Plant Watering - Thorough is Good!
TOO MUCH WATER is a common cry for Ficus benjamina, Dracaenas, Spathiphyllum, Philodendrons and many other houseplants. Over-watering is probably one of the top 3 or 4 reasons plants fail to survive indoors.
Over-watering may cause the death of house plants but there is another side of the coin… that is not watering plants or the soil thoroughly.
When soil becomes saturated with water “pouring more on” makes it easy for the soil to stay wet. Roots may rot off due to wet feet but the soil media remains.
Here’s a few Plant Watering Tips:
- Too much water can hurt a plants root system
- A good water supply is necessary
- Plant watering may need adjusting during the year
- Houseplant watering can be learned
What is meant by not watering thoroughly?
Reducing watering of plants means attention must move to moisture in the soil. Instead of watering weekly - stop and look at the time it takes for the potting media to “dry out” to a specific level in the pot as our “watering gauge”.
Plant varieties plays a part but assume for a moment that the top 1/3 of the soil
in a pot needs to dry from the top down. Soil moisture still needs to be maintained.
Do not forget we are not talking about soil wetness but moisture.
When most people water plants they simply pour water in one spot or water at the outer edge of the pot.
Think of completely watering the the entire top 1/3 of the pot. In small pots (4 inch or so) watering in one area may be OK, but in larger pots if you follow the same method you’re actually watering a smaller area by volume.
Water takes the path of least resistance. Watering can work almost like a funnel.
Everything moves through a path down into one spot. If the soil becomes dry it can be very difficult to ever get the soil wet again. Have you ever noticed how dry soil can actually repel water?
When doing any plant watering consider using a “water breaker” so of like a shower head. This helps disperse the flow of water helps put water on the entire soil area and not one spot.
Watering plants indoors or in the landscape and even the lawn is an art form. Learn to water correctly and plant care becomes much easier.
3 Comments on Plant Watering - Thorough is Good! »
July 10, 2007
Denver Crawford @ 9:57 am:
I have a nice INDOOR Ficus plant in a large pot, which is a new pot, for more root room.
I have a question about watering it suffeciently without overwatering. I read all your advise, which I will follow.
My questions are, why is my ficus top not MORE fruller with leaves than it should be?
I take good care of it, it sits in front of my large patio window and gets the moring sun and brightness all day.
I use a “needle” water meter, newly acquired from Home Depot, but have little confdence in its accuracy.
Where ever I stick the probe in its WET, but then the needle moves over to semi DRY. If and when I reinsert it, the meter again says WET, but goes to dry? This all seems inconsistant to me, I fear so much overwatering it.
When I water the plant, there is NO runoff in the bottom catch bowl, so I figure I am not overwatering it.
When this plant was in my other clay pot, I used to water it from he bottom and let the plant soak up the water.
Now I spread out the water directly on top of the soil and let it be absorbed downward, but sparlingly on water.
January 2, 2008
Natal Mahogany | Trichila dregeana @ 5:25 pm (Pingback)
[…] noted not to just pour water on and let it drain out the bottom. As with most plants, make sure the soil is thoroughly watered. It does really well on sub-irrigation or in self-watering planters. Some professional plantscapers […]
January 30, 2008
Plant Pro @ 2:37 pm:
I certainly like the idea of watering from below. As for fullness I cannot say for sure without a picture but the Ficus may need some pruning to promote more growth in the center.