Sustainable watering for your plants

Water!

Without it, most plants will quickly become stressed (and be more vulnerable to problems and pests) eventually plants can die due to lack of water – so it is vital that we get our watering right.

First of all, let’s think about watering outdoor plants (we can look at indoor plants later).

• Young, newly planted plants will need some water more often than established plants
• If in doubt if your plant needs watering, press your finger tip into the soil surface, if it feels wet it may not need watering, but if it feels dry it probably does need watering.
• Adding compost / soil improvers to your soil can help ‘hold in’ any moisture so that there is less ‘water wastage’

(See our other sustainable gardening blogs about improving your soil ‘working with nature to improve your soil’, and mulching ‘Dig less and mulch more’)

• Try to avoid watering during the day (as this can lead to leaf scorch and water evaporation) watering early morning or late evening can be better for the plant as it can absorb more from the soil before the sun comes back out ( I prefer to water early morning as there are less slugs around then, whereas slugs come out in the evening and may be encouraged by wet soil / wet plants overnight)
• Plants in pots and hanging baskets need much more water than plants growing in the ground (as a rough guide during a heatwave pots and baskets may need water every day, whereas plants in the ground and borders may be ok for a week or more (newly planted plants in the soil will need more watering until they get their roots established)
• Placing a saucer underneath pots in summer can help hold some water in reserve for a few extra days (especially useful if you are away for a few days … if you are away any longer than that and it is always worth asking a friend to check your pots / baskets for watering while you are away).
• Overwinter it is possible that some pots will get too wet (Yes plants can be too wet and this can be equally as bad for some plants as being too dry!) so pots can be put onto ‘Pot Feet’ overwinter which will just lift the pots a centimetre or two above the floor to allow excess water to drain away more easily.

Watering can be very relaxing … even therapeutic! Go on – enjoy giving your plants a treat!

Watering houseplants

I remember seeing a sign saying ‘Houseplants can’t swim!’ in a houseplant display years ago, and it made me smile as very often houseplants get much too wet through overwatering . This is especially true if your plant pot is sat inside a nice attractive ceramic or plastic ‘Pot cover’: usually pot covers do not have drainage holes which means that your plant can be sat in water for weeks or months … which can kill many houseplants.

So here are some tips to help you get the watering of your houseplants just right

• Check regularly – but only add water if required.

Pressing your finger tip gently into the soil surface can tell you if the soil is dry or wet – if it feels damp it probably doesn’t need water.

Checking the weight of the pot can sometimes tell you if it is getting dry … but that can be an acquired skill.

• Tip out any excess water from pot covers within a few hours of watering.
• When the central heating is on, that will take moisture out the air which is bad news for many houseplants, so try spraying a light mist of water over the leaves whenever the heating is on.
• Another way to increase humid air around the leaves of your plant is to stand your houseplant pot on top of a layer of gravel, or Hydroleca, and pour some water into the gravel so that the water gradually evaporates realising humid air around your plant … ensure that the water level in the gravel doesn’t reach up to the bottom of the plant pot so that the compost doesn’t get too wet.
• Most houseplants need less watering over winter and more watering in summer.
• Get to know your house plants … try some research about any specific types you have, to understand their ‘personal preferences’.
• Plants such as Cacti and Succulents will prefer much less water compared to a Venus fly trap which likes to be permanently sat in a little saucer of water: most houseplants prefer something in-between these two extremes, with a watering regime based on the first suggestions mentioned above …

 

 ‘Check regularly – but only water if required’.

- Roger