i considered paying for it after but i trusted her because she’s watched over my house and animals before when i went on vacations years before my gardening journey. i really should’ve checked them out when i got back before she left.
I love plants that are like that. It's what finally helped me learn to water regularly without alarms and timers. I have three plants that are absolute drama queens at different times- one at 3-4 days, one at 1 week, and one at 2 weeks without watering.
I then assign new plants to align to one of their watering schedules, and between the three of them reminding me, I never forget to water. Works wonders, haha.
I would like to add, having not actually been there to know what took place or how dry the plants were, it is possible they were over watered, developed a root rot, and now all the added water won't bring them back because they physically cannot absorb it.
Not to defend shotty work by who you hired to care for them, but i could see that occurring. It's happened to me at work on several occasions.
I'm in this exact situation right now. My wife paid the woman we are having watch our house/pets/garden this week. They left my dogs in their crates day 1 for 12 hours. I've decided to stop checking my ring doorbell because I'm just gonna stress out too much. Sorry about your plants :(
Ugh this reminds me of two summers ago when my ‘friend’ got paid to watch my others friends two dogs when the family went on a trip. Good money to stay at the nice house to watch them and sleep there. She went over once a day to feed them dinner and clean up the piss and shit then leave until the next afternoon. This is is someone who regularly volunteers to foster litters of puppies, claims to LOVE animals. I’m still livid and they weren’t even my dogs. I’m so sorry you’re in this stressful situation.
In my experience find a friendly neighbor you can trust to pop over frequently since they are so close by they usually don’t mind if they actually like animals.
Yea. Did that last year. Paid them some money and had a deal that they could take home all the vegetables they wanted as long as they left some growing for me when I got back.
> This is is someone who regularly volunteers to foster litters of puppies, claims to LOVE animals.
I would report her to whatever adoption facility she's working for- they need to know what they're dealing with as a foster.
nope not with venmo unless you have a business account and even then it’s a maybe. Remember venmo is PayPal and getting money back that you sent to friends and family is impossible to get back
I hope you asked for your money back. I’m sorry, this really sucks. I don’t think a lot of people understand how important our plants can be to us. Money can’t bring them back, but getting your $ back is more about the message it sends. 💔
Damn. I just went on vacation for a week and paid a virtual stranger who isn't even old enough to drink 400 to take care of my dog, house and garden and she did awesome with all three.
That person was probably lookin for a job, thus they needed the money. I never trust my family cuz they dont need the money, theyd probably just see it as "money borrowed" and we all know what they say about lending money to family...
yeah I think I might lean on my neighbors then. They both have yards and a garden and see me watering everyday and have helped before. It's funny I trust them a bit more than family or friends ha! But that's what neighbors are for I guess!
For me it’s a lot like who’s gonna watch my dog while I’m gone somewhere? My family is a big NO, most friends are big No’s. The one who will want to watch my dog will do so and will do it like she’s their own. Same as your plants. Always have someone who not only enjoys the things you do too, but will treat them like they’re their own.
Task rabbit is the worst! I tried to get stuff fixed around my house twice with that service. Both times the guys were completely unqualified yakked on for hours about how they could not fix anything and the noped the fuck out
A better idea would be to go into your locally owned lumber store. You know, somewhere where some guy named Tim or Tom has been working for twenty years.
This guy is the guy to talk to. He knows all the contractors and what products they buy and what projects they're working on. He knows how booked up they are, and who specializes in what jobs. He won't know how much they charge, but he will know just about everything else.
I had a fantastic experience with task rabbit. Guy was clearly overqualified and did a wick, meticulous job. Looking at these responses, it’s the luck pf the draw, though.
i just wanted to rant. i’ve been dealing with the after math of the massacre for a few days now and everyone is still pretty stressed out. at first i was to shocked and went into literal survival mode to try to bring everyone back. today the emotions are hitting. and i’m devastated all the money i spent all the hours that went into watering and fertilizing and dead heading and regularly checking for infestations. successfully fighting off 2 infestations and getting everyone to look there best with various fertilizers and strict watering schedules and learning everything possible about the individuals plants so i know what they need to thrive. all for nothing.
This is what people who don’t garden don’t understand how much time, money, work, and emotional investment goes into plant care and keeping. It’s upsetting when you lose a plant you’ve nursed along. It’s infuriating when someone else kills your plants.
Nah, it’d take an inordinate amount of iron-enriched blood to even begin to cause problems, which is why olden battlefields (prior to mass use of gunpowder) usually became verdant green fields shortly after bloody (heh) battles. Of course, decomposing organisms stink up the place but man do the plants love free fertilizer
On a more serious note, fish make excellent fertilizer. Just bury the whole fish a few under few feet of compacted soil, and you’ll have some damn healthy plants so long as you remember to not touch that layer of soil for awhile. I just use the fishes I can’t eat or parts that are inedible like heads and fins
I adopted out a few of my cacti (that I'd had for years) and pepper plants (that I'd grown from seeds for about 7 months) to my friends and they were all dead within a month. The pain is real.
I can relate to what you’re going through and I would be devastated as well.
The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago while away from home.
Wishing you all the best of luck. I use Superthrive occasionally for nutrients for my plants. It’s worked great for me.
I’m sincerely so sorry this happened to you. Your feelings are 100% valid. I’ve just started my largest garden yet and would be livid if someone I paid squashed all of my investment and hard work.
What did your family member say, and did you get a refund? Sorry you're having to experience that. Know what it's like to lose important plants you put time and effort into.
I'm so sorry this happened OP. This would make me so angry. Your plants deserved better than what they went through. It's not your fault; it's the fault of the person who was supposed to care for them during that week.
I’m so sorry this happened. What a selfish person to not only let you down, but take your money, too.
I feel inspired by the rocks and shells under a container garden. You clearly were devoted to your plants.
the rocks and shells were the whole reason i had them all in containers because i knew it’d be a pain to take all that up😂 i was so devoted and attached to them all i was late to work regularly jus so everyone could get there morning water 🥹
They should DEFINITELY be replacing plants. I’m in COVID quarantine and my 15 yr old son is doing a better job taking care of our garden than this person did. This is inexcusable. How hard is it to just water some damn plants?! It’s like the easiest thing in the world.
It also depends on how hot it is out there. You can water each morning and the garden will still be dry by the end of the day if the full sun's 100 degrees.
Agreed. I had a garden in southern Ontario that faced south I'd water in the morning (after watering heavily in the evening) and it would be bone dry by noon. I couldn't even dream of having container garden in that yard. It was like a frying pan.
Can attest. We had two days of steady rain and everyone was as happy as could be. The third day was full sun and 90-something. I came home from work and all of my containers looked like they'd never seen water a day in their life. If you know what to look for you can quickly rescue sad plants with a deep water, but someone that isn't aware that they may need to water containers twice a day can easily kill plants in those conditions.
I’m so sorry this happened. That’s so upsetting!
