How do you water your house plants?

[MattyB]

I take the pot over to the sink and water it there, making sure that I flush a lot of water through the soil in order to prevent any salt buildup. Lately I've been plugging the sink and watering the palm until the water level rises above the drain holes in the pot and leaving it there to soak. I'll do this in the morning and let it sit in water all day so the roots can drink and the potting soil can wick and absorb as much water as possible. I think the plants really like it and I don't need to water any more than once every couple of weeks.

My mom takes a watering can around to all of her plants and she has them sitting in a dish to catch the excess water. After a while the plants can look pretty raggedy, I assume from salt buildup. Our hard water is full of minerals that plants don't like in high amounts.

[Jastin]

All of my house plants are small and I water the same way as you Matt, I also feel like they like it. The only toulble I've had with indoor plants is when they sit by an air vent, other than that they all look good. I tried a Mapu and it didn't do very well, probably my fault.

[Funkthulhu]

Hey MattyB,

I also have some pretty hard water up here. I have noticed some white evaporites here and there lately. What do you suggest for my huge pots? I don't think they'd fit in the sink, let alone the height of the ceiling over that sink! (though, all of those guys go outside over the summer...)

[Kim]

Matt, what you describe, pot in sink, has been my standard method because to really get the rootball wet, I would otherwise have water all over the floor. In addition to the soak in the sink, once in a while it's good to take the plant outdoors and flush the soil several times, really drenching it, and washing down the foliage. Obviously this must be done in shade to avoid sunburn.

In my office I don't have those options, so I use bottled water from the kitchen water cooler. Those plants don't seem to have the problem with mineral buildup.

[The Silent Seed]

I have thousands of plants indoors - so it's very time-consuming. I like doing the sink thing - but due to sheer numbers, I only do that with my extra-special plants, or favorites. The rest get watered with a plastic juice bottle. Hundreds of them are in shoebox-size, low-sided trays, which I take to the sink, and water using the "sprayer" on the sink - it's fast, and works great, and you can accurately control how much water each pot in the tray gets. Not only that, they get to soak in what ends up on the bottom of the tray. The rest are in individual plastic water catchers, and need to be attended to one by one.

The plant house is altogether another story. I use a hose with a watering gun type thing. The water drains out onto the floor, which takes care of preventing buildup.

Takes me about a half hour to one hour to water everything in there, and about 4 hours to water the ones that are not in there (since I can't spill water in the house, of course.)

Edited February 24, 2012 by santoury

[MattyB]

Hey MattyB,

I also have some pretty hard water up here. I have noticed some white evaporites here and there lately. What do you suggest for my huge pots? I don't think they'd fit in the sink, let alone the height of the ceiling over that sink! (though, all of those guys go outside over the summer...)

My friend Jessie says he does the same thing as I do but he puts them in the bathtub/shower. Will that work? Sounds like you might need a small utility dolly if they're really large.

[Stevetoad]

my wife wont let me keep plants in the house she says if she lets one in a thousand will follow...i had no argument.

[Funkthulhu]

Hey MattyB,

I also have some pretty hard water up here. I have noticed some white evaporites here and there lately. What do you suggest for my huge pots? I don't think they'd fit in the sink, let alone the height of the ceiling over that sink! (though, all of those guys go outside over the summer...)

My friend Jessie says he does the same thing as I do but he puts them in the bathtub/shower. Will that work? Sounds like you might need a small utility dolly if they're really large.

I agree. Seriously, is it so hard for a manufacturer to make a wheeled plant platform that actually moves over carpet and doesn't have plastic wheels that snap off on a whim?

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

Matt, why not take them outside to water? You might clog your sink that way. When I lived in Tampa I would take my house plants outside once every couple of weeks and run water through the pots and soak them really well. If I felt the rootball wasn't getting wet enough, I would sit the pot in a bucket of water to soak. While the plants are outside, you can also spray the leaves with water to remove any dust.

I don't have any houseplants anymore. My dogs won't stop chewing the leaves, so I finally gave up.

[MattyB]

I do take them outside and spray them down real good or let them get some rain if possible, but only a couple times a year. The sink is just easier for me. I don't know why it would clog my sink because nothing goes down there. We don't have a garbage disposer so we don't put lots food scraps down our sink. I'm handy around the house so a clogged drain is the least of my worries. Ya know what clogs drains? Jen's hair in the shower. Man I pull some hair monsters out of that drain, with my snake, about once every few months. Gross!

