I had a really nice set of sitters for 3 weeks who assured me they were good with plants. I have a lot of really nice house plants. It’s my hobby and I take a lot of care with them so please don’t judge me for having plants that I care about.
The sitters were great but when I returned home on Thursday, 90% of my plants were absolutely sopping wet, their trays running over with water, in some cases, onto wood furniture leaving water stains that will not come out. There were a few plants that were not waterlogged, and those were bone dry and are probably dead. They said they had watered the previous day.
I asked them if they had watered like this every time and they said they didn’t remember, which, judging by swampy roots, I would guess they did.
I have spent the last 3 days repotting as fast as I can and trying to dry out dirt in every sunny spot I can find so as not to lose the plants to root rot. The furniture and floor water rings where they left overflowing trays are permanent.
I guess I’m asking what would you do? I don’t want them to feel bad but I can’t give them a review in good faith. I feel like they misrepresented themselves as knowing how to care for houseplants.
I’m sure there’s no compensation for this in THS, and I think the sitters aren’t very well off so I’d never ask them for it, but seeing as how most of nearly none of my sitters have stayed for even short periods of time without killing some plants, I just want to say, PLEASE, sitters, don’t say you can take care of plants if you don’t know how to properly water them.
Sorry for the rant. It’s upsetting - I’m literally taking a break from repotting plants as I write this and I just needed to get it off my chest.
Maybe you are not being realistic about how much time the plant care takes up. My husband is a keen gardener but we have had sits with MANY pot plants throughout many rooms and it can be tricky making sure all are taken care off. Easy to miss the odd one or heatwaves or cold snaps can quickly change conditions. Nobody is going to know your plants as well as you do. I understand the heartbreak of losing plants, maybe you need to look at easier ways of keeping everything maintained.
Do you give detailed instructions on how to care for the different plants and emphasise how important they are to you? If sitters are coming from different parts of the world caring for plants in your environment may be very different from the way they have done before, even if they are keen gardeners.
Personally when I’m away and have someone coming in to care for my plants I move them to one area that can’t be damaged (covered with a wipeable tablecloth) that is easy to water in and put them on a waterproof tray to make things as convenient as possible for them.
That’s very disappointing to know so many of your pot plants have not been cared for properly @CuencaTeresa. Did you fully explain the responsibilities of caring for them in your listing and Welcome Guide and not just verbally, especially as some plants have different requirements?
Was it only your house and plants that your sitters were responsible for or do you have pets? If there are pets then this is the main area of responsibility for sitters and your plants, unfortunately, are secondary. If your pets were well cared for and your home left clean and tidy, apart from the damage from the water, then they do deserve a review. You can easily mention your plants were not carefully looked after and some damage from water to the floor occurred. I, too, love gardens and plants so I do understand your distress.
This is pet sitting and making sure your house stays intact.. There are numerous types of plants and people live in different environmental conditions who come to sit for you. I believe just asking them if they can water the plants and know about plants is not enough. A measured container should have been left for them. Instructions such as this plant gets one container of water every three days. You can’t expect them to have the expertise you have about your own plants by feeling the soil and knowing how much or little water each plant gets. I believe their intentions were good and your directions of detailed care might have been lacking.
This is very disappointing for you, I can understand perfectly how upset you must be feeling right now.
As far as I am aware there is no option to claim anything from THS. I’m wondering if you home insurance would cover any of it, it may be classed as accidental damage. It would certainly be worth checking. There may be no possibility of insurance in regard to your plants but possibly for the water damage to your furniture.
Sitters have a tendency to oversell themselves at times so it sounds like this is what yours have done.
@CuencaTeresa, did you leave specific guidance on plant care in your Welcome Guide?
If you left clear, objective instructions in your Welcome Guide and housesitters agreed to complete plant care to your stated instructions then housesitters may well have been negligent in their duties. But being “good with plants” seems a broad and unspecific statement.
Based on our experience (~50 housesits) then elevated plant care may be uncommon. We’ve watered plenty of everyday plants. A few of our housesits involved atypical plant care - e.g. watering limited avocado trees that were revenue-generator for Pet Parent. In such instances, Pet Parents provided clear related instructions that we agreed to execute during the housesit. We were happy to do so, indeed learned a few tricks along the way.
I think even the most un green fingered person could tell if a plant needs watering or not. I’m no expert but I little trickle every morning or evening makes sure they have some water and if the leaves are drooping maybe a slightly larger trickle.