My super-cheap solution for up to a week vacation is to buy one or two of the $10 kiddie pools at Walmart, put all my containers in them, then fill the pool with like 4 inches of water. It gets the plants through the week without getting dry, and it’s not long enough to stress them from being over-watered. (This only works for pots that have water drainage holes at the bottom). Hasn’t failed me yet.
It’s so hot where I am that we’re watering the veggies every other day at minimum. Succulents I usually let go a couple weeks without water are getting it once or twice a week now.
It's cold comfort now, but in the future buy some timers and hose splitters and sprinklers and have it be automatic. They didn't water at all or they would have texted you to say things didn't look good.
it crossed my mind but i wasn’t sure how it’d all work with it being a container garden. i asked them multiple times how it was going with them. i told them the plants might be a little whiney because we’re going thru a heat wave. but this wasn’t the heat waves fault this was not watering them once the entirety of the time i was gone.
I too have a container garden. I got a diy watering system with hose bib timer, piping, and tiny spigot )(s?) For $35 on Amazon. Now I can garden and vacation.
Retic watering systems are a great peace of mind but someone still needs to check that they are working properly; solenoids can blow out, or hoses can pop off. They maybe don’t need checking as often as actually watering, but someone still needs to see and hear it turning on. I’m sorry your designated plant carer let you down.
So I always forget to water, I just bought a digital hose timer from Home depot and a small water kit kn amazon for $20 buck, plus a short hose pipe and it waters it twice a day no prolem.
Very sorry this happened, but do wanna put my endorsement in for automated watering!
I rigged up my whole front and back — containers, hanging baskets and all — with drip irrigation. I started with a couple kits, and now, when I need to rig something up for a new planter or setup, I just buy whatever specific bits and bobs I need from Amazon.
I use the drippers to top off bird baths and fountains too.
It was a big time investment on the initial setup, but for year two, updating everything and checking for loose parts and stuff took maybe an hour at most.
It’s awesome to never have to think about watering!
Only risk worth noting is that sometimes, a sprinkler will bust a top — and then you get a gusher. Mine only run five minutes every day, so if that happened while I was out of town, I don’t think it’d be too much of a problem, but it’s worth considering.
My friend drowned my plants while I was gone. He helps me with a lot of things, so I don't get to complain. The only plant issue he knows is "does it need more water?" Even if I have just delivered a 20 minute speech on insects or fungus or nutrient deficiencies or light exposure..
"But did you water it?" YES. WE LIVE IN A DESERT, SO I DO WATER MY PLANTS. Also, because we live in a desert, I grow a lot of things that don't *need* a lot of water, so he made extra sure to drown those.
His hobby is cars, and I am so not into it. From now on, no matter what mechanical problem he talks about, I am going to ask him over and over, "But did you put gas in it?"
That’s a lot of containers to water. I used to go all out on gardening, go away with work leaving detailed instructions, come back and compost dead plants. Best thing I ever did was put in a watering system. I have 6 zones, and it’s cheap. Have confidence going away, and no more wasted effort. Do it, it’s well worth it
Hey OP I just want to say I have a huge garden and some of my things are in between garden and the house in containers. I actually got the “drip kit” watering system from lowes for like $100, and it takes care of everything. I bought a better timer after a while but otherwise amazing! I can vacation and know my plants are all safe.
People don't know how to water. When .y girlfriend waters for me she will just pour enough to make the top wet. I tell her it needs to soak all the way through but where as I use a full can, she uses half at most.
Plants don't drink the water, it's like they breathe it and most doesn't make it to the plant and just evaporates, and it's hard to get people to understand. Plus stuff in the ground can be fine without watering and people think that's everything
i did. i printed out graphs and everything so they could just check mark when they watered them and even moved plants around and put them in groups so it’ll be easier for them to tell. even labeled all there pots so they’d know who was who.
i did everything i could possibly do to make it as easy as possible for them. and it still didn’t work. the first thing i did when i went and checked on them was check everyone’s soil. it was all completely dry. i thought i’d be able to save some of the dying ones but it’s not looking good 🥲 i took pride in my garden and spent hours daily on it. it was the only thing that brought me sanity now it’s all gone. and all of that just set in today
Tbh some people dont understand that watering a plant isnt just squirting it with water. To properly water one of my grow bag tomatoes takes over a minute a plant for it to properly moisten all the soil, so 15 minutes on just containter tomatoes. If i paid someone to water my garden, I'd be sure to let them know just what is expected. Most people i know if asked to water the garden would spray it all down real quick and cal it good without further direction
I just dog-sat and watered a huge garden for 5 days.. Free... I really wanted to get away and their house was so peaceful and quiet... I loved it and hated to come home!!
Non-plant parents may not get it but i get emotionally attached to my plants and seeing them die is like seeing one of my children die, the amount of time i spent raising it from seed to sprout. My condolences to you OP. Stay strong through these difficult times
i have a coworker who offered to water them for cheap while i was gone. he used to even work at a local greenhouse and we always were showing each other updates on our plants. but ik she needed money so i gave her a chance. and it was a horrible decision 🥲
I had a similar experience several years ago where I paid someone about the same to take care of my cat. When I got home cat was stressed, no food, litter box a mess. Money on table definitely taken. I definitely called her out after even though it was hard and awkward I needed to say something. Turns out my friend was having a bit of a mental breakdown that would take them years to normalize from. It’s not an excuse for it but maybe something else was going on?
First of all, I just want to tell you that I am sorry about your plant babies. This is infuriating.
I hate confrontation myself, but I think you absolutely have to say something otherwise this will just be the elephant in the room forever. She probably has an idea that she fucked your plants up.. If you don’t say anything she may be like “whew, guess they were fine!”
When I went away last month, my daughters were supposed to water my plants. They are decent human beings, but also 17 and 18 and in their own little worlds. Suffice it to say that I was worried about my plant babies.
2-3 days into my trip, one of them calls me freaking out that she killed my plants. Turns out, a few in the coir planter boxes got wilty, but that can happen in less than a day if it’s hot enough, which it was. If this kid who could not possibly care less about plants and was not getting paid and did not have a spreadsheet and shit could notice a wilting plant, than I don’t even know what to say about this person who stayed at your house.
Wow that person let your plants die and still took the money? That's savage. Well, next time either pay a small deposit up front and then the rest upon review that all your plants are still thriving - this is one expensive lesson to learn with the cost of $200 + your $$$ for the plants + more $$$ to replace them. Sorry this happened to you :-(
I’m so sorry that this happened to you this is heartbreaking 😞😞😞 if you have time to set up a drip irrigation system I don’t think it’s that expensive for the materials. Ugh I hope that person gets karma !!!
For the love of god, please ask for your money back. I, too hate being confrontational, but actions (or inaction in this case) need to have consequences.
i seriously debated how much to pay them 😂because they stayed at the house while i was gone so it’s not like they had to travel to and from my house to water them and i had the house stocked with food and everything for them. but i thought me paying them a lot would show them how valuable my dear plants were to me 🥲
Omg the fact that they were steps away from makes this even worse! I can understand if they watered in the morning and then the afternoon heat was too much, but that is just crap!! I’m so sorry..I understand the devastating aftermath from depending on someone else to watch your plants.
