How-to water houseplants
Here’s my watering rundown!
- Only water the plant when it actually needs water. Don’t just water on Mondays because that’s what you’ve always done and what your schedule says to do. (Guilty as charged!)
- If feasible, lift the pot to feel if it’s dry. As simple as it sounds, wet plants are heavy; dried plants are light.
- Have hard water? Then it’s better to let it stand overnight in the sink or watering can to let residue settle prior to use.
- Most plants need water when the soil feels dry one inch down.
- Always drain those little plastic saucers used to collect extra water. Plants should never sit in standing water. There are a few exceptions like African violets. They actually benefit from bottom-watering, but they should be drained after half an hour.
- Severely desiccated plants – when it’s so dry the soil cracks – need therapy quick! Dunk the entire plant in a tub if you have one, or even a bucket of water to let the pot start to reabsorb moisture. Remove after 1 hour.
- Use room-temperature or tepid water (never hot!)
- Water slowly until water runs through the potted plant and the soil is dampened throughout the root system. Water too fast and you’ll notice the immediate leakage at the bottom of the pot; what a mess!
- Overwatering is actually just as bad as underwatering. An overwatered plant looks limp, and rot is quick to follow.
Let’s talk about light
When acquiring new plants, especially from a store, always read the tag. If the tag says “requires bright light,” run for the hills. Just kidding! But it is true that tropical plants are happier if you have a Florida room, super bright window or are able to supply artificial lighting.
If you’re anything like me, you have too many plants and not enough space in your south or east-facing windows for all those light greedy plants.
One option is something we all learned about in Kindergarten. Share. Rotate the plants so they each get a front position every three weeks (approximately). Then it’s time to do the shuffle.
By sharing the space, all your plants get a little of that bright light they crave. Plants that are light-deprived tend to get leggy {stretching out as they look for light}, weak, off-colored, and might not flower at all.
So most plants probably would prefer bright light. But when that’s not possible, medium light is the next best thing. Medium light might be that table ten feet from the coveted bright window.
Or plants sitting by an east-facing window. (West-facing windows receive the brightest sunshine of all but can become too hot in the afternoon for many plants).
You might also have some sort of track lighting or fluorescent light set-up that could take the place of a super bright window. I placed some of my plants just under the LED lights in my kitchen, they’re still four feet from a window, but they do get light when the sun goes down from the artificial lighting.
It’s likely that your tropical plants and annuals will do best in a pretty warm house if they are exposed to bright or medium-bright light.
A few examples of these plants are:
- begonias
- birds of paradise
- coleus
- Helichrysum (licorice plants)
- hibiscus
- passionflower vine
- Plectranthus
- Mandevillas
- bougainvilleas
This is where it gets a little crazy. Temperature is a big factor in whether or not plants survive indoors. Some plants can handle medium-bright locations if you don’t try to bake them. They don’t want to be over-heated!
So being flexible, you might say, “okay, I’ll keep the thermometer below 68 degrees Fahrenheit in the daytime and closer to the 60 degree range at night.” One quick example is the above clivia plant.
Over time, plants will show you whether they are getting the light they desire in your house.
Humidity is vital
Zero humidity. Too dry for us, too dry for our plants. And we get bloody noses from the dryness. Was that TMI? Anyhow, this is why we have humidifiers in just about every room of the house. What a difference they make!
- Repot some of your plants over – not in – water. The simplest way to do this is to use pebbles in all your cache pots and saucers, so the pots sit just above the water.
- Try pot clusters. Just by grouping plants close together will create more humidity than plants spaced super far apart. They love to huddle!
- Give plants a big humidity boost by covering them with clear plastic for a few days. (Punch a couple of holes in the plastic to release excess moisture.) This creates that mini-greenhouse effect!
- Some plants, like my orchids just love to hang out in the bathroom. Lots of people taking lots of hot baths and showers = lots of steam and humidity for my orchid friends.
- The kitchen might be another hot spot for humidity loving plants. Just think how much steam is released when you open the dishwasher alone. Not to mention doing a load of super dirty dishes in the sink – the steam released from all that hot water is incredible. And then I think about all the stove top cooking I do releasing lots of lovely steam in the process.
- Misting is always worth a shot. You probably would have to mist several times a day to make any significant difference in the humidity level. But if you have the time, spritz away. I know my succulent and air plants prefer to be watered this way anyhow to prevent me from overwatering.
Final tips…
After all, we’re plant people. We hate killing our plants. Isn’t that why we try to overwinter our annuals and take others to the basement in the hopes they’ll rest there until their spring revival? Yep.
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