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Getting to know the particular needs of your indoor plants is the best way to take the guesswork out of watering.

STORY & PHOTOS: MOIRA WEST

The heat of summer is just around the corner. With the long and warm days, most of my plants will be growing at maximum speed. This also means that my plants are going to be far more thirsty than they have been in the past few months. Watering is the most routine task I do for my houseplants. It’s also the easiest way to harm a plant, and the risk of root rot is an ever present one.

Root rot happens when a plant’s soil has been too wet for too long, and harmful pathogens grow in the soil and attack the roots of the plant. Once this happens, it’s very hard to save the plant. Luckily, this is less likely to happen during summer than winter.

When do I water my houseplant?

The answer isn’t as clear cut as most new indoor plant enthusiasts would like it to be. Plant watering simply can’t be put on a schedule.

This is because the water in our plant’s pots dries out at a different rate from day to day. How fast the water disappears from the soil depends on many outside factors, including the weather and the soil mix that your plant is potted in.

Plants consume far more water when it is sunny and bright than on days when the light is less intense. If I have many warm, cloudless days in a row, I might have to water a plant three times a week. If, on the other hand, I have a dark and rainy week, I might not even have to water once.

This is why I take advice about watering frequency on an indoor plant label – “water once a week” – with a big pinch of salt. There is no way to accurately set up a watering schedule for any plant, even with the best intentions. For example, say I buy two identical plants from a nursery, with the instructions to water once a week. I put one right next to a large window, and the other in a bathroom corner with just a small window. I follow the instructions and continue watering them both once a week. Eventually, the bathroom plant will in all likelihood succumb to root rot. In contrast, the plant next to the window might develop crispy edges from drying out too much between waterings.

The soil that your plant is potted in also plays a big role. Most times I’ve bought indoor plants home from a nursery, they have been potted into heavy, water retentive soils which definitely does not need regular watering. At the nursery, heavier soils are used because plants are grown in high light, high growth conditions and soil that hangs onto water is a big plus. However, our homes are much darker by comparison and plants will not grow as fast. Personally, I use well-draining potting soil on all my plants; I don’t get many light hours around my house since

I live in a forested valley.

This common mistake happens when we first buy a plant and bring it home. The plant inevitably develops a yellow leaf, we see it, we freak out and assume it needs water. We water it – and make it worse!

Remember that plants adjust when they first come into our home. They likely cannot sustain as many leaves in our darker homes and might shed a few. My first go-to when a plant does not look well is to move it to a warmer location, and to increase the amount of light it receives. Watering is not always the solution to a plant that does not look well – most often it makes the problem worse.

Most plants prefer their soil to dry out partially before wanting another drink. Usually this means the top inch or two should be dry before watering again. The longer you keep a particular plant, the better you will get to know it and read the signs of knowing when it would like a drink.

Here are some methods I use to determine when a plant needs water. Sometimes I use only one method, sometimes a combination. Some plants, including maidenhair ferns, fittonia and peace lilies prefer evenly moist soil at all times.

• PUT YOUR FINGER IN THE SOIL This is the easiest way.

I dig my finger into the soil a little bit, ideally down to the second knuckle. I’m easily able to feel if there is any moisture left in the soil. If the soil feels dry, it’s time to give your plant a drink.

• LOOK AT YOUR PLANT This method was hard for me to use at first, but now it is my go-to and almost instinctual. By spending countless hours around my plants, I have gotten to know what they look like when they are perky and

Most plants prefer their soil to dry out partially before wanting another drink. The longer you keep a particular plant, the better you will get to know it and read the signs of knowing when it would like a drink.

well-watered, and when they are slightly droopy, paler and needing a drink.

The differences can be subtle in some plants, but generally I look out for paler leaves, a slight droop, or flaccid leaves.

Getting to know what well-watered versus thirsty leaves feel like to the touch is another great skill to add to your houseplant care arsenal.

• THE CHOPSTICK METHOD A simple, effective, and great way to easily tell if the soil in a plant’s pot is moist. I just stick a clean chopstick deep into the soil, pull it out and inspect it. Any moist soil particles will stick to it. It’s a good and clear indicator of what’s going on inside my plant’s pot.

