Have you tried dextrosing your herbs and plants? I've seen growing herbs and plants with hydroponics but dextrosing is different. We did it with our vegetable gardens when we were in grade school, grade 4 to 6 to be exact. And it was fun watching your herbs and plants grow without daily watering them.
Dextrosing is easy. Just fill up with water a bottle with a narrow and long, funnel-type neck and simply thrust it into the soil near the herb or plant. Watch the water decrease daily until it's gone. Then refill. You may put in your organic liquid fertilizer if you want. This is useful for folks who want to keep a garden but could not supervise them daily.
The water lasts for 3 days, depending on the type of soil. If the water is released too fast, make the bottle slant a bit. Or, choose soil that is a bit clay. Or choose a bottle with a narrow opening. You can have 500 ml bottles thrust near each herb or plant, or use smaller bottles that are good for 2 days.
As kids we loved dextrosing herbs and plants in our school garden plots. We loved doing it with pechay (bok choy) or mustard. But some kids didn't have as much success. We didn't know why. I tried it at home with my lone pechay plant and I harvested a healthy, leafy pechay. My friends did it with their peanut and monggo plants, aside from their pechay.
A Bit on Hydroponics
Now, about hydroponics, It amazes me how plants can be grown without soil. And how mineral nutrients in liquid form and organic liquid fertilizers can better be absorbed by plants through hydroponics. I especially love how herbs and plants can be grown on mere coconut husks! They're cute!
You see, soil is only necessary to keep mineral nutrients under normal conditions, but they're not a must for plant survival. When you water your herbs and plants, that's the time the mineral nutrients are absorbed by them, with help from microorganisms. With hydroponics, you introduce the nutrients directly.
So, if you have not enough time to care for your garden, try hydroponics. Put your plants on coconut husks and place them on top of shallow water filled with mineral nutrients. Or, hang them so that only their roots touch the nutrition-packed water. That's good for plants and herbs in the Philippines and Asia.