Watering your plants while you're on holiday couldn't be easier with this gardening hack.

When you go on holiday, you need to make plans to ensure the safety of your home and its contents. If you have pets, this also includes either taking them to a trusted friend or family member or, at the very least, having someone visit your home to keep them fed.

But have you considered what happens to your plants while you're on holiday? If you've got a garden full of flowers, you won't be able to leave them without water, especially if you're going away in the middle of summer when there isn't much rain.

You can ask someone to come and water your plants for you, but there's actually an easier way to guarantee your garden doesn't dry out and die while you're on holiday.

Using a simple bottle trick could keep your plants watered for up to five days without needing anyone to visit, meaning you can enjoy your break without feeling guilty.

The hack was shared on TikTok by a gardener named Joe, who explained that all you need to make the hack work is a water bottle and a few cotton buds. In his video, Joe used a large 5-litre water bottle as well as several smaller bottles.

He then heated up an old metal fork with a lighter, and used the heated prongs to poke a small hole in the bottom of each plastic bottle, as well as another small hole in each cap.

Next, he took cotton buds - also known as Q-tips - and cut them in half. He placed one half in the hole at the bottom, and the other half in the hole in the cap.

Filling the bottles with water and placing the cap on top allows water to soak the bottom cotton bud and then slowly drip onto the ground below. You can then remove the cotton bud from the cap to release the pressure in the bottle, allowing the water to drip faster if you need it to.

Joe explained: "It is important to remember this will only work on your plants for around 2-5 days, depending on a few factors such as the flow, weather and the size of your bottle, but it is far better than nothing at all.

"This method of watering, which is commonly known as drip irrigation, is used around the world in most farms, plant nurseries and garden centres as it is a super targeted way of getting water exactly where you need it, helping not only to water each specific plant, but also to reduce water waste.

"When I go away, I like to set the flow to its slowest possible setting to prevent the water from running out too fast. But please make sure that if you are using this method for containers, they have drainage holes in the bottom to prevent the pots from becoming waterlogged, which can kill your plants just as fast as no water can."