MrP and I go away quite a bit and I would like to know if anybody has any hints as to how we could keep our precious seedlings and cuttings alive while we aren’t here. You can’t leave them standing in water. I’ve heard that the bathtub is a good place to leave them but I’m not sure why that is.

At present we put most of them in the greenhouse which only keeps them out of the hot sun but it doesn’t keep them damp for long.

I’d like to hear any weird and wonderful ideas that you use in your situation.

My seedlings, which are usually in jiffy pellets, I sit on a cloth, which sits on a rack, which sits on a dish of water. The end of the cloth sits in the tray of water, and osmosis keeps every damp. In fact, I’ve got to keep an eye on it, ‘cause I’ve had some jiffy pots go mouldy.
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SueBk submitted this idea while your puter was having fits.

I think the bathtub is suggested because it is usually a cool place with little evaporation, and you can put a damp cloth or newspaper under the pots as well. However for seedlings I would think they would get leggy after any period of time.

If you have a stainless steel laundry tub neaer a window then this is preferable to the bathtub as they will stll get some light.
you may also make up a drip feed by attaching fine tubing to the top of a full bottle of water and suspending it above the plants.. if the hole is small enough the water will not come out in a rush but steadily drip on the pots or into a tray under the pots.

roughbarked said:

If you have a stainless steel laundry tub neaer a window then this is preferable to the bathtub as they will stll get some light.
you may also make up a drip feed by attaching fine tubing to the top of a full bottle of water and suspending it above the plants.. if the hole is small enough the water will not come out in a rush but steadily drip on the pots or into a tray under the pots.

Excellent idea, RoughBarked..

Thanks for the responses. I am going to try a couple of those. I’ll also put some in the fernery where it’s pretty shady anyway.

The stainless steel tubs are usually deep and cool.. and keep the moisture around longer due to condensation.

Light is essential and shading too much may cause many plants to go so far backwards it is difficult to bring them forwards.

roughbarked said:

The stainless steel tubs are usually deep and cool.. and keep the moisture around longer due to condensation.

Light is essential and shading too much may cause many plants to go so far backwards it is difficult to bring them forwards.

The light factor is why I will have to use the bath tub instead of the laundry tubs but thanks for the info roughbarked.