Why is it important to water plants properly?

Proper watering helps plants stay healthy and grow strong. If plants don’t get enough water, they can wilt, and if they get too much, their roots can rot.

How can I tell when my plants need water?

You can check if your plants need water by sticking your finger about an inch into the soil. If it feels dry, it’s time to water!

Root rot is a problem that happens when plants get too much water, making their roots sit in soggy soil. This can cause the roots to decay and the plant may die.

What techniques can I use to check soil moisture?

You can use a moisture meter, which tells you how wet the soil is. Or, simply poke your finger in the soil to feel if it's dry or damp!

Does the season affect how I water my plants?

Yes, seasons change how much water plants need. In summer, they might need more water because it’s hotter, while in winter, they usually need less.

Should all types of plants be watered the same way?

No, different plants have different watering needs. Some like damp soil, while others prefer it to dry out between waterings.

Can I overwater my plants?

Yes, overwatering can happen if you water too often or too much at once. It’s important to let the soil dry out a bit before watering again.

What can I do if my plant looks wilted?

If your plant looks wilted, check the soil. If it’s dry, give it water. If the soil is wet, it might be overwatered, and you may need to let it dry out.

How often should I check my plants for watering?

It’s a good idea to check your plants for water at least once a week. More often may be needed if it's hot or dry weather.

Are there any signs my plant needs more or less water?

Yes, if leaves turn yellow or brown, or if they droop, these could be signs of watering problems. A healthy plant should have firm, green leaves!

These are my top tips for watering your plants with ease!

Struggling to know when to water your plants? In this episode of the Plant Care for Beginners podcast, I break down simple techniques to check soil moisture, avoid root rot, and adjust watering through the seasons. Tune in for easy, practical tips to keep your plants thriving!

Listen to an audio version of this plant care guide!

Transcription of the audio

Hello everyone, welcome to another podcast by Plant care for Beginners. This is the podcast where I talk about my personal experience with houseplants and how you can actually make it easier to take care of your plants. Because taking care of plants is not actually as difficult as you might think it is. It is much easier if you have a couple of handy tips, so let's highlight some of those tips.

In this episode, we're going to look at watering plants. There are obviously a lot of different types of plants. Some plants need a lot of water, other plants might not need as much water. So let's look at the top tips that you can use to see if your plant needs to be watered.

Check the soil

First, you need to check the soil. Why do you need to do this? Well, because if the soil is wet and your plant is a plant that doesn't like to be in wet soil for that long, you don't have to water your plant yet. Because if you water your plant in wet soil, it's only going to get soggy, and it's going to drown the plant. That's when root rot happens, for example.

So you want to check the soil for moisture before you water your plants. You have to do this every time. At some point you do get a bit handy with this. You actually start to recognize patterns. You start to see, okay, so maybe it takes 10 days for this plant or maybe this takes two weeks.

But for the very first few weeks, maybe even months, you want to check the soil every time before you water a plant until you start to get a little better at guessing. So how do you do this? You take a finger, and you stick it about two centimeters or one inch into the soil. And then if you take your finger back out and moisture, you can feel the moisture, then it's definitely moist still.

But if the soil sticks to your finger, and it doesn't really get off that easily, if you wipe it away, then it's still moist enough, and you don't have to water your plant yet.

However, if the soil falls off really easily, it's definitely time to water your planter because it's dry at that point. It doesn't really matter too much when you water your plants during the day. I usually do this during the afternoon, but perhaps it is a bit better to do it during the morning or evening.

It's a bit like watering your garden. You don't want to water during hot afternoons because all the water evaporates right away. It's not as much of an issue with houseplants because they're protected by windows, they're inside. So the evaporation is not as extreme, but it's whatever is easiest for you.

Drainage

When you water your plants, you will want to think about drainage as well. It's very important for some plants like succulents or cacti to have a drainage hole at the bottom of the pot. This drainage hole is there for a reason. It's because the soil will hold onto some moisture for your plant. For succulents and cacti, it's not a whole lot. It basically goes right through to the bottom of the pot.

And that's what a drainage hole is for because you want to get rid of that water from the pot as soon as possible because one of the biggest causes of root rot is standing water. Your plant doesn't like to stand in standing water. So you want to get rid of as much of that water as quickly as possible.

Sometimes you will have a saucer under your pot and after watering your plant, you'll see some water collected there. So what you want to do is you want to wait 5 to 10 minutes. Then, if you see water collecting in the saucer, get rid of that water. Because if you leave the water there, you don't use the full function of the drainage hole because the water is still staying there.

Watering in the different seasons

And then one last thing that's pretty important is watering differently throughout the seasons. This might sound a little strange, but plants do actually feel seasons as well. Because during the spring and summer, there is a lot more sunlight, which means your plant grows quicker, but the moisture also evaporates more quickly because the sun is warmer. So you'll have to water your plant a little bit more often as well.

And then when it's turning to fall, the days are getting shorter, it's getting cooler. There doesn't really happen that much evaporation and also your plants are slowly going to go dormant. Which means that don't grow as quickly so that they don't need as much water.

And during the winter, yeah, you can definitely see a difference because the days are very dark. There's not a lot of sun, it's cold, there's not a lot of heat from the sun on your plant and your plant usually doesn't grow during the winter at all. So you'll need to water it a lot less.

Techniques to help you water your plant

So in the very beginning, it might seem a little bit difficult to find out when your plant needs to be watered. You have tools like moisture meters, but I've personally found two techniques really interesting and helpful, really.

The first one is checking the soil moisture with your finger. It's actually really effective. As easy as it sounds, it's super effective because you can instantly feel if the soil is dry or if it's still good for a couple of days.

The second one is actually lifting the pots with the plant in it. This does take a little bit of extra practice because you'll need to know the weight of the pot right after you've watered it because then it feels heavier. If you lift the pot and the soil is really dry, you'll feel that the pot and the plant are really light.

Again, this does take a bit of practice, but I found this to be one of the most effective ways to see if your plant needs to be watered or not. Especially your tropical plants are really good with this.

Interesting links

If you're interested in finding out more about watering, I will link a couple of other guides that I've written before on my website, and you can find more information there. I'm also happy to help you out if you have any questions. You can reach out to me through my website or through email, maybe even social media. You can direct message me there. I'll be happy to answer your questions there as well. If you have any questions about specific plants, definitely don't hesitate to reach out as well.

I'd be happy to help you out with those. Maybe I've already written a guide for it. Possibly I still need to write a guide for it. Just let me know what you need help with. I'm happy to help and make you feel more confident about taking care of plants. So, thank you for listening. And in the next episode, we're going to look at pests. And I hope to see you back again for that one.

Thank you for reading this post! I hope it helps you to keep your plants healthy and beautiful! If you're looking for more guides on specific plants, you can always request a plant guide to get a guide for the plant you have trouble with.