Tips for Watering Plants

Tips for Watering Plants

Unless you are a professional landscaper, or have plenty of experience tending to your own lawn and garden, knowing how best to care of plants can be difficult.Actually, plants are more likely to be killed by watering them too much than too little. Here are a few simple tips and tricks for knowing when and how much to water plants.



When to Water

1. The feel test is the most common way to tell if your plants need more water. Just stick your fingertip about an inch into the soil. If the soil feels cool and damp, but not wet, then the plant is fine. If it is dry and crumbly to the touch, it's time to water.

2. The weight test is another way to tell if your plant needs water, but it does require that you know when the soil is properly watered to begin with. Just lift the pot. A pot where the soil is consistently moist will be heavier than one where the soil has dried out.

3. Water in the morning for best effect. If you water early and get water on the leaves, they have time to dry out over the course of the day. Wet leaves and foliage are among the most common reasons for plant diseases like mold.

How to Water

Knowing how to water is almost as important as knowing when to water.

1. Be sure to water the soil, not the plant. With the exception of truly moisture loving plants, misting is not usually a requirement. In fact, it may be bad for your plant. It's not the plant you want to wet, it's the soil. Plants take up water though their roots, so you need to make sure that there is plenty of water in the soil for them to access.

2. Water from the bottom. One way to make sure that you water plants thoroughly is to let the soil wick up the water from the bottom rather than pouring it in from the top. You can do smaller plants in the kitchen sink. Just lift them and let any excess water drain for a minute or so and they are all set for another several days.