The £1 item from B&M that keeps houseplants watered while you’re on holiday

You do one last sweep of the flat before you leave. Windows locked. Sockets off. Passport, phone, charger. Then your eyes land on the peace lily drooping in the corner like it already knows what’s coming.

You water everything “a bit extra”, tell yourself it will be fine for a week, maybe ten days. But you also remember the last time you came home to crisp brown leaves and a pot of mush that used to be basil. You can’t exactly ask the neighbour to run a plant hospital while you’re sipping sangria.

Somewhere between the cleaning aisle and the garden section at B&M, there’s a £1 workaround that quietly solves this entire drama.

The £1 gadget hiding in the seasonal aisle

On a low shelf, usually near the cheap pots and seed packs, you’ll find it: a simple terracotta watering spike that screws onto a plastic bottle. No app, no cables, no instructions longer than a train ticket.

You fill an old drinks bottle with water, twist the spike on, flip it upside down and push it into the soil. That’s it. For the next few days, the spike slowly seeps water straight to the roots, keeping the compost damp instead of drenched on day one and bone‑dry by day four.

It’s not pretty in a design‑blog way. It’s brown clay and a fizzy drinks bottle. But that’s also why it works. No moving parts to fail while you’re on a beach.

One pound, one bottle, one less thing to worry about while you’re away.

How a bottle and a clay spike turn into a slow‑drip system

Houseplants don’t want a flood; they want a steady trickle. The spike uses two simple bits of physics to give them exactly that.

Inside the terracotta, the clay is porous. As the soil around it dries, it gently pulls water through the walls of the spike. At the same time, air slips back up into the bottle in tiny bubbles, letting just enough water out to replace what’s been taken.

There’s no timer. The plant itself sets the pace. Thirsty, sun‑loving herbs will draw more. Shade‑dwellers in a cool room will sip slowly.

Compared with dumping a full watering can over everything on your way to the airport, you get:

• Fewer soggy roots and fungal problems.
• Less dramatic wilting mid‑week.
• A softer landing for your plants when you unlock the door again.

You’re not installing a full irrigation system. You’re just giving each pot its own small reservoir and a clay “gatekeeper”.

Setting it up the day before you leave

This isn’t a gadget you want to test five minutes before your taxi arrives. Give yourself 24 hours.

1. Pick the right bottle.
   For a standard 12–15 cm houseplant pot, a 500 ml bottle is usually enough for about a week. Large floor plants may need a 1–2 litre bottle or more than one spike.

2. Water the plant first.
   The spike is there to maintain moisture, not to rehydrate dust. Water the soil as normal and let any excess drain away.

3. Fill the bottle and attach the spike.
   Screw the terracotta cone firmly onto the bottle. Some versions come with a small plastic collar; use it if supplied.

4. Make a pilot hole.
   Use a pencil or chopstick to make a hole in the soil so you don’t crack the spike pushing it in.

5. Insert at an angle.
   Turn the bottle upside down and push the spike into the soil at a slight angle, away from the main stem, burying the clay fully. The bottle should sit stable, not wobbling.

6. Check for bubbles.
   You’ll usually see a few air bubbles rise into the bottle as the clay starts to release water. After an hour, the soil should feel evenly damp, not waterlogged, near the spike.

Do this for each plant you’re worried about. Grouping pots of similar size and thirst together makes guessing bottle sizes much easier.

A quick comparison of holiday watering options

Option	Effort level	Best for
Terracotta spike + bottle	Low once set up	Most potted houseplants for 5–10 days
Towel‑in‑the‑bath hack	Fiddly, needs a bath	Lots of small pots at once
Asking a friend	Social, variable results	Longer trips or very fussy plants

When the £1 trick isn’t enough

The spike is brilliant, but it isn’t magic. There are a few moments when you’ll want to go beyond the £1 fix.

Very hot south‑facing windowsills can dry bottles in a couple of days. For those, either use a larger bottle, pull the plant back from direct glass, or accept that they may need a human visit if you’re away more than a week.

Plants that hate constantly damp soil – many succulents and cacti, for example – usually prefer to be left dry rather than gently watered every day. For them, a deep drink a week before you go, then nothing, is often safer than any gadget.

A few simple checks before you travel help:

• Test one plant first. Try the spike on a single pot a week or two before your trip and see how fast the bottle empties.
• Move drama queens. Ferns, calatheas and peace lilies are happier a bit further from radiators and hot windows while you’re away.
• Trim and tidy. Snip off dead leaves and flowers so the plant has less to maintain in your absence.

You’re aiming for “stable and dull”, not “Instagram‑ready jungle”, while you’re out of the house.

The quiet joy of not coming home to plant carnage

There’s something disheartening about walking through the door after a brilliant holiday and spending the first 20 minutes rescuing half‑dead foliage. A £1 spike doesn’t sound like much, but it removes that little punch of guilt.

You turn the key, drop your bags, glance over at the monstera and… it looks the same. Maybe a new leaf has even unfurled while you were gone, helped along by its own slow drip.

You unscrew the empty bottle, water as normal, and put the spike back in a drawer until the next time you’re away. No subscription, no refills, no chunky plastic device gathering dust.

It’s a tiny upgrade to your leaving‑the‑house ritual: passports, chargers, keys, spikes.

FAQ:

• Will one £1 spike really cover my whole plant collection?
  Usually not. Think in terms of one spike per small‑to‑medium pot, and two or more for big floor plants. The good news is that even a handful of them is still cheaper than replacing a mature plant that’s died back.
• How long will a bottle keep my plant watered?
  For an average indoor plant in a moderate room, expect roughly 5–10 days from a 500 ml–1 litre bottle. Heat, sunlight, pot size and plant type all change that, so test before a long trip if you can.
• Do I need special bottles or branded refills?
  No. Most spikes are designed to fit standard plastic drinks bottles. Check the packaging in B&M, but in many cases a rinsed‑out water or fizzy drink bottle works perfectly.
• Can I use them for outdoor pots as well?
  You can, but in direct sun and wind the water will go faster. They’re most reliable in sheltered spots like balconies, porches or shaded patios.
• What if my B&M doesn’t have the terracotta spikes in stock?
  Look for similar “self‑watering plant cones” or “watering spikes” in the garden section, or at other budget retailers. The principle is the same: a porous cone plus a bottle acting as a small reservoir.