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Watering House PlantsYou could be drowning your houseplants and not know it. |
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Transcript: Watering House Plants
Houseplants are a great way to beautify the inside of our home. They can turn an otherwise sterile setting into a warm and inviting room.Folks have trouble, though, keeping their houseplants watered properly. We allow them to dry out, the leaves wilt, turn yellow and start to fall off. But more often than not, we tend to over water our houseplants, keeping them too wet. This causes root rot and runs into a lot of problems down the line for the plant.
In order to tell when you need to water, you can reach in with your hand and feel the soil about an inch or below the surface. You want to allow it to dry out at about that depth before you water again. So a good soaking followed by a drying out period is the best way to water your houseplants.
Another good trick for testing the moisture is to use a sharpened pencil. Stick it into the soil about an inch or so deep and pull it up. If you see soil clinging to the sharpened edge of the pencil, that's an indication that it's moist and everything is fine. You'll also notice moisture on the pencil. If, however, the pencil comes out clean, that indicates the soil is dry and you need to water again.
Just remember, when you're watering your houseplants, a good soaking, allow them to dry out and they'll do just fine.
With your common sense houseplant watering tip, I'm Skip Richter.
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Last Updated:
July 6, 2006