9 days without water?

Hi board,

I have plants that are about 6 or 7 weeks old. I transplanted them to pots two weeks ago, and started them as seeds. They are still quite small but look to be doing well.

In two weeks time I will be on vacation for about 10 days. My question is:

Can 9 week old plants handle 10 days without water? I'm trying to decide whether to ask someone to stop by to help with watering (I'd rather not).

The plants are on a deck with direct sun until about 4pm every day.

Thanks for your help.

Live long and prosper.

I wouldn't take that chance, get a drip system and put it on a timer or get someone to water them for you if you can trust them not opening their mouth

they would live it over but its risky.yes man-use some tripping system or pray 4 some rain.

Not in pots.

In 16 oz Dixie cups my 2 seedlinks at the time were without water for 8 days. When I came back they were almost kiwi green and white. I'm guessing due to lack of water. Point is they survived.

I don't know man, a nine week old plant, in a pot, in direct sunlight with no water for 9 or 10 days... The pots would be dry in 3-5 days depending on how much drainage the soil has and the plant would die more every day after that. There might be a lime green top left after that long but I would think the whole plant would be burnt up.

My deck faces south, on hot days my potted plants on my deck dont last much more than a day or two without water.

put them in shade or at least part shade and get a couple water globes that release water slowly over a week's time

ttumaddawg said:

put them in shade or at least part shade and get a couple water globes that release water slowly over a week's time

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Yeah, i concur, put 'em at least in partial shade, and they will still do fine. Packing peat moss or coco-coir on the tops of the pots will help with drying out, and here's another you could try. People, bear with me on this as it just came to me. Get some 3/8, maybe 1/2 diameter soft, white nylon rope. Cut into long lengths and feed one end in through one drain hole and back out through the opposite hole in your pots. I realize your girls are already potted, but if you use a straightened coat hanger or something, i'm pretty sure it would be fairly easy, and wouldn't stress or damage the roots much if at all ( remember, were talkin a very resilliant plant here! ). Let the ends hang down into a resevoir with enough water, voila, wick system. The plants will draw only as much water up the nylon rope as they need, and will be just fine. I would think. Come home, cut off the excess rope or pull it out, and you're good! The wick system is a proven method, and I think your only consideration after that would be to make sure the water in your resevoir doesn't get too warm, maybe prop some stuff ( plywood, whatever ) around it so it doesn't get direct sun.

Alright, any comments or thoughts anyone? Think it will work? I'd lay money, and i think it would be a pretty cheap solution. Thinkin out loud here!! Good luck bro!!

well it only gets like 10.5 hours of light so id say it might not dry up as fast as ones under lights. i think you should put them in the ground in like really big pots and give then a big watering all around the pot. dont put them in the shade because they dont really get enough light as it is and if its shaded from light it will probably be shaded from rain.

also keep an eye on the weather and cut your trip short(if possible) if is dosnt rain for more than 5 days

i do it all the time. turn your lights down some by moving them further away or shut some off if you have multiple light. water them at the last possible minute and give them water untill it freely flows out of the pot. turn fans off if possible. also take plastic wrap and loosely lay it over the pot at dirt level to prvent massive evaporation. you wont have any problems. worse comes to worse they may be slightly stressed and may lose a week until they recover

oops i apologize. forgot you are outdoors. same principle thow shade plants and water well before you take off. also some buckets with small holes in the bottom would take days to empty

They would be dead where I live for sure. I need to water pretty much everyday.

Angus said:

Not in pots.

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Agreed.

You gotta ask yourself. What do you want more, vacation or weed, punk?

Sorry, I watched a lot of Clint Eastwood over the weekend...

Seriously, maybe if you put them in the shade and set the pots in trays of water to where they were over-watered for a few days, may work.

This is a good reason to have polymers around, eh? You could be in full Sun for two weeks w/o problems unless you're in Scotsdale, Arizona!! lol Add 1/3rd polymers after soaking in ph adj for 4 hours "Set it and forget it" lol BTW good sugesstions on the water dish and shade, but no one mentioned mulch shame on you!!

mulch.....yippie what do i win? moral of the story is there are plenty of ways to keep them watered. i have been away for over 2 weeks and came back perfect. use your noggin and you can do it too. you can make it happen

Thanks for all of the replies, people.

So, is it safe to say that the plants will be okay if I give the plants a good soaking before I leave, cover the top of the soil with mulch, and set the pots in trays of water?

Nope, I think it's far from safe to say that.

I'd bet they'd still be mostly fried

Angus said:

Nope, I think it's far from safe to say that.

I'd bet they'd still be mostly fried

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ah, I'd have to agree.

couldn't you place them in a really wet place and they will be able to drink when they want?