Away for the Holidays? These 3 Set-and-Forget Products Will Keep Your Houseplants Alive and Jolly

The holidays are right around the corner. That means buying presents, baking cookies and, if you’re like me, figuring out how to keep my houseplants alive while I’m away for two whole weeks.

Luckily, this year I’ve got a system in place that should keep them happy and healthy, even while I’m several states away. It’s not hard, and depending on how involved you want to get, it doesn’t even have to be expensive. You really only need to give your houseplants three things while you’re away for the holidays: water, light, and darkness.

Darkness? Really?

Yes, really! We usually think about plants needing light to survive… and they do. But they can’t just be blasted with it 24/7. Like us, they need a rest. So that means you can’t flick on the grow lights and hop on a plane. You have to put your lights on some sort of timer, so they experience both night and day while you’re gone.

My Go-To Products

Here are the products that I have in my own setup – it’s what keeps my houseplants alive not just during the holidays, but all winter long. I’ve also added some alternatives at different price points and for different setups, because while your plants’ needs are simple, yours might be a little more specific. Let’s get to it!

1. Grow Lights

If you’re worried that you need a grow light for every single plant while you’re away, don’t stress! Lots of your plants probably live in a sunny south-facing window, and they’ll be fine there while you’re gone. But some plants need extra light in the winter. I have a whole assortment of plants that live outside during the summer (a croton, a clivia, a lemon tree…) that have to come in when it gets cold. And for those plants, grow lights are a must.

I keep my plants in the basement on a simple wire shelf, each in a plain plastic saucer, under these long LEDs from Barrina, all of which I got on Amazon. The space doubles perfectly for starting seeds in the spring. (I just need to do a little shuffling of the crotons to make room).

Grow Lights for Every Situation

No basement? No worries! Here are alternative grow light options to fit just about any space.

2. Timers

Plants need dark just as much as they need light. If you’re leaving them outside or in a window, the sun will take care of that for you. But put them under grow lights, and somebody’s going to have to turn them off and on again.

I don’t even wait until I’m on vacation to automate my grow lights. They’re plugged straight into this smart plug from tp-link smart plug which, again, I got on Amazon. This plug connects to your phone, so you can turn your lights off from another room or from across the country. Or you can set up a timer and never think about it again. These plugs are great – I actually have them attached to the regular lamps in my house, as well!

Other Timer Options

3. Waterers

I don’t actually have this Automatic Watering System from Home Depot yet, but I’m hoping it comes for Christmas. If it does, you’ll be the first ones to know about it.

It’s an easy enough system – one end sits in a water reservoir, and the other sits in your houseplant’s soil. What’s more complicated is the part in the middle, which is a programmable interface that lets you decide when, how often, and how long to move water from the reservoir to the plant.

As long as there’s enough water in the reservoir, it’ll keep your plants hydrated forever. It’s perfect for going away for the holidays, and for the person who should water once a week but only actually waters once a month.

More Watering Solutions