Hydro Globes Watering Bulbs, 4-pack

I do believe these saved my plants' lives when I was away for six days over the holiday. My mom did go to water my plants, but only once in the middle, and there was little rain during that time. My plants looked pretty limp and almost crispy when I got back, but they were not dead and perked right up the next day. I got these for the express purpose of care during my vacation, and they arrived right before I left – thankfully! ...Because I also bought a bunch of those Plant Nanny ceramic stakes, but found out at the last minute that they do not fit standard water bottles. These globes, on the other hand, you don't have to worry about anything except how you fill them and how you stick them in. There is a little bit of an art to doing that – you can't put them in soil that is too loose (or it will drain in half an hour), but if you put them in very packed soil or there is a blockage like a stone, it may not drain at all. How fast it drains depends on the angle you stake it in and the moisture/type of soil you use. In a loose, dried out mix, the globes will drain very quickly. If you water your plants often on top of using them, these can last weeks. In my case, it was a drought and hardly rained in the week that I was gone – the plants were definitely not looking good when I returned, and every globe had emptied except one that I staked in fully vertical and apparently got a little clogged. So, I think you should also have somebody else drop by and check in on plants just in case, if you are going to be gone for more than a week during the hot summer. That being said, I still believe that the plants would've died without these – because I cannot get someone to check them every day. So I do believe they are worthwhile. They are also works of art and beautiful.