You ask a family member or friend to water them for you and then hope that they actually do so.

Rodney

Well, if you're in Arizona, you might get someone to come in and water a few times a day. Maybe sublet your house? If you're in the Pacific Northwest, you might need someone to swing by and spit once or twice. C'mon, you can't get any sensible advice if we don't know where you are.

Oh, you're in the Bronx? As in NYC? Geez, you must have loads of nice neighbors who would love a tomato when you get them.

I have NEVER been successful in having someone else water the garden. It seems so simple but people are challenged by it for some reason.

If your plants are in containers, get a kiddie pool, add some water and put all the containers in. Then your friendly neighbor merely has to add water to the kiddie pool.

If the plants are in-ground, lay a soaker hose, then go to CostCo and snag the thin cardboard layer between the layers of paper towels or toilet paper, lay that on top of the soaker hose to contain the spray. Buy a timer. Then the friendly neighbor can pop by and see that the watering system is working. Or, if the timer idea is not palatable, the neighbor can turn on the water for 15 minutes or so.....

Let us know what you decide and how it all works out. Happy vacationing!

"how do you keep tomatoes plants watered when your on a 3 week vacation?"

I don't take 3 weeks vacation during gardening season so it is no problem for me. Unanticipated emergency trip? Sure, and the plants either survive or they don't. But a planned vacation for 3 weeks? No way. It is one of those "you can't have your cake and eat it too" situations.

Dave

Phew, if I put off going anywhere during gardening season here, I could never leave.

Everything I have is on a drip irrigation system with a timer. I let my neighbors on either side know I'm going to be gone, and they are both welcome to anything that's ripe while they're keeping an eye out for any water shooting off into space from a lost emitter head or what have you.

You can have your cake and eat it too, you just might have to share it with some friends/neighbors ;)

Anyway, to the OP, I'd look into some cheap automatic irrigation methods mentioned by some other posters, and try to find someone that would be willing to peek in on things once in awhile. It may not be perfect but it's better than just leaving and hoping everything survives.

Auto timed water device. Seems like pet sitters and plant sitters do the bare minimums. They all say they are going to take care of stuff but then thy do it half heartdly. Once had a plant sitter that thought it was a good idea to bring their dog over to the garden..... An 8 month old Doberman puppy. You can guess what I came home to. If you are a really serious gardener and want sustainable veggies through winter you learn to not vacation during gro season. When we do I hav a water timer that waters weary thing twice a day for 15 mins each

Humsi - you can have and eat your cake in Southern California since you can garden year round. Most the rest of us have only 3-4 months for gardens and 8 or 9 other months to vacation in. :-)

Dave

I gotcha Dave, but I was just meaning it is entirely possible with some setup, planning, and help or else I'd never be able to leave. I have to go out of state for 3 weeks in July to take care of an elderly relative, as an example - not thrilled about it because, like everyone else, July is full swing time, but because I have the survival necessities of my garden on autopilot I can do it without worrying too much. Just because I can garden year round doesn't mean I don't have the same issues as everyone else keeping plants alive and healthy while I'm gone. I've just had to figure out how to make it workable so I'm not chained to the garden forever.

I still haven't quite figured out how to get the plants to harvest themselves, though. I already have people lined up to help with that, for a share of the take (and a couple loaves of zucchini bread to one particular helper) ;)

I'm guilty of the same (only 2 weeks this time) We have found a timer and enough soaker hoses to do 4 beds. We have covered 2 beds to be planted for fall/ winter stuff, and were fortunate to re-kindle a friendship who will house sit all plants and animals for $20 per day!

If it is only watering, I'm sure you could find a teen in need of some cash to water.

We have delayed planting squash and green beans until the next couple of weeks so the house sitter isn't overwhelmed with veges to process! We also have a neighbor with a large garden who will provide us with squash until we leave!

I also have a couple of neighbors who don't have gardens, so are happy to enjoy mine!

Now, luckily, I have a very long growing season (approx May-Oct and sometimes longer!), so I don't really have to worry about your short/hot/humid season. Nancy

My thoughts, if you are going to be gone and not there to take care of plants than just go buy fresh produce at farmers market from some one who is out there every day taking care of plants. there is more to plant care than just watering. what about weeds, insects diseases???

I'm thinking if you have all that devastate your garden in a couple of weeks, you had issues before you left that were neglected.

It's doable. I do it. I've done it. Nobody died, and honestly I don't
think any plants have died or even suffered. It's much harder trying to find
someone to properly take care of my dogs while I'm gone than my garden, and so far no one has killed them yet, either.

I'm just not sure why the...superiority?...toward people that would like to have a garden and yet still do normal things like vacation or leave the house for more than overnight - and sometimes crap just happens and you HAVE to leave your garden during growing season. There are totally ways to work it out. Agreed, it's probably not going to work if you have a full on "rely on my garden to feed me through the winter" acres plus crop field. But it's really not rocket science if you have a few plants or are even a somewhat serious backyard gardener.

lois, looks like trouble to me! I try to avoid over watering at all costs!

I do, however, enjoy hand watering as much as I can! It's kinda my meditation/therapy type thing! Nancy

surprised no one mentioned hugelkultur. that is one of the main advantages of the method. of course it takes some planning and some waiting (about one year) for the wood to rot.