And if all else fails google is my friend.
Fact. Some orchids like to be watered using ice cubes! My shared google fact of the day.
Some plants need a lot of water and then wait till completely dry to water, others need soil moist all the time. I just think it is the responsibility of the homeowner to give detailed instructions especially if you don’t know the name of the plants. I don’t think the sitter should do all this research once at the house if there are many plants. I would rather stay in a hotel if a lot of work is required. Some people have more than 10 plants in their home. That’s just me. I see so many low applications or 0 applicants. Expectations on the part of the homeowner have to be realistic.
I completely understand how frustrating and disappointing this is. My husband could never remember to water plants while I was away. I’d send gentle reminders, which, although received with good intentions, were quickly forgotten until he would panic just before my return and soak every dead or near-dead plant. Now, when I travel, I cluster as many as I can in a central, high-visibility area, especially smaller pots which dry out more quickly. I’ve suggested that he simply drop a couple of ice cubes into each pot regularly, instead of soaking them; this seems to be working for us.
@anon55123711 I don’t think it’s a matter of sitters “over selling” themselves. Assuming the HO instructions read water plants every day or every other day this is a fairly simple task anyone can perform whether or not they have an expertise in gardening. However there are certain species of plants that require a higher degree of knowledge and experience to tend to and require much more than the basic watering. I think this could be where the instructions were lacking. HO should consider the species of their plants and level of care needed for them before assuming they can hand off this responsibility to a sitter especially since the primary purpose of the sitter is to mind the pets and not horticulture.
I rather suspect the sitters completely forgot about your plants, then panicked and soused them..
As others have said, next time, spell it out, pot by pot. There are lots of sitters out there who genuinely love looking after plants and would give yours the care they deserve.
Detailed instructions can help but as with many things experience and attention are key. We are sitters and my wife is the plant person. We have had several sits where the plants were way overwatered when we arrived. Honest reviews can alert other hosts about plant care but that won’t bring your plants back.
I’m not a plant person, but water carefully — check soil with my finger and avoid overwatering. Also check to make sure that furniture is not damaged by water leaks. To me, those are just common sense. I say that as a sitter who avoids gardening, landscaping, mowing and such, but will water houseplants.
Definitely leave a factual review that reflects the full set of responsibilities they did and didn’t fulfill. Your review doesn’t need to imply anything you aren’t sure about – just state the facts, like: On return, plants had not been properly cared for, trays were running over with water, and new ring stains had formed on wood furniture and floors.
Just «caring for plants» won’t do, as so many plants need so many different approaches. I think the gap between a garden-interested person and a «waterer» could be quite large. Even if given explicit instructions, terms like «dry» and «wet» soil could differ dramatically. While some would feel the surface and call it dry, others will put their finger down in the same soil and call it «wet». Apart from specific instructions, I think one idea could be to ask questions in a video call, like what do you usually do to find put if a plant needs water. That could help you find a good match and also what you need to write down.
As for water marks, I have had some antique furniture and successfully removed watermarks and other on several occassions. I’ve found it particularly helpful to ask for help in those paint stores or furniturestores with some expertise. They often have woodcare products.
I’ve heard the same advice as @one-eyed_scallywag , and myself I’ve used woodcare products.
If I’m going away for more than a few days I leave houseplants in the bath, along with about a centimetre of water. Most are in terracotta pots, and between the roots and the pots themselves, they seem to absorb just the right amount of water. The number of times I’ve come home to find them in flower and looking far happier than when I attempt to ‘nurture’ them is incredible.
I’ve completed sits where care of houseplants was an important part of the responsibilities. I received good instructions, but a note next to each plant would have made things even easier to remember, especially on sits where there were quite a few animals vying for attention too. Are there ways that you could make caring for your plants (and furniture!) easier for future sitters?
It sounds as though your plants are as important to you as your pets might be (if you also have pets), but that their care may have been forgotten, or certainly not prioritised, until the last minute. How would you rate the sitters if pets had been given the same level of attention? Could you perhaps use this as a measure to review the sitters accordingly?
I always tell pet parents that I’ve watered plants in many sits but that I don’t specialize and don’t have a green thumb. They still have chosen me and than I’ll receive a message that one plant was overwatered or one didn’t receive much water. But 90% of plants are fine. In almost every sit I’ve done that involves plants I always say don’t be surprised if one of them ends up died since I’m not the best