As someone who travels a bit and has a lot of plants, I have a good bit of experience with this. How well plants do for an extended period without watering depends a lot on temperature and on how much sun they get. (Probably humidity too, but I'm really judging by season.)
1
2
I make sure to water plants very well before I leave, and often (for some of them) leave water sitting in the tray at the bottom for them to draw on for a bit. That's generally just fine for 2 weeks in summer or 3/3.5 in winter.
1
2
Longer than that (by a week, anyway) and the plants are still alive but I have to cut a bunch of dead leaves off of them and clean them up a bit when I'm back.
Some of them also take a *lot* of extra water when I return (e.g., soak up the normal weekly amount 3 days in a row).
1
1
This applies to my two drysenas & multiple philodendrons. (Assuming I have the right names! Google image search.)
The snake plant and christmas cactus can probably last a good bit longer.
The bromeliads are similar to the first group but leaves can brown at the ends.
1
1
Also:
- water needs of plants vary a lot by season/light anyway. Quantity per watering you can tell by when the water runs through, frequency you just have to figure out somehow (!).
- picking up a pot to see how heavy it is is a great way to judge overall hydration
Feb 15, 2020 · 5:03 PM UTC
3
