You’ve got the car packed, the pets at the kennel, and your kids are ready to go.  But what are you going to do about all those beautiful containers?
 
Here are a few tricks that can help.  Move your containers to a shady spot.  This will slow down the moisture loss so your plant sitter needs to make fewer visits and increases the odds that your plants will survive.

Or you can make your own self-watering system with a five-gallon bucket and absorbent material to serves as a wick.  Place the bucket amongst your containers.  Run the fabric wick from the five-gallon bucket into the soil of your container.  As the soil dries, the water will move from the bucket of water into the container to moisten the soil.  Test out the system before you leave for vacation just to be sure everything is in place and working. 

Now you’re ready to load the family and start enjoying your vacation.

I’m Melinda Myers.  Check out our website for this and more garden tips.

Just a Bit More Information:  Increase your survival rate and decrease the workload for you and your plant sitter.  Invest in an automatic watering system.  There are complete container irrigation systems available through garden catalogues, on-line or at select garden centers.
  
Or create your own with a timer and soaker hose.  Wrap the soaker hose over the soil surface of the containers.  Use a wire wicket or other device to hold them in place.  Set the timer and you are done.  Give the system a trial run before leaving--just in case something needs adjusting. 

For more gardening tips, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com