How much should I water my plants?

Just like light, water is essential to the happiness of your home jungle. But it’s also the method of destruction for most houseplants and can be a lot more complex than people think.

When to water?

Knowing exactly when to water plants is a tricky business. Some plants like to be kept moist, some like to thoroughly dry out between waterings. This is the reason we offer individual watering information for each of our plants. The general rule of thumb is to use the knuckle method. Place your middle finger into the soil up to your first knuckle, if the soil is moist you don't need to water. If your finger comes out clean because the soil is dry, you're fine to water. 

Do I need a watering schedule?

For most, schedules do not really work. Light and heat changes with seasons and this affects the need of your plants therefore a schedule may not work. You can however have a rough idea of when this needs to be done. As time goes on you’ll notice changes in your plants that will remind you to water.  

How should I water?

There are two schools of thoughts when it comes to watering plants. 

Watering from above: using your typical watering can to water your plants. We usually wait for the water to come out of the bottom of our plants' drainage holes to see when they’ve had enough water. We usually leave this for about 20 minutes, whatever has not been absorbed we then dispose of. 

Watering from below: Ensuring your plant has drainage holes place your pot in a bowl or tray of water (a couple of cms will do). Leave the plants for 20-30 minutes and allow your plants to absorb what they need.  

Are there different types of water?

There are some plants that can be picky about the water they take on and this can be affected by the type of water in your area. Rainwater is always best and if you have the ability to collect this to water your plants you should. If you’re lucky enough to have a water filter you could also use filtered water. There are many people that fill their watering cans and leave them out for 24 hours in order to allow any nasty nutrients to evaporate but this hasn’t been proved. Most plants will tolerate tap water but you may find some nutrient deposits on terracotta pots.