Watering RSS

No! It used to be that if you let water sit out in a jug overnight, the chlorine would dissipate, saving your sensitive plants from absorbing it. Two things are wrong with this now, though! First: As far as I'm able to tell in my research on the topic, chlorine does not adversely affect even "sensitive" plants". The acceptable level of chlorine in drinking water in any developed country I've found is an order of magnitude too low to adversely affect any plants, even so-called sensitive ones like spider plants or calatheas. (In those plants, generally brown tips are caused by watering...

Bottom watering is one of the most common suggestions you'll encounter online -- but what is it, and is it actually as helpful as everyone claims? Bottom watering (or, hilariously, "butt chugging") is where you place a pot with drainage holes into a larger container that has water in it, and leave it for a while -- generally about 10-15 minutes. Because of capillary action, the water gets drawn up into the soil. Once the top is moist to the touch, you remove the pot, since the soil is equally and thoroughly saturated. It's often suggested for specific plants with leaves...

If there's a choice between overwatering and underwatering? Always choose to underwater. Pretty much every single plant out there will bounce back from being underwatered far easier than it'll bounce back from being overwatered -- and here's why! To understand, first you need to know what each term means, and why it can spell doom for your wonderful little plants! Overwatering isn't, strictly, actually about having too much water in the soil -- but instead, it's about having not enough oxygen in the soil. Roots need oxygen to operate properly, and there are anaerobic bacteria that cause root rot that thrive where there's no oxygen...

You'll notice that nursery pots -- the drab-coloured, thin plastic pots that you'll buy most plants in -- have excellent, large drainage holes at the bottom for excess water to flow out of. Some decorative pots do, as well, but most of them -- particularly ceramic ones -- don't.  What gives? Well -- depending on the method of watering you use, drainage holes can either be completely necessary, or they can be helpful but not strictly necessary.  There is no downside to having drainage holes at the bottom of a pot, ever! No matter how you water, having the ability for...

There's a lot of talk online about the right kind of water to use when watering your plants! There are a surprising number of types of water, in fact, each with different qualities, upsides, and downsides. Tap Water Upsides: Obviously, super easy to get and generally the cheapest option. Generally a good option! Downsides: Tap water is generally chlorinated to make it safe for human consumption, which can in some cases cause damage to specific sensitive plants, and only sometimes. I can't stress enough that this is a rare occurrence, and most of the time when people think that it's the culprit, it's actually low humidity. Note: You used to be...