Hello! So glad you’re here. Today is fun because I’m talking about Houseplant Watering Tips AND I’m sharing one of my favorite new accessories!
This is a sponsored post. Please see my disclosure policy for details.
Just like so many other houseplant care tips, we all do things differently. We all live in different climates, we all have different plants and we all think our way is best. Haha! So today I’m going to share a few houseplant watering tips that work well for me.
TO BEGIN
- Identify your plant. It’s important to know the general watering needs of your plant. For example, succulents require much less water than a begonia.
- In general, plants will need less water in dormant periods and more water in Spring/Summer when they’re producing more foliage.
- Study it’s appearance and characteristics. Is it showing signs of thirst? This Homalomena/Aglaonema wallisii ‘Selby’ was clearly thirsty.
I placed this watch here to show you the amount of time it took for this plant to perk up after watering. The first photo is 9:oo am.
By 3:00 pm the plant had completely perked up! I love timing my plants to see how long it takes. Some will perk up within minutes and some take hours. It helps that I have this gorgeous watch to keep time on. If you are wondering about this gorgeous watch keep reading to the very end! It’s important to dump your overflow tray of excess water once the draining is complete. Do not leave any standing water.
- Please Do Not over water your plants. Plants will often die from side effects of over watering. With most of my plants I let the soil completely dry before watering again. This will not work for all houseplants but once you get to know your plant, you can make that decision.
WATER
- I have a few special plants that I buy bottled water for. Please don’t tell my husband! It’s just that they have stomata (pores) that will get clogged with mineral deposits if I use tap water. I also noticed that my spider plant doesn’t get brown tips when I used bottled water. It’s expensive so you can’t do it if you have a lot of plants but I find it to work really well!
- Rainwater is also good for plants, after all, that’s how they get their water in their natural habitats. You can collect it in jars or tubs. It’s not always available but a great choice if you can!
- Tap water works fine as long as it’s not too hard. You also don’t want to use softened water as it has too much salt. In general tap water should be fine.
WATERING
- I make sure all of my plants have drainage. If you have a pot with no drainage check out this blog post. It’s important for the water to be able to drain properly. If the roots sit in soggy soil, they can rot or suffocate.
- Poke a few holes in your soil to aerate. This allows the soil to absorb the water easier.
- Slowly poor the water into the soil until it starts to drain out the bottom.
I hope I was able to help you with some of your watering questions today. Leave a comment if you have any other questions!
Before you go, were you wondering about that watch earlier in the post?
Yes, this one! I received this watch from JORD and I am giddy over it! It’s so beautiful with it’s zebrawood band and champagne face. It’s perfect in it’s bed of zebra like lipstick plant, right?! I love that it comes in a nice wood box and a major bonus, they size it for you before they ship it! This would be a perfect Mother’s day, Father’s day or birthday gift. They come in men’s and women’s, so there’s something for everyone.
I love the wood!! You know how much I love plants, trees and incorporating those elements into my life. This watch is perfect for me and you too! You’re in luck because JORD is giving is one of my followers a $100 e-gift card to their website!! All other entries will receive a $25 consolation e- gift code at the end of the contest. Visit this link to enter. Hurry because the contest ends on 3/5/17. Good Luck!
I am afraid I am losing my ficus Ben tree the branches are looking so dried out my dirt is not dry and I take care of this 20 foot tree. It is the first tree I purchased with a lot of tree trunks not just one tree trunk….I am losing so many yellow leaves could I send you a photo of the tree last year and one now. I have asked so many websites for support no such luck. My name is Roseann
Hi, Roseanne. Did you by chance move the plant right before it started dropping leaves? I know that every time we move my ficus it drops leaves like crazy for a few months and then goes back to normal. It’s a long shot but I thought I’d mention it…
-Jenn
Hey! question about the type of water to use… we have a water softener hooked up to every tap in the house… we use a brita filter for drinking water. Is filtering it through that good enough for the plants? or should i be buying distilled water? I am going to start using rain water during summer when i can, but obviously can’t all the time.
What kind of plant is that in the title pic?
its is a nice and good……….
Mineral water bottling plant
Wow, it’s interesting to know that there are actually plants that thrive better when given bottled water. I’m not really much of a green thumb myself, but my husband’s passion for gardening has already rubbed off throughout the years. To make ends meet, I actually started working again last month. Between work and taking care of the kids, it’s hard to find the time to water the plants myself. I’ll ask my husband and see if we can get a sprinkler system instead. Come to think of it, summer is just around the corner and we wouldn’t want to get too soaked under the sun while watering the plants.
Awesome!!!.. One thing that my Indoor landscaping team (Sijigreenhouse) has passed me was that Plants should start in 1×1 inch cubes then move onto 4×4 inch pots, 1 gallon, 3 gallons, 5 gallons, and so on as it outgrows its container. Plants are ready to transplant when a healthy root structure encompasses the soil. Transplanting is a good opportunity to see the quality of your roots: bright white roots, with a strong thick structure is a sign you have been watering your plants correctly.
Anyways good to learn all these here
Thanks, that’s really useful (sounded sarcastic but it wasn’t meant that way)!
Thank you Eileen!
Hi, my aloe vera plant is dying; it’s going brown at the tips, wilting, its leaves are folding and one has gone yellow. It’s indoors on a windowsill in the UK.
I’ve watered it once since Christmas and the soil is soaking wet! The pot has holes in the bottom. Should I repot my plant with pebbles at the bottom, or would that give it too much of a shock? It was repotted just before being given to me at Christmas.
Does anyone have any answers to this? Thanks! (It’s probably going to die before anyone answers but you know… Worth a shot. I just found this website a few days ago)
Eileen 23/01/2019
Hi! Normally plants like Aloes don’t drink much at all in the winter. I let mine go for months without watering. I would give it lots of light and maybe throw some rock or pumice in the soil 🙂
what type of pant is in the very 1st photo
Hi!
So. Once watering slowly and water starts to drain… Should I stop watering?
I know! I know! I’m a beginner so I know this question might be off! But thanks.
I appreciate what you said about watering zebrawood. My sprinkler system needs to be inspected. That way I can make sure my plants can keep growing.