How to keep phals alive and well while I'm away?

[sangenuer]

I rescued 20 phals back in February. They were all in rough shape - root rot, crown rot, mealybugs, scale, you name it. Five died, but the remaining 15 are all doing pretty well with new leaves, roots, and/or spikes depending on the plant. The infestations are pretty well controlled with frequent visual checks and wiping down with alcohol. I only see a scale insect on one or two of them once in a while. The mealybugs are a bit more persistent. They had mostly disappeared until the last week, when I started seeing more of them. I'm inspecting closely every day or two and continuing to remove anything I see with alcohol wipes. For watering, I had just been generously spraying the top of the planting medium (bark) every day or two until recently when they've seemed to need more. So I gave them a good soak a few days ago and have been continuing the spraying as they've started to dry out a little.

That's all just background info, though. My real question is what to do when I go away for most of July. I'll be gone from the 4th-27th. There will be friends staying in my house from the 22nd until we get back and I can ask them to water for me. But what about the 2 1/2 weeks before that?

I had thought that maybe giving them a good soak right before I leave would hold them over until our friends arrive, then I'd ask them to spray daily. But in the last few weeks humidity levels have dropped and they're drying out much more quickly than before. Will they survive if they go that long with no water? And with the increased mealybugs I'm afraid they'll take over, and I kind of hate to ask our friends to deal with inspecting and removing pests.

Is there some treatment I can do that would help hold off the mealies for a bit? And do you think they'll survive without water for a couple of weeks if they're well soaked right before? I'm trying to find someone who can at least come in and spray them but I haven't had any luck so far. Should I fertilize before I go or would it be better not to? Any other advice for me?