Tower Travel Tips: Setting Up Your Garden Before You Leave For Vacation
A lot can go awry with a garden that’s left unattended for long periods. Crops can get overgrown, plants can become ill or die, pests may flourish, or unexpected bad weather can ruin the garden altogether.
The good news? With a little planning, you can hit the road assured that your plants will keep thriving. Follow these tips for making sure your garden is ready to stay home alone.
1. Choose Low-Maintenance Crops
If you’re a frequent traveller, plant your Tower Garden with crops that flourish with little attention, like the low-maintenance herbs rosemary, lavender, and parsley. Bonus for indoor growers: You’ll come home to lovely scents!
If you want to grow lettuce and tender greens, Swiss chard and kale offer sturdy and reliable options.
2. Plant a Garden That Doesn’t Need Constant Watering
This tip is extra easy because Tower Garden already makes super-efficient use of water. In fact, it requires as little as 2% of the water traditional growing methods do.
Depending on the climate, you can typically go 10 days or more without adding water to an outdoor unit. Indoors or out, just top off the water reservoir before you leave town.
3. Perform a Checkup
Make sure your plants are in tip-top shape before you leave town to minimise the chance of coming home to problems. This means pruning your plants and looking for early signs of trouble from pests. If you find something of concern, be sure to address pests as soon as possible.
4. Consider Decreasing Light and Nutrients
If you want to slow your garden’s growth while you’re away — which isn’t a bad idea — cut your nutrient applications to half-strength. And if you’re growing outdoors with Tower Garden, relocate it to a partially shaded area. This break from the hot sun will also reduce the amount of water your plants need.
5. Harvest as Much as Possible
An abundant garden is wonderful, but an overabundant garden could mean trouble. Pick all of your ripe and soon-to-be-ripe produce to keep your plants healthy and prevent rot and disease. If you’re growing outdoors, be sure to harvest any squash or cucumbers to avoid coming home to gargantuan crops. And if you’re going to visit friends, remember that fresh produce makes a wonderful gift!
6. Get a Garden Sitter
If you’ll be away for more than 10 days, or if the thought of leaving your plant children alone is too stressful, consider asking a friend to stop in and tend your Tower Garden. They can fill the reservoir as needed, monitor for any problems, and, of course, harvest anything that’s ripe.
