first,” they say. The idea is to feed the pot regularly with compost, and not wait for it to have a problem.
The best plants for the heat
If we live in a hot area, the plants that best withstand the heat are: palm trees, cacti, succulents, pothos, crotons, some thick-leaved philodendrons and monsteras.
One of the most common dilemmas during the summer season is what to do with the plants when we go on vacation. If we do not have anyone who can come to water them, we should try to take measures for these to survive the best possible way.
«If we go on vacation many days, it will be ideal to group the plants in a room where they can receive indirect light and prepare an irrigation system with a water tank», They explain from ‘Monstera’, who recommend testing the system beforehand to« find no surprises when you return from the holidays ». In addition, if they are grouped together, we will allow each other to benefit from their perspiration.
How to prepare a home irrigation system
If we want to leave a sirrigation system for our plants On the days that we are not at home, the Sally Hambleton team suggests the following: Place a container with water and, using a thick cotton cord, insert one end of the cord in water and the other end in the plant substrate, generating irrigation by capillarity.
“There are many examples, if you do a little research on the Internet. But, the most important thing is to try it before we go on vacation », they explain from the team.
For its part, Sally Hambleton’s team recommends leaving the plants in a room with the windows up. “It is a very common mistake to leave plants in the dark and this directly kills them, as they need light,” they point out. What’s more propose to place a padding on the substrate: cover aggregate for succulents (stones, volcanic rock, …) and organic mulch (pine bark) for the rest of the plants. “With this the humidity of the substrate is maintained, thus reducing the frequency of waterings”, they say.
Other recommendations are: put glasses full of water between the plants to increase the humidity, fertilize them a little one or two days before leaving, check them well to verify that they do not have any pests, and clean its leaves to improve photosynthesis and eliminate any mites.
What to do if our plants are bad on the way back
Although we take all precautions, when we arrive we may see our plants ‘withered’ or ‘decayed’. If this happens, there can be two scenarios, in which we must do two different things:
1. If it is dry or practically dry, the plant may have been hot and thirsty. It is highly recommended to put the pot and root ball in a bucket, for example, with water and leave it there for at least half an hour, so we will impregnate the substrate well. At the same time, pulverize it.
2. If, on the other hand, the substrate is very wetIt may have gotten soaked with water. In these cases we have to get our hands dirty and check if the roots have suffered and heal them.