The calendar says so; you’re watering your houseplant today (though there’s an inch or two of moisture remaining in the pot). Sound familiar? Chances are good that this routine will lead to yellow leaves, root rot, and your gradually eroding confidence as a gardener.
Why do we all treat plants as if they were chores instead of the living organisms they realy are? As infographic above shows, those roots wants a conversation, and a life that’s more responsive to observation than autopilot. Once you begin to look into the dirt, not at the clock, everything change.
How to Water Your Houseplants
The finger test is the most valuable tool of all. Poke around in the soil with your finger maybe two inches down, and feel how wet (or not) the root zone is. Damp or cool? Then leave it alone. Dry? Water it. That’s it. The whole drill, all wrapped up in one touch-and-feel check.
Letting your water stand for an hour or so before using it will be room temperature, and will save many a wilting fern from being shocked by cold tap water. It is a small gesture, but there is no stress on tender roots. Costs only time, but saves it a lot.
Here are some watering tips: Remember, not all plants is equally thirsty. Tossing a succulent some water as if it were a tropical fern guarantees disaster for you and your plant. Use this chart to see which plants are thirstiest.
Some have decorative leaves, like a calathea or Boston fern, which need steady watering. Others can goes several weeks without water, such as succulents like jade and snake plants. There’s no one size fits all watering regimen here. An aloe vera will happily hold up for a few weeks, but your pothos may be looking for hydration after just a week or two.
Why? This is because off the types of leaves they have and what is stored inside them. Succulents are like reservoirs, storing water in their leaves. Delicate, thin-leaved ferns, on the other hand, lose water very quickly in air.
How often you water matters just as much as how you water. Most normal pots can be soaked until water drips through the drainage holes. This is called top watering and it means the whole root ball gets moist, not just the top inch.
Plants with fuzzy foliage (or other tender ones such as African violets), though, is better off with bottom watering. You put them in a tray of water and let the soil absorbs what it needs from the bottom up. This keeps the foliage dry to avoid fungal problems such as leaf spots.
Many orchids prefer to be soaked in water for ten to fifteen minutes, followed by complete draining of the bark medium.
The biggest mistake is letting water stand in the saucer. Yes, the roots need water, but they also need oxygen. If you have a pot in a puddle of run-off, the soil remains soaked, air spaces become waterlogged, and the roots suffocates. Empty the saucer within fifteen minutes of watering.
Strict? It might be. But really, who wants to grow plants in standing water?
Indoor plants are especially vulnerable to it; you may find you’re watering less in winter when growth slows and plants take up less water. Cut back on frequency almost by half then (and prevent overwatering, which is a bigger killer than underwatering).
Think of watering as more of a conversation than a lecture. Read the plant; check the soil; gauge how heavy the pot feels. If it’s light, add water. If it’s heavy, you don’t need to water it because the soil will stay moist for several more days.
Trust your sense of touch, not a set regimen… And eliminate the guessing game that results in dead plants.
The chart reminds me that certain plants will tell you they’re thirsty when wilted (dramatically so), whereas others will just quietly die (too late). Reading those hints requires practice, but the payoff is a house full of living green things that are happy to be there… Really.
No more battling the elements but working with them; that’s why we bring plants into our homes, right? You should of tried this sooner.