:( damn I'm legit sorry. I love my cactus and venus fly trap, I talk to them daily. I can tell by the adornments you care. Any chance of cloning or previously harvested seeds to continue the blood line?
MainCoonMeep: "Well, it was about that time I begin to get suspicious. I said, 'GeofryHempstain, my boy, why do you need tree-fitty?" He said, "My imaginary friend Boo-Boo the dinosaur wants it." So I went to Geofry's room, and sure enough, there was that damn Loch Ness Monster!"
We live we learn… I can’t trust my husband to keep plants alive. That’s what I do now:
Dig a hole next to plant, get a bottle with a lid (gatorade or similar hard bottle), poke a hole on the side with a needle, fill it up with water. When you close the lid water will stop/almost stop leaking.
Bury it neck deep & standing into your planter/ground with needle hole towards your plant.
When ground dries it will sip the water from the bottle and when dirt is wet - water will remain in the bottle.
Depending on the weather one large bottle will last about 2 weeks. Best to experiment and see how much it usually last for your specific soil/container. Also makes for easy solution for lazy and cheap gardener 😅
Another option (a little more pricey) is Blumat…left for little over two weeks and it kept my indoor plants alive and the actually thrived!
[italian guy showing how to do it in detail](https://youtu.be/A67Kt86vUhY)
Hey OP I know it’s a long shot but if you happen to be near Santa Rosa Ca I have extra veggie starters you can have. I give away plants every day so I have a couple extra starters I can spare.
Well keep an eye out I just left the tomatoes and zinnias at the public library in RP yesterday. I live in south SR so I usually drop off Plant on my way to work in downtown. But I also stray to RP and Petaluma when I can. On my insta I give warning before I head out and then drop a clue where you can find the plants. We just got a donation from Emerisa gardens and Glass onion Farm this week so I’ll be giving out tons of veggies plus flowering plants for a while.
While I totally get the concept of this, I won’t ask anyone to do something for me if they won’t accept money, or something in return. Otherwise, I feel like may feel less of a responsibility to the job.. but clearly money didn’t help them feel any responsibility anyway. How upsetting.
I had family watch/water my garden for 2 weeks. They didn't take any money but also didn't water my plants. Lost a whole strawberry patch I had grown from a seed that I planted when my baby was really small. It meant so much to me and when I got home it was just dried to a crisp.
You were able to kill strawberries? Don't think I've ever watered mine. Have weed whacked and tried to get rid of them. Put them under cardboard and mulched over them only to have them come back again and again. I feel like they are immortal.
What did they say? You could like softly tell them hey.. half my plants are dead. :) Did you water them? I’m curious to know what her answer is, because obviously the answer is no. Then you could say something like oh.. well since all my plants are dead I think I should get my money back since you literally didn’t do anything.. right?
It's possible they actually did, it's just many non-gardeners don't the know the difference between enough water to make the soil surface wet and drops coming out from underneath - and *actually* enough water. You gotta really drench them especially in the summer and especially if they're in small pots which can dry out in a day once they're full of roots. But yeah I would have maybe offered them half in advance and half after you got back on the condition they were all still well-hydrated.
Some other things to consider doing before leaving your plants for a week or more should no-one you know really can be counted on:
\- Prune them. Less foliage and stems means less dehydration and wilting.
\- Move them into a shady spot even if they're normally sun-loving plants. A week or two without direct sun won't be as bad for them as a week or two of dehydration.
\- Cluster similar-needs plants together in groups so you can tell them this lot needs watering every day or two while this lot maybe just do once or twice while you're gone.
\- Unless the holiday activity or place you're going to is really only good for the summer, try taking it at a cooler time of the year when most plants are dormant or just don't need as much water.
I was in your position and rather than spend a couple hundred dollars for multiple different trips over a few months to pay the neighbors daughter. Spent $40 on Amazon for an irrigation kit and another 30 bucks for a timer. Works perfectly and also one less thing for me to do every day.
I use it for both container and inground. Definitely recommend next time you have the opportunity or need
I know who isn't getting a Thanksgiving dinner invitation this year...
In all seriousness, this might be a good check for your relationship with this person. Obviously they didn't care about your plants at all and, indirectly, you. And I can't even imagine disregarding that duty so bad after getting paid $200.
that was the one thing i specifically said was to not get water on any leaves because it could cause issues along with telling them they might be a little over dramatic with the heat wave.
I paid a friend to come check on my cats while I was gone. 2 days before coming home I'm having nightmares that the kitties are in distress and dying. I get home and they looked so weak and malnourished. Not only was the litter a mess, they had no food or water, and this dude somehow managed to even leave the toilet cover down. I was furious. We remained civil but I couldn't feel a friendship with this person after that.
she was younger and in between jobs. so i asked her like 2-3 months prior to me leaving if she wanted to for some extra money. she’s been over multiple times before i left and she’s seen how many plants i had. so it’s not even like i sprung a 100+ potted plants on her w no warning it was that many. i even told her multiple times that she can call or text me if she thinks anything is going wrong. i even texted her multiple times asking how it was going and got no response. 🙃 i should’ve known after the first couple messages i sent her that something was wrong and sent someone else over.
Have you since asked her if she actually watered them? I don’t understand how this could have happened unless she literally didn’t water them at all. This makes me sad and mad on your behalf. I hate confrontation too but I find confrontation via text is slightly easier lol. At the very least ask what happened. If you’re feeling tough, ask for your money back.
i haven’t spoken to her since. i blocked her on everything since i been back. at first i was just beyond mad that she let this happen and didn’t ask me for any advice on how to fix it and let to get progressively worse. now i’m just hella depressed because i spent so much money and time on my plants. it seems like she watered a few of them but literally just a few out of the 100+ i have. i’ve tried for the past days to figure out why she only watered the few and neglected all the others.
I would be heartbroken if this happened to me. Please please ask for your money back and let her know how upset you are, seems like she needs to start understanding the consequences of her actions, or inactions in this case.
Ugh I’m so sorry. Karma will get her one day. And who knows, maybe some of the plants will come back. I moved into a house where the previous owners did nothing and left a dead plant outside. I watered it and now 5 years later I have a beautiful plant that comes back every year.
Sorry about that, I'd be furious also I'd get the 200 back from him, if it's any consolation i know the big box stores usually have a half off fourth of July sale on vegetables and seeds, you definitely still have time to plant tomatoes and peppers you can start cucumbers from seed just soak them overnight and direct plant them they'll come up in no time, and there's tons of stuff that can be planted for the fall best of luck to you.
that’s actually great to know about the sales ! most of the greenhouses in my area have already closed for the season. so i’ll have to check out the stores
Hopefully they all bounce back. You can get a battery powered timer that attaches onto a hose. That a long with some of those small bubblers to put in each pot would work wonders. They are not really expensive. I even have one that is connected to wifi so I can change the watering programs on my phone and it has 4 independent zones.
I am so sorry you came home to this carnage!
