Plant Care 101: Ingredients your plant needs to thrive — Water

Water is essential for plants to make food through photosynthesis, hold their upright shape, and remain cool in the hot sun. Providing your houseplants with the proper amount of water is the hardest part of plant care! Too much water will suffocate plant roots, promote root rot, and cause the yellowing of leaves. Too little water causes leaf drop and stunted growth. Here, I’ve put together a quick guide that will describe how different factors influence the amount of water your houseplant needs, how to test if your houseplant is thirsty, and different water quality factors.

Things to think about when watering:

Plant species: Different plant species have different watering requirements. Some plant species are adapted to drier environments and need less water, while some species are adapted to moist environments and need more water.

Plant size: As you might guess, larger plants need more water than smaller plants.

Container size: Larger containers contain more soil and thus can soak up more water than smaller containers.

Soil type: Sandy soils retain less water than soils with more organic matter.

Light intensity: A plant in a bright environment will lose more water to evaporation than a plant in a dim environment.

Room temperature: A plant in a hot room will lose more water to evaporation than a plant stored in a cooler environment.

How to tell if your plant is thirsty: A fail-safe method to see if your plant needs water is to stick your finger an inch into its soil! If the soil feels moist, you do not need to water; but if the soil is bone dry, then you may want to water your plant. There are some exceptions to this rule for both desert and water-loving plant species.

For desert species, you can be more negligent with them and can often wait an entire week after determining the first inch of soil is dry. For water-loving species like ferns, you can water them anytime after the surface of the soil becomes dry. When in doubt you, we recommend that you err on under-watering your plant! I can’t stress enough that the most common problem we see with houseplants is over-watering! Symptoms of under-watering, like leaf drop and stunted growth, can more easily be overcome. However, symptoms of over-watering, like root rot and suffocation, can often kill the plant, making it more difficult to save.

Water quality: Tap water is often treated with chlorine and fluorine, which can cause leaf burn in some plant species (yellow leaf splotches and brown leaf tips). If you notice leaf burn or just want to be careful, you can take steps to remove the chlorine and fluorine from the water. If you plan to water the next day, pour tap water into jars or a watering can and let the water sit overnight. This will allow the chlorine and fluorine to evaporate from the water, so that they don’t harm the plant.

I hope these tips will make watering a more stress-free task! As always send questions or comments about plant care to dan@welltended.com