Okay, here’s my blog post about watering plants in coco coir while on vacation, written in a casual, personal style:
So, I was prepping for my week-long trip to the beach, super stoked, but also kinda freaked out about leaving my plants. I’ve switched most of my indoor jungle over to coco coir because, well, it’s awesome. But it also dries out faster than soil, which is a problem when you’re gonna be gone for days.
My first thought was, “Oh crap, I’m gonna come home to a bunch of crispy critters.” Total plant-parent panic mode, you know?
The Experiment Begins!
I decided to run a little experiment with a few of my less-precious plants (sorry, pothos!). Here’s what I did:
- Deep Watering: A few days before leaving, I gave everyone a REALLY good soak. I mean, water-running-out-the-bottom-of-the-pots good. Made sure the coco coir was completely saturated.
- Humidity Boost: I grouped a bunch of plants together. More plants = more humidity, right? I also filled some trays with water and pebbles and placed the pots on top (making sure the pots weren’t sitting in the water, just above it).
- DIY Self-Watering: Okay, this one was a bit MacGyver-ish. I took some old plastic water bottles, poked a few tiny holes in the caps, filled them with water, and flipped them upside down into the coco coir. The idea is that the water would slowly seep out.
- The Wick Method:For this.I use some cotton rope,
and then put one side to the bottom of the pot,and another side put in a water container.
The Results Are In!
I came back from my trip, fingers crossed, half-expecting a botanical massacre. But… surprise! Most of my plants were doing great!
Here’s the breakdown:
- The deeply watered plants in the humidity trays did the best. The coco coir was still slightly damp, and the plants looked happy and perky.
- The water bottle trick… worked okay-ish. Some of the bottles emptied out faster than others, probably because I didn’t poke the holes exactly the same. A few plants were a little dry, but not dead.
- The wick method is the best way to keep plants watered!
My takeaway? Coco coir can be a bit tricky for vacations, but it’s totally manageable. Deep watering and boosting humidity are key. And the wick method is so great! Next time, I’ll go for that method,for sure. I also might invest in some actual self-watering pots, just to make things even easier.
So, yeah, that’s my coco coir vacation watering adventure. Hope this helps someone else avoid plant-related vacation stress!