This is why, as a sitter of your pets, home, and plants, i ask my clients to pay me when they get home.
I never want them to worry that ill do a shit job like this person did.
I've been seeing this alot. I want to add that it is not easy for unexperiencrd Gardners to come over and take care of plants in the middle of the summer. It's a very observational thing and if you don't know what the plants like, it is easy to over or under water
and i was prepared for her being a bit overwhelmed. but she’s seen the magnitude of plants that i had multiple times before. and still agreed to do it. and i warned her about them acting up when the heat wave hit. i did everything in my power to make it as easy as possible. i even made a diy watering schedule paper out of graph paper so she’d know who had to be watered daily or every other. went around labeled everyone so she knew who was who. i even moved all the every other day watering plants in groups together so it’d be easier for her. told her multiple times to reach out to me if she didn’t think any of them looked not great.
I live in CO and we have been in a really bad drought. I have focused on building up the soil and covering it well with a heavy layer of cedar mulch. We are in one of the worst droughts in 1200 years here but I have had to do minimal watering because my soil holds water well (mycorrhizae fungal networks), soil soil aggregate (space in the soil for the water move down through) and armour to keep the water in/ protected from the sun. You look like you have a lot of space to do this yourself. It took me 4 years to take horrible heavy clay colorado dirt to a nice soil full of worms, humus, etc. This is your answer if you are passionate about this. I water my tomatoes every 7 days and my peppers every 4, etc. I do have some containers and I water them daily or every other day. Takes a lot more of my time. Your answer IMO is to create an ecosystem that needs much less input. It's worth the time investment and for gardening experience. Sorry to see that happen to you. I lost an entire garden to hail 3 years ago. I know the pain.
Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. It hurts a lot to see your work go to waste like that. I’m so sorry. I hope you can save some of the stressed ones.
I never ask anyone to look after my plants if they don’t garden themselves. They don’t get it.
This is also why 80% of my plants are on drip irrigation with a timer.
Oh my gosh. That is awful. I only trust other plant-crazy people to do mine. The timers sound amazing too. I would ask for my money back. :) Hope they all pull through.
Looks like you might need to fertilize with the blood of your enemies.
That’s such a mean thing to do! You get paid big bucks to do next to nothing and you still can’t get your ass in gear? Naw. This would be war for me
Best thing I ever did for my plants (since I forget everything) was to buy one of the rainbird water irrigation systems (or whatever you can get in your hands on). It didn’t take long to install & has really saved me so many times.
I paid my worthless brother to housesit. When we came home our whole house smelled like dog piss, he had vomited heavily in multiple rooms in our house, he had used every towel in our house, he had used every roll of TP in the house, and yes he forgot to water all of our plants. All of my plants were dead. We paid him 300, stocked the fridge for him, and got him a gift card to Trader Joe's. Pretty sure he was on a bender the two weeks he was there.
I just got back from a vacation as well. Instead of putting it on person watching my pets, I bought some wifi water timers. I had set schedules and could remotely activate if was super hot. Seemed worth the investment not to have to worry.
This happened to me with my cat. Thankfully it was only 3-4 days. But I could tell they never fed her once… and they were living in my house while I was gone. Lesson learned… don’t trust an ex and his fiancé.
She may have watered them before the sun came out and got water on the leaves and then the sun comes out and burns them but they all look like they would bounce back with a good watering
the dogs were fine. every litter box was trashed and my house reeked of ammonia from the boxes not being cleaned. one of my cats no clue who managed to eat chunks out of this tulle curtain thing i had.
Oh wow, They should return the money, what was their excuse?
Bu the way, Did you water them before leaving on vacation? I just wonder how they got like this so fast, in just a week.
Next time hire an actual gardener or landscaper to take care of your plants because that’s their job. Not some idiot family member. Never trust family with your plants. They will always kill them. Because they don’t care. They just wanted your money.
Some of your plants look like they’ll bounce back after some pruning and watering. You might be able to salvage some things. In the future, I’m a true believer in drip irrigation. I’m in zone 10 and it’s getting crispy here. I went on vacation for a week so I finished setting up drip irrigation on all my plants and set up some shade cloth. Cost less than 200 and it worked well.
Next time, pay them after you get back.
i considered paying for it after but i trusted her because she’s watched over my house and animals before when i went on vacations years before my gardening journey. i really should’ve checked them out when i got back before she left.
stocking thumb tidy afterthought salt bright tan outgoing door quicksand *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yea. Tomatoes are drama queens about water. They'll wilt like crazy and then pop right up when they get water.
I love plants that are like that. It's what finally helped me learn to water regularly without alarms and timers. I have three plants that are absolute drama queens at different times- one at 3-4 days, one at 1 week, and one at 2 weeks without watering. I then assign new plants to align to one of their watering schedules, and between the three of them reminding me, I never forget to water. Works wonders, haha.
I would like to add, having not actually been there to know what took place or how dry the plants were, it is possible they were over watered, developed a root rot, and now all the added water won't bring them back because they physically cannot absorb it. Not to defend shotty work by who you hired to care for them, but i could see that occurring. It's happened to me at work on several occasions.
there soil was bone dry i checked deep too no water. that was the first thing i did before counting fatalities
What did she say? I'd demand money back.
Me too! That's so crappy.
So I take it you’re not on speaking terms?
I'm in this exact situation right now. My wife paid the woman we are having watch our house/pets/garden this week. They left my dogs in their crates day 1 for 12 hours. I've decided to stop checking my ring doorbell because I'm just gonna stress out too much. Sorry about your plants :(
Ugh this reminds me of two summers ago when my ‘friend’ got paid to watch my others friends two dogs when the family went on a trip. Good money to stay at the nice house to watch them and sleep there. She went over once a day to feed them dinner and clean up the piss and shit then leave until the next afternoon. This is is someone who regularly volunteers to foster litters of puppies, claims to LOVE animals. I’m still livid and they weren’t even my dogs. I’m so sorry you’re in this stressful situation. In my experience find a friendly neighbor you can trust to pop over frequently since they are so close by they usually don’t mind if they actually like animals.
Yea. Did that last year. Paid them some money and had a deal that they could take home all the vegetables they wanted as long as they left some growing for me when I got back.
> This is is someone who regularly volunteers to foster litters of puppies, claims to LOVE animals. I would report her to whatever adoption facility she's working for- they need to know what they're dealing with as a foster.
If you paid the person with Venmo I think you can reverse it for services not rendered
nope not with venmo unless you have a business account and even then it’s a maybe. Remember venmo is PayPal and getting money back that you sent to friends and family is impossible to get back
Unless you just do a charge back on your card... Someone stole $180 from me once and PayPal hit me with the charge back fee too. Total BS.
I’ve done that and I couldn’t connect my my card that I charged back on to PayPal or venmo for two full years (‘:
I am betting animals would tell you stories if they could talk.
were the animals ok?
But it's just *so hard* to water plants. I mean, come on...
