Holiday Vacation for Your Classroom Plants & Garden
One of the trickiest obstacles in your classroom garden is managing holidays, but don’t despair! A Little Green Thumbs garden is designed to let you leave your garden over weekends and week-long school breaks.
Don’t have a Little Green Thumbs garden but still concerned for classroom plants? You too can try our simple tips to keep your classroom green throughout the holidays (and upon your return)!
- Fill your water reservoirs. The simplest tip: remember to fill your water reservoirs if you have a Little Green Thumbs garden. If you don’t have self-watering grow boxes, make sure you give your plants a big drink. You can also try one of these self-watering plant hacks, to ensure you’re plants can access water if they need it.
- Transplant all seedlings into larger containers. Planting seedlings will help prevent them from drying out. Remember to water them well once you plant them in the larger containers.
- Place damp newspapers over the top of soil. Place a few layers of damp newspaper on soil as mulch, to prevent evaporation from the soil.
- Trim foliage of mature plants the day before leaving. Trim foliage of mature plants the day before leaving so they will require less water during your absence.
- Build a mini greenhouse over your potted plants. If you have a humidity dome big enough for your plants, that could be helpful. Otherwise, you can cover your smaller pots with a transparent plastic bag, lifted with bamboo poles. Poke a couple holes in the bag for oxygen.
- Use sticky traps to check for pests the week before. Place a few sticky traps in the garden & monitor for a few days to ensure there are no signs of pests. If you do see pests, begin treating with our soap spray recipe (link to on resource pace). Remove affected leaves, and if needed, remove the entire plant in case of serious infestation.
- Check your timer. Double check that you timer is set for 8-12 hours of light each day.
- Move your houseplants out of the direct sun. This only works with houseplants, not vegetable plants!
- Last, but not least – Little Green Thumbs classrooms should ensure your vermi-composting worms have been well fed before you go, and check your bin moisture level. If it is too dry, add some water. If it is too wet, add some extra newspaper bedding.