Agree with Nancy. Overhead watering should be avoided whenever possible. Good way to encourage all sorts of fungus and bacterial disease issues. Not to mention it wastes a lot of water, gives uneven distribution of water, assumes all plants need the same amount of water at the same time, and creates shallow rooted and water dependent plants.

Sprinklers are the worst way to water gardens.

Dave

"Sprinklers are the worst way to water gardens."

Then I guess rain is pretty bad as well. But yes, if you do it a lot, and it doesn't dry out much, making foliage wet can encourage fungus and bacterial disease. While it can waste water, the equipment investment cost and setup effort of a sprinkler is minimal. It encourages shallow rooting only if you do it a lot, and keep the top couple of inches moist. It does keep the foliage pretty clean however.

I sprinkle routinely but, where possible, I keep the spray down low. No reason to sprinkle with a geyser.

I say pray for rain.

But another here who doesn't like overhead watering either. But rain you can't do anything about so I say pray for rain.

Or soaker hoses on timers,

Or vacation in the winter is what I try to do.

Sorry Dan but no comparison between the benefits and frequency of rain vs. routinely overhead watering of a garden. As folks in the Pacific Northwest that get brief daily showers can attest. In your dry climate the negative effects, other than water waste, may be reduced. But that leaves all the other negative affects unaddressed. I grant that using a sprinkler is a cheap way to go but there are drip irrigation and soaker hose set-ups that are priced in about the same price range as a good sprinkler and they eliminate all the issues. JMO

Dave

I pay a competent adult a fair wage to water and tend my garden for me. My husband and I work full time year round and August is the only time we can both get a week off at the same time. I grow all my plants in containers, and in a typical August here, I need to spend about 90 minutes a day watering my plants. The first time we took a week vacation in August I paid a teenager $50 to water my plants. He did keep them alive, but he left the hose running for at least 48 hours, which led to a water bill more than $200 higher than average. Since then I found an experienced gardener who will spend 90 minutes a day watering properly, and I pay her $150 for 8 days of work. It's worth it to me even though it does take a chunk out of my vacation money.

Dave, I agree to mildly disagree. Drip/soaker systems that cover many yards of soil and are plumbed to allow adjustment of flow in different regions to match the needs of the plants you happen to be growing there are in no way priced similarly to a simple hose and sprinkler. I can irrigate an enormous area with one hose and one sprinkler. A drip system is definitely less work for the gardener, once installed, however. If used properly, a sprinkler will just get the lower leaves wet. The picture above is the geyser that I avoid making. But regular rain does keep foliage wet, and my memories of gardening in the PNW don't include any serious problems caused by that. In fact the main issue there is lack of sun to dry the foliage.

If you want to go drip/soaker, more power to you. But if you want to use a sprinkler responsibly, I would not be able to call it the worst way to water gardens. A sprinkler is just trying to reproduce rainfall.

I'm with Humsi 100%. Leaving a healthy garden with a 10 day weather forecast, 3weeks is not such a big deal with a plan.

bronxbill just asked about tomatoes. But did not mention when the three weeks away begins. If soon, and in the month of June, i see no issues. In the NY area we get on average an inch-2 rain weekly. You can have your cake and have a vacation and a garden.

The best method is a simple soaker or drip system on a dial timer and show a neighbor the timer if no rain has occurred in a few days. They just need to turn it on for 1/2 hour-45 min depending on your flow. A self timer is ok but it will water even when not needed. Just get the system well ahead of time so it can be tested. Tomatoes do best under-watered than swamped.

I have to leave all the time during the grow season and i just watch the weather while away, then text or e-mail one of two neighbors to turn on the timer. If weather turns hot and we have an unusual drought i have a back-up plan.

I just returned from 3 weeks away last night. No watering was needed as i watched the weather. One neighbor added water in my tomato start trays just once mid-trip. All 120 starts look good but i blame no one if something went wrong.

It really depends on your climate and the time of the season away. August a few years ago i had a local nursery employee check on things. He scored a bounty of produce. I was willing to pay but after dealing with customers all day he enjoyed a walk through my garden in peace and quiet twice a week. If dry he turned on the drip system right away and harvested. Only once did he leave it on 24hrs. (my water is free).

A sprinkler is fine if you know what you are doing. Can be expensive and horribly inefficient in most parts of the country. Not the best system during holiday. Drip systems are very affordable these days. Customizing each plants water needs and can be added to anytime.

I agree with the soaker hose and watering timer, and begging a friend or neighbor to come over and make sure it seems to be running.

In future years, you could also set a high priority on making the garden more drought tolerant. Greater distance between plants, planting the tomatoes very deep, focusing on more drought-tolerant crops, and so on. Steve Solomon's more recent books tend to discuss this a fair bit.

We haven't heard from bronxbill since last Thursday.

But in my garden the volunteer tomatoes are always more tolerant and need less water. Prob because the roots were not disturbed and are more developed (when you don't transplant them).

Tomatoes are in 4 large pots on a deck / too heavy to lift. an hour upstate NY. planting on May 31st. vacation July 1st to July 19 / I also have Basil & Italian Parsley in much smaller pots which I can lift. - how does the wick work? tks much Bill