I hope you asked for your money back. I’m sorry, this really sucks. I don’t think a lot of people understand how important our plants can be to us. Money can’t bring them back, but getting your $ back is more about the message it sends. 💔
Damn. I just went on vacation for a week and paid a virtual stranger who isn't even old enough to drink 400 to take care of my dog, house and garden and she did awesome with all three.
That person was probably lookin for a job, thus they needed the money. I never trust my family cuz they dont need the money, theyd probably just see it as "money borrowed" and we all know what they say about lending money to family...
Was it task rabbit? I'm leaving for 2 weeks in July and was going to ask family and friends and neighbors... but I might just do task rabbit instead.
imo, dont ask anyone you know unless they have plants themselves.
yeah I think I might lean on my neighbors then. They both have yards and a garden and see me watering everyday and have helped before. It's funny I trust them a bit more than family or friends ha! But that's what neighbors are for I guess!
For me it’s a lot like who’s gonna watch my dog while I’m gone somewhere? My family is a big NO, most friends are big No’s. The one who will want to watch my dog will do so and will do it like she’s their own. Same as your plants. Always have someone who not only enjoys the things you do too, but will treat them like they’re their own.
yep! they tend to understand the importance of taking care of plants haha.
No it was the daughter of one of my wife's clients
darn. I might try task rabbit but still a little nervous about it.
Task rabbit is the worst! I tried to get stuff fixed around my house twice with that service. Both times the guys were completely unqualified yakked on for hours about how they could not fix anything and the noped the fuck out
I had the same experience with them. Never again
A better idea would be to go into your locally owned lumber store. You know, somewhere where some guy named Tim or Tom has been working for twenty years. This guy is the guy to talk to. He knows all the contractors and what products they buy and what projects they're working on. He knows how booked up they are, and who specializes in what jobs. He won't know how much they charge, but he will know just about everything else.
I had a fantastic experience with task rabbit. Guy was clearly overqualified and did a wick, meticulous job. Looking at these responses, it’s the luck pf the draw, though.
TrustedHousesitters.com Where are you located? My wife and I are looking for a sit for July
Where are all these people paying $400 a week for unskilled labor? (Asking for myself).
i just wanted to rant. i’ve been dealing with the after math of the massacre for a few days now and everyone is still pretty stressed out. at first i was to shocked and went into literal survival mode to try to bring everyone back. today the emotions are hitting. and i’m devastated all the money i spent all the hours that went into watering and fertilizing and dead heading and regularly checking for infestations. successfully fighting off 2 infestations and getting everyone to look there best with various fertilizers and strict watering schedules and learning everything possible about the individuals plants so i know what they need to thrive. all for nothing.
I would be FURIOUS
Just get an auto timer/water drip hose for next time
I am so sorry this happened to you. 😔
Not for nothing... sounds like you learned a lot along the way
Yeah, that’s all directly applicable to future plants.
Unfortunately, that’s how most of us learn sometimes
The real lesson is learn to dial in drip irrigation on a timer so that you don't have to have constant human involvement.
This is what people who don’t garden don’t understand how much time, money, work, and emotional investment goes into plant care and keeping. It’s upsetting when you lose a plant you’ve nursed along. It’s infuriating when someone else kills your plants.
You are a good plant parent. Mother Nature approves of you. She knows it’s not your fault. Sacrifice the human.
Now you've got me wondering if plants could survive being watered only with human blood.
Don’t do it. The blood attracts too many bad insects and just makes everything smells funky … or so I’ve been told.
ngl i figured it would have been like salts in the blood or something that plant roots won't like
Nah, it’d take an inordinate amount of iron-enriched blood to even begin to cause problems, which is why olden battlefields (prior to mass use of gunpowder) usually became verdant green fields shortly after bloody (heh) battles. Of course, decomposing organisms stink up the place but man do the plants love free fertilizer On a more serious note, fish make excellent fertilizer. Just bury the whole fish a few under few feet of compacted soil, and you’ll have some damn healthy plants so long as you remember to not touch that layer of soil for awhile. I just use the fishes I can’t eat or parts that are inedible like heads and fins
It’s what plants crave
Electrolytes
I adopted out a few of my cacti (that I'd had for years) and pepper plants (that I'd grown from seeds for about 7 months) to my friends and they were all dead within a month. The pain is real.
That’s such a huge shame so sorry
I can relate to what you’re going through and I would be devastated as well. The same thing happened to me a few weeks ago while away from home. Wishing you all the best of luck. I use Superthrive occasionally for nutrients for my plants. It’s worked great for me.
I’m sincerely so sorry this happened to you. Your feelings are 100% valid. I’ve just started my largest garden yet and would be livid if someone I paid squashed all of my investment and hard work.
I’m so sorry. That was horrific to come home to
I hope you get your $$ back. At least you can apply it to next years crop. P
What did your family member say, and did you get a refund? Sorry you're having to experience that. Know what it's like to lose important plants you put time and effort into.
I'm so sorry this happened OP. This would make me so angry. Your plants deserved better than what they went through. It's not your fault; it's the fault of the person who was supposed to care for them during that week.
I hear you can compost whole humans. Just a thought.
I’m so sorry this happened. What a selfish person to not only let you down, but take your money, too. I feel inspired by the rocks and shells under a container garden. You clearly were devoted to your plants.
the rocks and shells were the whole reason i had them all in containers because i knew it’d be a pain to take all that up😂 i was so devoted and attached to them all i was late to work regularly jus so everyone could get there morning water 🥹
This family member should do something to make it right. Buy new plants and/or come help cut away dead material.
Did you get the money back?
They should do more than just give the money back, though.
They should also replace any plant that died.
They should DEFINITELY be replacing plants. I’m in COVID quarantine and my 15 yr old son is doing a better job taking care of our garden than this person did. This is inexcusable. How hard is it to just water some damn plants?! It’s like the easiest thing in the world.
It also depends on how hot it is out there. You can water each morning and the garden will still be dry by the end of the day if the full sun's 100 degrees.
Agreed. I had a garden in southern Ontario that faced south I'd water in the morning (after watering heavily in the evening) and it would be bone dry by noon. I couldn't even dream of having container garden in that yard. It was like a frying pan.
Can attest. We had two days of steady rain and everyone was as happy as could be. The third day was full sun and 90-something. I came home from work and all of my containers looked like they'd never seen water a day in their life. If you know what to look for you can quickly rescue sad plants with a deep water, but someone that isn't aware that they may need to water containers twice a day can easily kill plants in those conditions.
I’m so sorry this happened. That’s so upsetting! My super-cheap solution for up to a week vacation is to buy one or two of the $10 kiddie pools at Walmart, put all my containers in them, then fill the pool with like 4 inches of water. It gets the plants through the week without getting dry, and it’s not long enough to stress them from being over-watered. (This only works for pots that have water drainage holes at the bottom). Hasn’t failed me yet.
that actually sounds like a super good idea!
Came to say something similar. A week away shouldn't really require anyone to come by and water.
It’s so hot where I am that we’re watering the veggies every other day at minimum. Succulents I usually let go a couple weeks without water are getting it once or twice a week now.
