The great watering conundrum

Posted: October 29th, 2020 - In: How do I do it?

When you have a collection of plants from different parts of the world, many with different care requirements ensuring that you water them correctly can be problematic. If your anything like me you probably don’t keep a diary of watering so here are a few tips for keeping your plants successfully hydrated.

My number one rule is, do not water to much, if anything its best to under water. I’ve tried to maintain a strict watering schedule for my plants, watering different plants at specific intervals. However, I have found that the schedule changes so much depending on the time of year, ambient temperature and humidity that it is just not sustainable to have such a rigid system.  My plants will in general tell me if I have under watered them by the tell-tale drop of their leaves or petioles, this is a sure sign that they in need of a drink. I have found that if you’re unsure when to water its better to wait until your plant tells you its thirsty than to water when you think they need it and have to remedy problems caused by over watering.   Obviously, this does not apply to all plants, for example succulents and cacti don’t have leaves to droop but they tend to show a change in the plant surface, it will become wrinkly if they need a water.  I don’t have many succulents but my general rule of thumb for those I have is to Water every two to three weeks and spray every few days to mimic the moisture they would absorb from the morning due in their home environment.

 

Check out the pages of Surreal Succulents for great advice and some stunning specimens also: https://surrealsucculents.co.uk/how-to-care-for-your-succulents/ .

 

Trust your finger!

If you are not sure whether your plant needs watering stick your finger in the soil, if it comes out with dark substrate stuck to it then the plants are likely fine and don’t need any water, only water if it comes out clean/dry.

Needs watering                    Does not need watering

Using a moisture meter is another great option, I have recently purchased one and am getting used to how it reads for each of my plants. I think it will be useful for larger plants as the finger method does not work so well with larger pots due to the moisture being locked down further than my finger can reach! They are pretty cheep and look quite accurate: The one that I use is called “Abafia Soil Testing kit” and it tests for moisture, light and PH. Although I only use it for moisture and the others are not very accurate in my opinion.

 

How I water my houseplants:

Water properly once then leave it. Don’t just sprinkle some water on the substrate, give it a really good water and leave it to stand for ten minutes in the water that comes out of the bottom of the pot. This will give the plant a chance to take up extra water and leave the substrate nice and moist. Remove from the water and allow the pot to drain for a moment or two and pop it back in its home spot. Also don’t water  the leaves, this does nothing to hydrate most plants, make sure you get the water down to the base of the stem directly onto your substrate.

Oops I think I over did it..

I am as guilty as anyone of getting a little over excited and watering my plants to much, especially during the recent hot weather. Some of the things to look out for when you plant is telling you it’s too wet are:

 

Leaves going yellow.

This is the main sign that I see if I’m overdoing it with the water.  This is evidence of moisture stress, unfortunately it can be a sign of both over and under watering! The simple way to tell which if them is the culprit is to do the finger test and if the soil feels damp then you are clearly over watering and if it comes out dry then you are under watering. It is important to note that there are other factors that can cause you leaf to go yellow such as over and under fertilizing and lack of or to much light.

 

Leaf tips and edges going brown.

This is another clear indicator the plant is not happy for one of two reasons;

1) not enough water, again you can do the finger test to see if this is the culprit.

2) you are not meeting the humidity requirements of your plant. Point one is relatively easy to fix but point two can be trickier. Try to rase your plants pot on a bed of pebbles that are submerged in water. This will create a zone around your plant with higher humidity.

 

Wilting leaves.

I now I have already said this is a symptom of a lack of water but guess what? It can also be a sign of over watering…  The best way to tell the difference between the two symptoms is to feel the leaves of your plant. If they are dry and crispy then it has not had enough water and if they are soft and mushy then you have over watered.

 

Algae and mould growth:

A sure sign of over watering is mould or algae on the surface of the substrate.  If your substrate starts going green on the surface or has patches of white mould you are supplying to much water. It can also be a sign of a lack of air flow and you will often see it in areas of very high humidity like a greenhouse.

 

Root rot.

I have a reasonable number of Alocasia and getting the watering right can be a nightmare. They tend to like their soil moist but no wet, with a very large pot this can be difficult to get right. If you over water, more often than not you will see leaves dropping off starting with the oldest first once you get to a certain point there is nothing to do other than dig it up. Most of the time the corn and sometimes the roots will have gone dark and mushy.  I have found that once you start to lose leaves with root rot the plant will go downhill very fast and is very difficult to save.

 

How to fix the problem of an over watered plant:

First things first, move your plant to a shady spot, even if it is a sun lover it will be fine for a while. Give it a some TLC, remove any dead leaves or ones that are on their way out there is no point in your plant expending precious energy on leaves that are going to die off anyway. If you have over watered your plant and the substrate is completely water logged or soggy I would recommend re-potting it. This will give you the opportunity to asses the condition of the roots or corn and remove and dead or decaying matter. You can then re pot in new substrate that is correct for the type of plant and importantly contains plenty of perlite or orchid bark to create air spaces. This will help with drainage and stop the substrate going soggy again. I personally also use a combination of orchid bark, perlite and coconut cior in my substrate mix which makes for really good drainage.

 

Now leave it alone, plants take a lot longer to recover than they do to go downhill, especially from over watering.  Keep it in the shade and check its progress every couple of days by testing the soil with your finger or moisture meter. Only water if it really needs it and if the plant was over watered it won’t need another water for a good week at least if not two.

 

The sad truth is that an over watered plant will sometimes not make it, I have had several that despite my best efforts just continue to go downhill and end up on the compost heap. On a positive note I have found that an under watered plat will most often come back nicely over time even if it’s almost completely crispy by the time you get to it. Once you start to see positive signs like new shoots and the existing leaves looking healthier you can start to move it back towards the light slowly. +