• LIFT UP THE POT By picking up the plant, I can gauge how dry the soil is inside the pot. I know this because I purposely got to know the weight of my plants before and after I’ve just watered them. When the soil is saturated with water, the plant weighs far more than when it is dry.

• A MOISTURE PROBE My favourite, foolproof method! This little probe definitely saved many of my plants from root rot, especially when I was still learning, so I highly recommended this little tool. It is a game changer.

When I first got into indoor plants, I used this probe religiously. When the dial is comfortably in the green, I don’t water. Once it drops to high red or low green, I water. (In summer when the weather is hot, I water much more freely.)

Before I’d stick the probe into the soil, I’d test myself by guessing what I thought it would say first. Much to my bemusement, eight out of 10 times, my guess was incorrect!

I trained myself through this guessing-then-testing method. Now, years later, I don’t use the probe as much as I did before, but it was essential in getting me to this level of watering confidence.

Drainage is important too

Stagnant water sitting in the bottom of a pot is a recipe for a dead plant. An easy way to avoid this is to water your plants over the sink and to only place them back in their cover pots or saucers once the water no longer drips out the bottom of the pot.

If you use a cover pot, be sure to tip out any water that remains in it after you’ve watered. Likewise, make sure you tip out any water that pools at the bottom of saucers.

• TERRACOTTA VS GLAZED Plants that are in terracotta pots are far needier when it comes to watering. Water easily evaporates through the walls of a terracotta pot. A glazed pot is like plastic and won’t let the moisture escape. In fact, I don’t keep any of my plants in terracotta pots anymore (except succulents that like it very dry) because the combo of my preferred well-draining mix and a terracotta pot meant daily watering for me.

• A HACK THAT I LIKE to use on my plants is to use see

Getting to know what well-watered versus thirsty leaves feel like to the touch is another great skill to add to your houseplant care arsenal.

through pots. This takes a lot of guess work out of watering. I’m able to clearly see how moist the soil is: I keep eye on the soil colour and the level of condensation that I can see.

• A TIP ABOUT WATERING COMPACTED SOIL Sometimes, a plant’s soil gets quite hard and dry, and when you water, the water might not be absorbed easily and will probably just pool at the top of the soil. This happens because we’ve let a plant’s soil dry out a little too much, or we haven’t repotted it in a long time and the soil has become compacted.

To remedy this, take a chopstick and poke a few holes deep into the soil, wiggling a little bit. Be careful not to damage the roots. This method will add aeration to the soil, and make new channels for the water to drain into and reach the roots.

Soak the soil or just pour a little at a time?

This is a surprisingly hotly debated topic, and many of my “planty” friends treat their plants differently.

I use the “dribble generously” method and I rarely soak my plants entirely. I’m too terrified of root rot and this has worked well for me through the years. Do keep in mind my other habits though – I repot my plants every year and I use fertiliser that does not leave behind a salty buildup over time.

Most fertilisers eventually cause detrimental salty buildup in the soil, and thorough watering over a sink can help with washing away those salts. So ultimately, your watering methods are part of the larger picture of the way you keep your own plants.

Some plants, such as succulents, definitely prefer to be soaked when you water them (from bone dry to saturated) but others, such as philodendrons, don’t take too kindly to soaked soil. Maidenhairs want loads of water, always. Read up on your plants, and just try!

I’ve killed many plants – this is how I learn the fastest. I once bought a lovely and lush peperomia and we lived in harmony for a few months. Then, just once, I left her in a wet saucer overnight. By the next morning, she was a droopy mess, and try as I might, I could not save her and the whole plant died. I never forgot that lesson: peperomias do not like standing in water.

Many of my other plants have had small amounts of water left by accident and they did not die an instant – and so dramatic – death.

Once winter arrives again, the advice that I usually give is not to water until your plants really need it (usually by showing physical signs such as drooping). But for summer, plants are busy growing and using any water in their soil faster, so there is more room for error. Tip out those saucers and happy watering.

HOUSEPLANTS

en-nz

2022-11-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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