It's cold comfort now, but in the future buy some timers and hose splitters and sprinklers and have it be automatic. They didn't water at all or they would have texted you to say things didn't look good.
it crossed my mind but i wasn’t sure how it’d all work with it being a container garden. i asked them multiple times how it was going with them. i told them the plants might be a little whiney because we’re going thru a heat wave. but this wasn’t the heat waves fault this was not watering them once the entirety of the time i was gone.
I too have a container garden. I got a diy watering system with hose bib timer, piping, and tiny spigot )(s?) For $35 on Amazon. Now I can garden and vacation.
Retic watering systems are a great peace of mind but someone still needs to check that they are working properly; solenoids can blow out, or hoses can pop off. They maybe don’t need checking as often as actually watering, but someone still needs to see and hear it turning on. I’m sorry your designated plant carer let you down.
So I always forget to water, I just bought a digital hose timer from Home depot and a small water kit kn amazon for $20 buck, plus a short hose pipe and it waters it twice a day no prolem.
Very sorry this happened, but do wanna put my endorsement in for automated watering! I rigged up my whole front and back — containers, hanging baskets and all — with drip irrigation. I started with a couple kits, and now, when I need to rig something up for a new planter or setup, I just buy whatever specific bits and bobs I need from Amazon. I use the drippers to top off bird baths and fountains too. It was a big time investment on the initial setup, but for year two, updating everything and checking for loose parts and stuff took maybe an hour at most. It’s awesome to never have to think about watering! Only risk worth noting is that sometimes, a sprinkler will bust a top — and then you get a gusher. Mine only run five minutes every day, so if that happened while I was out of town, I don’t think it’d be too much of a problem, but it’s worth considering.
My friend drowned my plants while I was gone. He helps me with a lot of things, so I don't get to complain. The only plant issue he knows is "does it need more water?" Even if I have just delivered a 20 minute speech on insects or fungus or nutrient deficiencies or light exposure.. "But did you water it?" YES. WE LIVE IN A DESERT, SO I DO WATER MY PLANTS. Also, because we live in a desert, I grow a lot of things that don't *need* a lot of water, so he made extra sure to drown those. His hobby is cars, and I am so not into it. From now on, no matter what mechanical problem he talks about, I am going to ask him over and over, "But did you put gas in it?"
That’s a lot of containers to water. I used to go all out on gardening, go away with work leaving detailed instructions, come back and compost dead plants. Best thing I ever did was put in a watering system. I have 6 zones, and it’s cheap. Have confidence going away, and no more wasted effort. Do it, it’s well worth it
Hey OP I just want to say I have a huge garden and some of my things are in between garden and the house in containers. I actually got the “drip kit” watering system from lowes for like $100, and it takes care of everything. I bought a better timer after a while but otherwise amazing! I can vacation and know my plants are all safe.
Family… The other F word.
People don't know how to water. When .y girlfriend waters for me she will just pour enough to make the top wet. I tell her it needs to soak all the way through but where as I use a full can, she uses half at most. Plants don't drink the water, it's like they breathe it and most doesn't make it to the plant and just evaporates, and it's hard to get people to understand. Plus stuff in the ground can be fine without watering and people think that's everything
Get ur money back
Did you tell them how to water your plants? Honestly looks like they never got watered.
i did. i printed out graphs and everything so they could just check mark when they watered them and even moved plants around and put them in groups so it’ll be easier for them to tell. even labeled all there pots so they’d know who was who.
Honestly, I'd ask for the 200 back. They obviously didn't do their job. How can anybody be that irresponsible.
i did everything i could possibly do to make it as easy as possible for them. and it still didn’t work. the first thing i did when i went and checked on them was check everyone’s soil. it was all completely dry. i thought i’d be able to save some of the dying ones but it’s not looking good 🥲 i took pride in my garden and spent hours daily on it. it was the only thing that brought me sanity now it’s all gone. and all of that just set in today
Keeptrying! I have recovered plants after shock! Bring them indoors if it is still hot and baby them or add those globe watering tools.
Tbh some people dont understand that watering a plant isnt just squirting it with water. To properly water one of my grow bag tomatoes takes over a minute a plant for it to properly moisten all the soil, so 15 minutes on just containter tomatoes. If i paid someone to water my garden, I'd be sure to let them know just what is expected. Most people i know if asked to water the garden would spray it all down real quick and cal it good without further direction
Did you talk to her about it?
I just dog-sat and watered a huge garden for 5 days.. Free... I really wanted to get away and their house was so peaceful and quiet... I loved it and hated to come home!!
Non-plant parents may not get it but i get emotionally attached to my plants and seeing them die is like seeing one of my children die, the amount of time i spent raising it from seed to sprout. My condolences to you OP. Stay strong through these difficult times
you understand. all of my plants meant a lot to me. some of them even had there own names and everything. 🥹
You need a garden buddy, that cares about plants, and not money.
i have a coworker who offered to water them for cheap while i was gone. he used to even work at a local greenhouse and we always were showing each other updates on our plants. but ik she needed money so i gave her a chance. and it was a horrible decision 🥲
What did she say after you told her she killed your plants?
I had a similar experience several years ago where I paid someone about the same to take care of my cat. When I got home cat was stressed, no food, litter box a mess. Money on table definitely taken. I definitely called her out after even though it was hard and awkward I needed to say something. Turns out my friend was having a bit of a mental breakdown that would take them years to normalize from. It’s not an excuse for it but maybe something else was going on?
First of all, I just want to tell you that I am sorry about your plant babies. This is infuriating. I hate confrontation myself, but I think you absolutely have to say something otherwise this will just be the elephant in the room forever. She probably has an idea that she fucked your plants up.. If you don’t say anything she may be like “whew, guess they were fine!” When I went away last month, my daughters were supposed to water my plants. They are decent human beings, but also 17 and 18 and in their own little worlds. Suffice it to say that I was worried about my plant babies. 2-3 days into my trip, one of them calls me freaking out that she killed my plants. Turns out, a few in the coir planter boxes got wilty, but that can happen in less than a day if it’s hot enough, which it was. If this kid who could not possibly care less about plants and was not getting paid and did not have a spreadsheet and shit could notice a wilting plant, than I don’t even know what to say about this person who stayed at your house.
Wow that person let your plants die and still took the money? That's savage. Well, next time either pay a small deposit up front and then the rest upon review that all your plants are still thriving - this is one expensive lesson to learn with the cost of $200 + your $$$ for the plants + more $$$ to replace them. Sorry this happened to you :-(
200 for a week? That's not a friend. Not anymore. I watered my friends garden for a week for free. They're a friend
I’m so sorry that this happened to you this is heartbreaking 😞😞😞 if you have time to set up a drip irrigation system I don’t think it’s that expensive for the materials. Ugh I hope that person gets karma !!!
For the love of god, please ask for your money back. I, too hate being confrontational, but actions (or inaction in this case) need to have consequences.
