I love having my window herb garden but I always run into a problem when I am out of town. I hate returning home to a sad, half dead plants. My plants are currently thriving, including two little primroses that I brought back to life after rescuing them from a sale rack at Home Depot. I would hate to have them wither while I am in Italy so I decided to do some research before I left about how I can give them a fighting chance to survive my vacation. 
I read about all sorts of things from making watering systems out of a soda bottle to fancy self irrigation systems that you can buy. The idea that seemed the best to me was what is apparently known as the "bathtub trick." The basic idea is to make a terrarium with your plants in the bathtub by adding a few inches of to the bottom of the bathtub and covering it with plastic. The plastic seals in the humidity so that the plants don't dry out.
I decided to give it a try and gave my plants a good watering. I didn't want the pots to scratch my bathtub so I put some drawer liner down before placing my plants inside and filling it with about two inches of water I then covered the top of my tub with clear plastic wrap, taping down around the outside of the tub with painter's tape (I didn't want to risk messing up my tub's new paint job with duct tape). I poked a few ventilation holes in the plastic wrap to finish up.
I am hoping this plan works and that I come home from vacation to find my plants alive and well in their little bathtub terrarium. Have you ever tried the "bathtub trick"? What is your best method for keeping plants alive while you are on vacation?
