I have done wicking in the past but using strips of cotton t-shirt and it has somewhat worked although some of the strips dried in their windy more sunny location and those wicks were ineffective... In retrospect, after trying other methods since, I would also recommend considering mulch and other things that would help to reduce soil surface evaporation. Moving plants into a location with less sun or even shade and out of the wind is a way that will help to reduce that evaporation and allow the wick to be more effective. In addition, many plant in self-watering containers that have a fillable bottom reservoir and wick at the bottom and that along with mulching will go a long way in keeping the soil moist (assuming the temps aren't too hot and the containers are moved out of the sun).

Hi Alba, I feel your pain, LOL...I am going to visit my Sister in Las Vegas in Oct and my poor Hoyas/Plants are at my DH's mercy. At least you have your Mom to water yours, I'll trade you, LOL... I love him dearly, but my DH is NOT a plant person, he doesn't know the difference between a Hoya and a Jade plant,you might say he is "BOTANICALLY CHALLENGED", LOL and I'm so so afraid what I will find when I get home. I'm already giving him some prep talk and mini lessons. All he says is, wait till it gets closer, I won't remember all that...I am doomed :o( just kidding, I think I will just call him every day and tell him exactly which ones need/not need watering. That might be the best way... My only advise to you is to tell your Mom to water the plants when they are mostly dry, except some of the ones that you know prefer a little more moist. I'm a Hoya newbie myself, only started January of this year...Good Luck!I'm sure your Mom will take great care of them, feel sorry for me instead, LOL... Enjoy your vacation!!

If you plan on repotting, I highly recommend using these self-watering pots sold at WalMart called "Plant Spa" I use these for almost all of my plants and never have to worry about overwatering any of them. Whoever designed these pots knew what they were doing. Just as long as you use a fast draining soil, you'll have nothing to worry about. Even tho they're self-watering, only the "X" actually sits in the bottom tray. The rest of the pot remains suspended above the water and the "X" is surrounded by slits that allows the soil to breathe. Allowing the roots to breathe is just as vital as providing them with water, if not more so.

Pipes can certainly crack at low points where water does not drain from them. Sometimes antifreeze ( I think it is propylene glycol like for RV use.) can be added to the drained pipes and then they are drained again, to fix the low spot problem, or sometimes they are blown out with compressed air. It seems like that would be difficult to do effectively. The basement actually becomes a source of heat at some point (local ground temperature), but in a modern house with insulation in basement walls and slab, the heat flux is going to be way lower than with an older home so maybe not so effective. The plumber probably does not like antifreeze for more than one reason. It adds a maintenance task to check it periodically and them expense to purge the system when it needs to be replaced. The glycol breaks down forming acid. It also cuts heat transfer efficiency so you need bigger radiators and probably cuts the boiler efficiency under some circumstances. (You might have to lower the fluid flow rate.) Mike, your boiler can tolerate no water pressure for long periods? I never really looked into it, but I think most have auto fill valves. Is your's set up in any special way for this condition?