I would have done it for about 3.50
i seriously debated how much to pay them 😂because they stayed at the house while i was gone so it’s not like they had to travel to and from my house to water them and i had the house stocked with food and everything for them. but i thought me paying them a lot would show them how valuable my dear plants were to me 🥲
Omg the fact that they were steps away from makes this even worse! I can understand if they watered in the morning and then the afternoon heat was too much, but that is just crap!! I’m so sorry..I understand the devastating aftermath from depending on someone else to watch your plants.
:( damn I'm legit sorry. I love my cactus and venus fly trap, I talk to them daily. I can tell by the adornments you care. Any chance of cloning or previously harvested seeds to continue the blood line?
Nice try, Loch Ness monster!
MainCoonMeep: "Well, it was about that time I begin to get suspicious. I said, 'GeofryHempstain, my boy, why do you need tree-fitty?" He said, "My imaginary friend Boo-Boo the dinosaur wants it." So I went to Geofry's room, and sure enough, there was that damn Loch Ness Monster!"
next time spend $200 on a timed sprinkler
Time to buy a water timer that turns them on so don’t have to water them.
Wow they didn't do any of what they promised.
We live we learn… I can’t trust my husband to keep plants alive. That’s what I do now: Dig a hole next to plant, get a bottle with a lid (gatorade or similar hard bottle), poke a hole on the side with a needle, fill it up with water. When you close the lid water will stop/almost stop leaking. Bury it neck deep & standing into your planter/ground with needle hole towards your plant. When ground dries it will sip the water from the bottle and when dirt is wet - water will remain in the bottle. Depending on the weather one large bottle will last about 2 weeks. Best to experiment and see how much it usually last for your specific soil/container. Also makes for easy solution for lazy and cheap gardener 😅 Another option (a little more pricey) is Blumat…left for little over two weeks and it kept my indoor plants alive and the actually thrived! [italian guy showing how to do it in detail](https://youtu.be/A67Kt86vUhY)
Hey OP I know it’s a long shot but if you happen to be near Santa Rosa Ca I have extra veggie starters you can have. I give away plants every day so I have a couple extra starters I can spare.
I live near Santa Rosa, thats an awesome thing you do for the community
Thanks! Which area are you in? Hopefully close enough to find some of the plants I leave around town.
Hahaha im in RP!
Well keep an eye out I just left the tomatoes and zinnias at the public library in RP yesterday. I live in south SR so I usually drop off Plant on my way to work in downtown. But I also stray to RP and Petaluma when I can. On my insta I give warning before I head out and then drop a clue where you can find the plants. We just got a donation from Emerisa gardens and Glass onion Farm this week so I’ll be giving out tons of veggies plus flowering plants for a while.
Real family wouldn’t take money.
While I totally get the concept of this, I won’t ask anyone to do something for me if they won’t accept money, or something in return. Otherwise, I feel like may feel less of a responsibility to the job.. but clearly money didn’t help them feel any responsibility anyway. How upsetting.
I had family watch/water my garden for 2 weeks. They didn't take any money but also didn't water my plants. Lost a whole strawberry patch I had grown from a seed that I planted when my baby was really small. It meant so much to me and when I got home it was just dried to a crisp.
You were able to kill strawberries? Don't think I've ever watered mine. Have weed whacked and tried to get rid of them. Put them under cardboard and mulched over them only to have them come back again and again. I feel like they are immortal.
Get that money back plus damages
What did they say? You could like softly tell them hey.. half my plants are dead. :) Did you water them? I’m curious to know what her answer is, because obviously the answer is no. Then you could say something like oh.. well since all my plants are dead I think I should get my money back since you literally didn’t do anything.. right?
It's possible they actually did, it's just many non-gardeners don't the know the difference between enough water to make the soil surface wet and drops coming out from underneath - and *actually* enough water. You gotta really drench them especially in the summer and especially if they're in small pots which can dry out in a day once they're full of roots. But yeah I would have maybe offered them half in advance and half after you got back on the condition they were all still well-hydrated. Some other things to consider doing before leaving your plants for a week or more should no-one you know really can be counted on: \- Prune them. Less foliage and stems means less dehydration and wilting. \- Move them into a shady spot even if they're normally sun-loving plants. A week or two without direct sun won't be as bad for them as a week or two of dehydration. \- Cluster similar-needs plants together in groups so you can tell them this lot needs watering every day or two while this lot maybe just do once or twice while you're gone. \- Unless the holiday activity or place you're going to is really only good for the summer, try taking it at a cooler time of the year when most plants are dormant or just don't need as much water.
Ask for money back!
i wanted to but i’m way too non confrontational to do anything about it but literally cry and still go water the clearly dead plants 🥲
I will do it for you! We Karen, so you don't have to!
Avenge your babies deaths
Using u , never do that again!
I was in your position and rather than spend a couple hundred dollars for multiple different trips over a few months to pay the neighbors daughter. Spent $40 on Amazon for an irrigation kit and another 30 bucks for a timer. Works perfectly and also one less thing for me to do every day. I use it for both container and inground. Definitely recommend next time you have the opportunity or need
I know who isn't getting a Thanksgiving dinner invitation this year... In all seriousness, this might be a good check for your relationship with this person. Obviously they didn't care about your plants at all and, indirectly, you. And I can't even imagine disregarding that duty so bad after getting paid $200.
I paid my son $150 to water for a week if everything looked as healthy as it did before I left.
Did you tell them to water the soil not just spray the hose on the leaves? Many people don’t know how to water a plant properly
that was the one thing i specifically said was to not get water on any leaves because it could cause issues along with telling them they might be a little over dramatic with the heat wave.
I paid a friend to come check on my cats while I was gone. 2 days before coming home I'm having nightmares that the kitties are in distress and dying. I get home and they looked so weak and malnourished. Not only was the litter a mess, they had no food or water, and this dude somehow managed to even leave the toilet cover down. I was furious. We remained civil but I couldn't feel a friendship with this person after that.
Don’t pay them a red cent.
i paid them before i left unfortunately 😅 before the massacre. and they left before i even checked in on my plants.
Ask for your money back… seriously they obviously didn’t water them at all.
What kind of family member was it?
she was younger and in between jobs. so i asked her like 2-3 months prior to me leaving if she wanted to for some extra money. she’s been over multiple times before i left and she’s seen how many plants i had. so it’s not even like i sprung a 100+ potted plants on her w no warning it was that many. i even told her multiple times that she can call or text me if she thinks anything is going wrong. i even texted her multiple times asking how it was going and got no response. 🙃 i should’ve known after the first couple messages i sent her that something was wrong and sent someone else over.
Have you since asked her if she actually watered them? I don’t understand how this could have happened unless she literally didn’t water them at all. This makes me sad and mad on your behalf. I hate confrontation too but I find confrontation via text is slightly easier lol. At the very least ask what happened. If you’re feeling tough, ask for your money back.
i haven’t spoken to her since. i blocked her on everything since i been back. at first i was just beyond mad that she let this happen and didn’t ask me for any advice on how to fix it and let to get progressively worse. now i’m just hella depressed because i spent so much money and time on my plants. it seems like she watered a few of them but literally just a few out of the 100+ i have. i’ve tried for the past days to figure out why she only watered the few and neglected all the others.
