Best way to keep your seedlings alive while on vacation 10 days

Wondering if there are any good practices (watering etc.) while being away for 10 days....last year I put the seedling planters in a tray filled with water....however some made it but most didn't....any good advise here?

thanks you in advance

Carl

Have you cat/dog sitter also water your plants.  Or get a plant sitter to water them.  I think there are automatic watering systems for houseplants but I'm not sure they'd work for seedlings...

I haven't tried this, but I have seen where people have used wicking systems with a cord strung between a full container of water and the plants.  One cord per potted plant and the water container was raised above all the plants.  The water slowly but steadily ran down the cord to water the plant.  It would probably take some experiments to get perfect, but it has potential... In fact, I think I'll go set up a test with my potted rose bush. Even with me at home it's always drying out.

Okay, a simple attempt with a bowl of water, cotton twine and a potted rose. The bowl is set higher than the pot. I soaked the twine and then stretched it between the bowl of water an the potted plant, burying the end in the soil. The twine has remained damp but I'm not seeing much change in the level of water in the bowl. I'm going to give it one more day to see if on a dry and sunny day the level of water drops. If it's providing a very slow trickle of water then it's possible that yesterday's rain refilled the bowl. I think a slow trickle would be ideal for maintaining soil moisture for a few days.

I am assuming your seedlings are indoors and not outside or in a greenhouse.

What I did when I was gone for two weeks was to put my plants in a large aluminum foil pan that we use to BBQ, it is about 2' x 3' and filled it as full as I could.  Then I put plastic bags over the pots to trap the humidity.  I put these in my shower where it was cool and  did get a little light, no sun.  My plants were established plants, not seedlings.

Clear bags will make a water-recycling terrarium.

I've done the WIcking technique with success. I used yarn. I use a pencil to push it 1/2 way up the pot. If the pot is bigger than 3",  I'd use 2 or 3 yarns per plant


I used a tray, then set a grate on the tray. The plants set on the grate. It was maybe 1" from the bottom of pot to top of water.

The best method that I have found to care for my plants while I am away is to rely on my community.

Joseph Lofthouse wrote:
The best method that I have found to care for my plants while I am away is to rely on my community.

Me too. If we are away for more than a day or two then I always have someone that will come over and water what needs watering for me.