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How To Know When To Water A Plant
How to know when to water a plant is a difficult skill to master, especially for those new to houseplant care. There are plants that need to be kept constantly moist and others that will suffer at the first signs of overwatering. Knowing when to water your plant is a balancing act between learning what different species require and methods to know when it’s time to pick up that watering can.
Research Each Plant’s Individual Watering Requirements
It’s not enough to asking how to know when to water a plant, you need to know each individual plant’s watering requirements. A Cactus can dry out to where the soil is almost bone dry before watering it again but if you did this to a Calathea or Peace Lily, the plant would most likely die. When you get a new plant find out how often it needs to be watered. And when we say how often we don’t mean once a week or every three days, we mean the level of moisture the soil needs to be at before it’s watered.
Some plants like to be kept relatively moist all the time, some need to be left to dry out. Finding out this is vital before you start measuring your plant and learning when to water it. Once you have this information you can start learning how to measure the moisture level in the soil and reading your plant, but this is definitely the first step.
Insert Your Finger
Once you’ve established how often your plant needs watering you can move onto how to know when to water a plant. The easiest and most common method is inserting your finger into the soil. It’s not enough to touch your the top layer as soil as this dries out most quickly and the soil underneath can still contain a lot of moisture.
If you don’t mind getting your fingers dirty then insert a finger approximately two inches into the soil to feel how dry it is. With the majority of houseplants if you do this and the soil is dry then it’s time to water your plant but how moist you want to allow your plant to get to will depend on its species.
Use A Moisture Probe
The easiest method that many people swear by is using a moisture probe. Moisture probes are cheap often being around $15, are easy to use and once you’ve bought one it can last you years. You can find lots of moisture probes on amazon or in most garden centres. They work by inserting the two metal probes deep into the soil, then on the display you should get a reading of 1 to 9. The display normally changes colour from red to blue to give you an indication of how dry your plant is so you know when to water it.
These are especially useful in helping you work out when to water different plants. For example if you insert the probe into the soil of a Cactus or Succulent you want to wait until it reads 1 or 2 before watering. However, if you’re putting it in the soil of a Peace Lily then you could water your plant when it reads 3. Many serial plant murderers now swear by moisture probes and we do too.
Feel The Pot’s Weight
This is a great tactic as you get to know your plants. You might struggle with this at first but start making an effort to lift up your plant and feel the weight of it after you’ve just watered it. Do the same thing when you know the plant needs a drink and after a while you should get used the different weights depending on your plant’s hydration. Obviously the heavier the pot the more water is there, and if the pot feels very light it’s time to give your plant a drink.
This might take some time to get used to so why not trying the finger insertion or moisture probe techniques at the same time until you’re used to how your plant feels. And remember plants may weight differently depending on species and the type of soil it’s potted in. Also some plants will need watering a lot sooner than others so you could let a cactus pot get a lot lighter than a calathea pot.
Look For Signs From Your Plant
Looking for signs from your plant is something that will take a while to learn. If you’re new to houseplants you may struggle with this step but the longer you keep plants the easier you’ll find it to read their needs.
- Many species of plants will start to droop when they need a drink
- You may also find their leaves start to curl in on themselves to conserve water if they become too dehydrated
- Other waxy and more succulents plants will become squishy and lose their structure when they’re overwatered so this can be a sign to drop your watering regime down a bit
- Yellow plants are often but not always an indication of overwatering, test the soil moisture to confirm whether this is happening to your plant
- Brown leaves are commonly associated with underwatering but can also be caused by sun damage or mineral deposits so be sure to check out the plant’s full environments before you diagnose the problem
Learning how to know when to water a plant isn’t always easy and can take a while to master but once you start tuning into your plant’s cycles you’ll find it’s a skill that comes to you more easily.
Article: How To Know When To Water A Plant
Suggested Article: How Often To Water Calathea
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