How long can plants go with out being watered?

So I'm going away for 5 days and I can't find anyone that I trusts enough to go out and water them. They're mostly all small, the biggest I have is about 9 inches tall. So if I over water them before I leave will they be alive when I get back?

container size?

5 days? they'll be fine!

5 in 5 gallon buckets and 12 in the ground

What's your temps like? You may be better off setting up some kind of drip.

Depends on the heat and plant/root size. I've seen ten gallon containers need watering several times a day

Should be fine.

If he is facing mid to upper 90's to 100 degrees he's gonna need to water at the least the container plants.

angryblackman said:

If he is facing mid to upper 90's to 100 degrees he's gonna need to water at the least the container plants.

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Totally agree, its been extremely hot lately. Even my water intake has doubled

drip suggestion is the best bet.

Yeah I was thinking of a way to set up a drip on my one the other 4are small like 3-4 inches and I guess I won't have to worry about the ones in the ground. Were just cmming out of a heat wave I think it for up to maby 83 today

It depends on how dry and hot it will be where you live. Ive left plants for 3 weeks with no water and they were fine.. it just depends. You should set up a drip system. Take a jug of water and poke a tiny hole in the bottom and set that over your pots.

Temps are crucial but, it depends if they are in the ground or buckets. Ground I can go 2 weeks without watering in summer. Pots at least once a week. I only water up here in Maine in August. I've had them looking pretty sad then water and the next day they are beautiful again.

Kaendar said:

It depends on how dry and hot it will be where you live. Ive left plants for 3 weeks with no water and they were fine.. it just depends. You should set up a drip system. Take a jug of water and poke a tiny hole in the bottom and set that over your pots.

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good shit im leaving outta town also for 8 days...drip system sounds like a winner!

I would go to a craft store and get some of the gel plant things..it is like little balls that you fill with water, or nute water, and then just put them in the soil...they hold the water til the soil around it pulls the moisture out...it would take probably a couple of weeks in between each watering once you add those things though, simply because everytime you did water it would be absorbed by the little balls again and then they would water for you til dry again...anyway they are a good idea for any extended time I think...they can't fail, just put them under a layer of soil so the water doesn't just evaporate...
Have taken a vacation with using these in soil and coco and come home to awesome plants...

Unless the system fails...went on vacation last year leaving an automated hydro system going and came home to utter destruction...all the plants just looked like shit...but little ball things are the bees knees...

i wouldn't go longer then 5 days after that u r playing w fire of how the outcome will be

Hahahaha what about one of those aqua globe things

the ones in the ground will be fine, ive gone two weeks without watering plants. although i wouldnt let a smaller plant even in the ground go longer than 3-4 days without water. it all depends on the size of the root mass. just water real good and add some mulch to the top maybe some straw or something. but id definitely set up some type of drip system for the container plants plus mulch as well.

Mulch and you'll be good

So mulch and a dripper for the pots ............ I'm trying stuff out now but what seems to be working the best is poking 3 holes into the cap of a water bottle and 1 in the bottom with the pin still in it and it's just slowly dripping lol