How to Keep Flowers Alive When You're Away for Half a Month? Clever Tricks for Going Half a Month Without Watering

No plant can grow without water. The potted plants we normally keep will dry up if we don't water them for a long time. This is especially frustrating for people who travel often or forget to water. Don't worry, though! Today the editor will teach you a clever trick so that even without watering for a long time, your flowers won't die, and they'll stay green with strong roots and blooming flowers.

Nowadays, due to work pressure, some people forget to water their flowers for long periods, or they go away on a trip, and their plants dry up from lack of water. This happens all the time. But with a few clever methods, your flowers won't dry out, and they'll even grow strong roots and green leaves.

Here are the method steps:

1. Find a foam box. First, spread a layer of watered soil in the bottom, then place the potted plant, pot and all, into the foam box. Fill the soil around the pot with thoroughly watered soil. The height should be level with the pot. This way, even without watering for a long time, the plant won't dry out. Sometimes the roots will even grow out through the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot, searching for moisture in the soil.

2. If you're going on a long trip, you can seal the top of the pot with plastic wrap, leaving only the plant exposed, just like farmers covering plants with plastic mulch. The goal is to reduce water evaporation and retain moisture and warmth. But potted flowers aren't suited for long-term covering; this is only for when you're away on a trip, and you should remove it promptly when you return.

That's the clever trick from the Huinong website editor for keeping flowers alive for half a month without watering. Have you learned it? The most important thing in growing plants is attentive care. If conditions allow, it's best not to leave them unattended for half a month. Take good care of them, and they'll repay you with green leaves, strong roots and blooming flowers.

Fall Flower Care: Five Clever Tricks for Making Your Houseplants Thrive

  Many families today have a hobby of growing flowers. Keeping houseplants doesn't just purify the air, it also decorates the home. However, many friends are afraid of killing their plants, so they water, fertilize and prune randomly every day, only to fail to achieve the results they hoped for. In fact, many small plant-growing tips often produce unexpectedly great results. Next, let the editor tell you about five clever tricks for making your plants thrive!

  1. Sesame Oil to Repel Ants 

  Ants are a major pest that harms plants. In fact, the sesame oil you keep at home is the natural enemy of ants and similar pests. First, smear some sesame oil on the small holes at the bottom of the flower pot; you can also apply it around the rim of the pot! Or drip a few drops of sesame oil into the ants' nest entrance to drive them away. As long as it's there, you'll never have to worry about ants again.

  2. Cucumber Cuttings 

  When you're thousands of miles from home and see a beautiful plant you want to take a cutting from, keeping it hydrated and fresh becomes a problem. In fact, just a few fresh cucumbers can solve this. Stick the cutting into the cucumber; it keeps the cutting hydrated, and the antibacterial components inside the cucumber also prevent the cutting from rotting.

  3. Baijiu to Encourage Blooming 

  Using baijiu (Chinese liquor) to water plants can help with the problem of stalled growth in clivia (Clivia miniata) and encourage blooming! You must use baijiu; generally, using it after Qingming (early April) works better. This method is very safe, so you don't need to worry about burning the roots. Pour one-third of a cup into the pot every half month, being careful not to splash it on the stems and leaves of the clivia. Note: do not use this on other plants.

  4. Fat to Nourish Flowers 

  Fat is an excellent source of nutrients, especially during the growing season of the Dutchman's pipe cactus (Epiphyllum). It can make the plant's leaves glossy green and keep it blooming continuously. Soak the fat in boiling water for three hours, cut it into small pieces, and bury them in the soil around the Dutchman's pipe cactus. Generally, a 20CM Dutchman's pipe cactus needs just two small pieces of fat, and it will last for a year.

  5. Quail Eggs as Fertilizer 

  Use a toothpick to poke a small hole in a quail egg, then bury it in the flower pot with the hole facing down. This can promote plant growth. One quail egg per pot is enough. You can use this without worry; it won't harm the roots, and once the eggshell decomposes, it will also turn into calcium fertilizer.

Grow Clivia This Way, and You Too Can Have "Someone Else's" Clivia

Many people grow clivia but it just won't bloom. When they see other people's plants blooming twice a year, looking especially beautiful, they're quite envious. In fact, whether clivia blooms has a lot to do with how it's grown. Pay attention to the following points, and getting your clivia to bloom won't be a problem!

As everyone knows, clivia is quite delicate. If you want your clivia to be robust with lush leaves and gorgeous flowers, you need to pay close attention to temperature, soil, water, light and nutrients during everyday care.

1. Flower Pot

Change the pot and soil in autumn, once every two years. For clivia's roots, choose a pot with good breathability, such as a clay pot. Although it may not look attractive enough, its breathability is excellent, and ordinary pots can't compare.

2. Light and Temperature: Autumn and winter are when clivia's flower buds differentiate. Insufficient light is bad for bud differentiation, so increase direct sunlight, but avoid harsh exposure. Keep the plant outdoors with a day-night temperature difference of about 10°C for a month, then move it indoors.

Clivia prefers shade and is extremely shade-tolerant, but it still needs light. You can place it somewhere at home with plenty of sunlight, avoiding harsh exposure. In a dimly lit room, move it to a brighter environment every half month to recover for a while.

Clivia is phototropic, so be sure to frequently rotate its position and orientation. Whichever side isn't growing as well, place that side facing the sun, so it grows symmetrically.

3. Soil and Nutrition: Before clivia's flower buds differentiate, properly control the amount of nitrogen fertilizer and increase fertilizer rich in phosphorus. If the soil is too poor, consider repotting and changing the soil, but remember: fertilizing and watering clivia too frequently can also prevent the plant from blooming.

Soil is the foundation of growing flowers. When changing soil, you can keep some of the old soil.

It's best to line the bottom of the pot with a piece of tile to help with drainage. You can mix the flower soil yourself: leaf mold : coarse sand : charcoal and gravel : decomposed manure = 5:1.5:2:1.5 (decomposed manure should be kept from direct contact with the roots).

Remember to sun-sterilize the soil, or put it in a plastic bag and heat-sterilize it in the microwave.

4. Water: When growing clivia, keep the soil moist but not soggy. Water clivia properly to keep the plant growing well. Once it enters the reproductive growth stage, the flower buds differentiate and it blooms on time. So watering too much or too little can cause root rot, which prevents the plant from absorbing nutrients properly and stops it from blooming.

The timing and amount of watering for clivia vary with the seasons. Here's a watering secret: in spring, water generously and thoroughly; in summer, water frequently but lightly; in autumn, keep it neither dry nor wet; in winter, water when dry and stop when wet. It's recommended to use a spray bottle to clean the leaves and increase humidity, watering all in one go.

5. Fertilizing

Watering and fertilizing are best done at the same time. During the vigorous growth period, fertilize every 15-20 days, and also add phosphorus and potassium fertilizer regularly. Phosphorus and potassium fertilizer is easy to find; you have it at home. Crushed eggshells and fermented fish scales and fish innards water are excellent phosphorus fertilizers, while cigarette ash and rice husk ash are great potassium fertilizers.

It's best not to use chemical fertilizers; you can buy specialized fertilizer instead. Huadongde liquid fertilizer is rich in phosphorus and potassium. Using good fertilizer can sprout more new shoots and leaves, and produce more flowers.

Growing flowers requires care and attention to enjoy beautiful blooms. We hope every clivia grower can take good care of their clivia!