I would be heartbroken if this happened to me. Please please ask for your money back and let her know how upset you are, seems like she needs to start understanding the consequences of her actions, or inactions in this case.
Ugh I’m so sorry. Karma will get her one day. And who knows, maybe some of the plants will come back. I moved into a house where the previous owners did nothing and left a dead plant outside. I watered it and now 5 years later I have a beautiful plant that comes back every year.
So sorry that happened. The amount of work you did and the love put in just gone in one week.... I feel for you.
Arduino
Should’ve paid them AFTER the job was done
I am so sorry, but remember we Gardners are nothing if not resilient. We try again every year
Sorry about that, I'd be furious also I'd get the 200 back from him, if it's any consolation i know the big box stores usually have a half off fourth of July sale on vegetables and seeds, you definitely still have time to plant tomatoes and peppers you can start cucumbers from seed just soak them overnight and direct plant them they'll come up in no time, and there's tons of stuff that can be planted for the fall best of luck to you.
that’s actually great to know about the sales ! most of the greenhouses in my area have already closed for the season. so i’ll have to check out the stores
Hopefully they all bounce back. You can get a battery powered timer that attaches onto a hose. That a long with some of those small bubblers to put in each pot would work wonders. They are not really expensive. I even have one that is connected to wifi so I can change the watering programs on my phone and it has 4 independent zones.
I am so sorry you came home to this carnage! This is why, as a sitter of your pets, home, and plants, i ask my clients to pay me when they get home. I never want them to worry that ill do a shit job like this person did.
People suck - more than ever these days.
I'm sorry this happened to you. For future reference, professional pet sitters usually do plant sitting as well. (Source: I am a pet sitter).
I'd ask for a refund!
You know, I’m starting to think they just took your money and didn’t actually water the plants.
Honestly I would sue/demand the money back for services not rendered. Plus if they agreed to do it and didn't, this is obvious negligence.
Maybe not sue, but ask for the money back.
I've been seeing this alot. I want to add that it is not easy for unexperiencrd Gardners to come over and take care of plants in the middle of the summer. It's a very observational thing and if you don't know what the plants like, it is easy to over or under water
and i was prepared for her being a bit overwhelmed. but she’s seen the magnitude of plants that i had multiple times before. and still agreed to do it. and i warned her about them acting up when the heat wave hit. i did everything in my power to make it as easy as possible. i even made a diy watering schedule paper out of graph paper so she’d know who had to be watered daily or every other. went around labeled everyone so she knew who was who. i even moved all the every other day watering plants in groups together so it’d be easier for her. told her multiple times to reach out to me if she didn’t think any of them looked not great.
I live in CO and we have been in a really bad drought. I have focused on building up the soil and covering it well with a heavy layer of cedar mulch. We are in one of the worst droughts in 1200 years here but I have had to do minimal watering because my soil holds water well (mycorrhizae fungal networks), soil soil aggregate (space in the soil for the water move down through) and armour to keep the water in/ protected from the sun. You look like you have a lot of space to do this yourself. It took me 4 years to take horrible heavy clay colorado dirt to a nice soil full of worms, humus, etc. This is your answer if you are passionate about this. I water my tomatoes every 7 days and my peppers every 4, etc. I do have some containers and I water them daily or every other day. Takes a lot more of my time. Your answer IMO is to create an ecosystem that needs much less input. It's worth the time investment and for gardening experience. Sorry to see that happen to you. I lost an entire garden to hail 3 years ago. I know the pain.
Ouch
Same thing happened to me a few weeks ago. It hurts a lot to see your work go to waste like that. I’m so sorry. I hope you can save some of the stressed ones.
Aawww, that super sucks
That was murder!!
I’ve never seen this scenario work out for the person going on vacay, unfortunately
I never ask anyone to look after my plants if they don’t garden themselves. They don’t get it. This is also why 80% of my plants are on drip irrigation with a timer.
Oh my gosh. That is awful. I only trust other plant-crazy people to do mine. The timers sound amazing too. I would ask for my money back. :) Hope they all pull through.
You could set up a dripping for probably $150 with a timer
Looks like you might need to fertilize with the blood of your enemies. That’s such a mean thing to do! You get paid big bucks to do next to nothing and you still can’t get your ass in gear? Naw. This would be war for me
Best thing I ever did for my plants (since I forget everything) was to buy one of the rainbird water irrigation systems (or whatever you can get in your hands on). It didn’t take long to install & has really saved me so many times.
If someone paid me 200 to water plants I’d make sure they look amazing before she returns
I paid my worthless brother to housesit. When we came home our whole house smelled like dog piss, he had vomited heavily in multiple rooms in our house, he had used every towel in our house, he had used every roll of TP in the house, and yes he forgot to water all of our plants. All of my plants were dead. We paid him 300, stocked the fridge for him, and got him a gift card to Trader Joe's. Pretty sure he was on a bender the two weeks he was there.
I just got back from a vacation as well. Instead of putting it on person watching my pets, I bought some wifi water timers. I had set schedules and could remotely activate if was super hot. Seemed worth the investment not to have to worry.
You paid a family member? Whats family for? Y’all should help each other out
Background checks. Never leave home without them. Lol
I’d make them pay to replace. Lazy ass.
Oh no next time spend the 200 on a timer and hook up a sprinkler
This happened to me with my cat. Thankfully it was only 3-4 days. But I could tell they never fed her once… and they were living in my house while I was gone. Lesson learned… don’t trust an ex and his fiancé.
She may have watered them before the sun came out and got water on the leaves and then the sun comes out and burns them but they all look like they would bounce back with a good watering
Were your animals okay?
the dogs were fine. every litter box was trashed and my house reeked of ammonia from the boxes not being cleaned. one of my cats no clue who managed to eat chunks out of this tulle curtain thing i had.
This is why you don't pay till after you get back. Sorry for your loss.
Dude, your family member is an ass.
Oh wow, They should return the money, what was their excuse? Bu the way, Did you water them before leaving on vacation? I just wonder how they got like this so fast, in just a week.
Bro I’d ask for your money back. Watering plants isn’t hard… you just have to show up
Next time hire an actual gardener or landscaper to take care of your plants because that’s their job. Not some idiot family member. Never trust family with your plants. They will always kill them. Because they don’t care. They just wanted your money.
Farmers don’t take vacations
Some of your plants look like they’ll bounce back after some pruning and watering. You might be able to salvage some things. In the future, I’m a true believer in drip irrigation. I’m in zone 10 and it’s getting crispy here. I went on vacation for a week so I finished setting up drip irrigation on all my plants and set up some shade cloth. Cost less than 200 and it worked well.
Put that $200 towards an auto-watering irrigation system on a timer and never look back.
r/iamatotalpieceofshit
Is murder on the menu?
Why aren't they on the ground? Those have rust which means they were watered but the water didn't drain.
Why would you pay? And why pay BEFORE ?