Vacation for ten days

How would you keep your plants alive for ten days if you went on vacation?

Plants are in soil.

Seriously....i am going away for ten days and since nobody knows, i can't water....

I have thought of a fish pump on a timer with a bucket prefilled....I really don't like to buy things I will not use again.

Any other suggestions on a DIY drip system...

The pump on timer sounds plausible but there are other ways to do this.
You csan cut back SIGNIFICANTLY on the light while maintaining the same light SCHEDULE, whcih will reduce the rate of transpiration and water use. When I leave for a few days I kill my big K HPS and use just a 400 mounted VERY high, and take half the tubes out of my flouro fixtures until I get home.
You can also make a wick system, with a piece of that silky nylon rope with one end in your pot, buried pretty deep, and one end in a big bucket of water.
Experiment before you leave if you have time.

Do you have a trusted friend you could have water them for you? If not, I'd go with the light suggestion stinky mentioned or your pump idea. They will most likely need watered a couple times during that 10 day period. If nothing else, buy a pump and timer and just keep the recepit and return them after you get back and say they broke or something. No one is going to question returned items with recepit after only 10 days. If they ask, just say you were using the stuff for your garden pond and something fucked up. Good luck!

Thanks.

I like the "wick" idea.
Can't leave them with someone 'cause then someone would know about it. That breaks rule #1 for me.

I found these ceramic self watering things that go right into the soil and pull water from a dish.
Anyone have experience with these self watering "plugs"?

me.

No, but I would like to. Where did you find them and how much they set ya back?

Peace

get some Why Buy Water-Keep Super Absorbent Polymers? it releases water over time

You could have a look at Wilma pots. Seen them on e-bay meant to be a self watering system for soil. Pretty much what your thinking about & if you saw them laid out you could probably jury rig a similar system.