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Watering indoor plants

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Indoor plants are a wide variety of plants that need less light and usually good moisture all the time to thrive well. The varieties and species in this large umbrella are pretty huge and so there is no one secret mantra of their watering needs. Each species differs in its water needs. In fact, the same species of plant, when planted in different pots, may end up with different watering needs. 
While most plants tolerate under watering, over-watering is what hurts them most. Here are some quick tips that will help you with the watering needs!

·        Always use the touch method. Gently stick the soil for about 1 inch with your fingers, if you see some mud on the fingers, there’s still some moisture in the pot. You can easily defer the watering to the next day or pour very little (in case of dry seasons, or if you are on high rise buildings or areas where they are likely to dry very fast)
picture courtesy the Internet


·        Best time to water

o    Early mornings are the best time for watering. Almost always avoid mid noon as plants can suffer from sudden hydration and over exposure to Sun. Next best time would be early evenings.

·        How much to water

o   When you water, water deeply. Wait for water to pour out through the drainage holes. This ensures the entire root system is drenched very well. This may take a half litre in case of a 6 inch pot that has dried well from its last watering.
o   In case of pots without drainage holes, Its best to water in full and manually tilt the pots to drain excess water from the top.

·        Signs of over-watering

o    Over-watering is a major reason for death of a plant. Over-watered pot will have the soil all wet and yet the plant will not look healthy. Its looks wilted. You will notice that the leaves have grown yellowy patches and both old and young leaves start falling off.
o   What do you do: Immediately stop watering … water next only when the soil feels dry. The soil has to completely dry out to prevent root rot. Even if root rot has set in, once the watering stops and soil starts to dry out, some roots will take over and return to being healthy again.
o   In some cases where the plants cannot recover, the signs of over-watering remains and you will need to re-pot using fresh soil mixture that has a better drainage. In these cases, if the plants can propagate through stem cuttings, do save the plants by creating new babies using stem cuttings.
o   In severe cases, the base of the plant becomes mushy and soft. Take care to notice before the plant reaches this stage.

·        Signs of under-watering

o   Early symptoms of mild under-watered plants are drying of leaf tips.
o   Severely under-watered plants depict the classic symptom of drooping; the soil feels very hard to touch. In case of hardy plants, they will most likely come back to shape within an hour after you water.

·        Other Tips:

o   Always make sure you have good head-space in every pot. This can be filled with a mulch to avoid water being evaporated in your balconies. This way you can watering more spaced out.
o   Plastic pots and ceramic pots retain more moisture than mud pots. But plants generally love the cooling effect of mud pots. So take care about watering needs depending upon your pots.
o   Most plants like occasional showers, especially with the dust accumulation in the cities. You can take a good hose pipe and mist water on them. Take care to see if leaves are developing fungal diseases. If yes, you should avoid misting.
o   Watering when away on vacation:
§  You can place containers filled with water and place the pots in these. But this kind of water exposure should be max for 1 week to 10 days only. There are chances that the plants develop rot in case of over absorption.
§  Use old plastic water bottles and make tiny holes with a needle in the caps. You can cut open the wide end and fill this bottle with water and place one bottle per plant. Water will slowly drip into the pot over a couple of days till you return.
There are many more methods to take care of watering while on vacation. lets take this up as another blog :)



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