[Hammer]

The shower! It mimics a good rain storm. Washes all the dust and unwanted insects off the leaves. Clean leaves allow for better exchange of gases and allow more light toreach the leaves for photosythesis. Plants really seems to love it. Rinses out the salts too. Although it can tend to wash out nutrients too. I have to watch that using the shower method.

My sole exception is the African Violet. I put that in bowl with RO water and let the roots soak. I mist some plants in between as needed too...not the AV.

[Kathryn]

I have about 10 potted palms scattered throughout my house. All of the pots have a ceramic saucer and a plastic one to ensure my wood floors are protected. I water the palms every two weeks with the water from my 30 gallon fish tank. I haven't used any synthetic fertilizer in years and they all look great.

[MattyB]

Kathryn, that must be a lot of hard work, watering all 10 plants. And taking all that water out of the fish tank to do it? Whooeeee, no thank you.

[dp92651]

How about filtered water w/ nutrients added? Or does that strip out the good minerals as well?

[Hammer]

Depends on the filter. Most quality filters strip it pretty bare and should bring the pH to neutral. But that isnt a bad thing. It allows you to control the water chemistry and dial it in to best suit your particular needs. So you can add back in minerals and nutrients. Once you have a system down it is pretty easy.

Watch out for soft water units. LOTS of salt in those.

I like to use fish tank water too. Provided it isnt from my African Cichlid tank. Salts and pH are too high and will impact soil chemistry.

[kahili]

I just drag a hose in off the deck and water everything-all the plants are in the large hallway off the deck (with skylights and two glass doors/south side) and one room off the hallway so its a straight shot. Takes about 10 mins to water them all and I think there is about 60 plants total-most of them pretty big-15 gal and bigger. The room that they are in has nothing in it but plants and I have a really large piece of plastic covering the whole floor in there. I put a 4' x 4' skylight in there so the light is really good most of the day. I don't worry about salt build up because I don't fert them until they come back outside in the spring, and the ones that do still have slow release in them, salt comes out the bottom (they all have dishes under them) because I water until the water comes out the bottom. They all look pretty good considering the situation-winter sun/inside. My goal is too just overwinter them and have them look decent/healthy enough so that in the spring when they do start growing, they pick up where they left off in the fall. I would love to be able to take them outside and wash off all the leaves-but thats not going to happen! Not for another month or so anyway.

[Jeff Searle]

The method my wife Andrea usues is, she just water's them until they eventually die....then she drives over to the nursery and takes more.

[Palm crazy]

I can't stop the rain, so mine go outside and get watered.

[Mark Heath]

The method my wife Andrea usues is, she just water's them until they eventually die....then she drives over to the nursery and takes more.

Sorry for laughing Jeff, but that's a good one!!

I use the water out of my fish pond which is outside by my front door. Has had fish in for years and my indoor palms have allways looked fantastic and i have'nt had to fertilize them. I have a Lytocarium.W that is 3 foot tall grown from seed that is doing great along w/ a C. Metalica that is about 4.5 tall. But i also take them outside a cpl of times a year at night when it's going to rain and let them get a good soaking.

[Jeff in Costa Rica]

I do take them outside and spray them down real good or let them get some rain if possible, but only a couple times a year. The sink is just easier for me. I don't know why it would clog my sink because nothing goes down there. We don't have a garbage disposer so we don't put lots food scraps down our sink. I'm handy around the house so a clogged drain is the least of my worries. Ya know what clogs drains? Jen's hair in the shower. Man I pull some hair monsters out of that drain, with my snake, about once every few months. Gross!

I meant that soil could wash out of the bottom of the pots and eventually clog your sink.

You're right about hair in the drain, that is gross!!

[Sutter Bob]

Mine almost all sit on saucers.

I water daily and aspirate the water with a non-drip baster when the saucers start to get full (which happens once or twice a week)..

A bit tedious but seems to work.

[Cedric]

I have one house plant ten thousand miles away its beautiful H. forsteriana a palm that seems indestructible. It never gets proper water for months on end then gets drowned for a few weeks in summer with London city water the kind that is repeatedly being filtered through millions of kidneys a week then spruced up with heavy chemicals and recycled through another million bladders. The cleaning lady throws tea bags at it and cold cabbage water over it fortnightly. The soil is crusty with yellow and white salt build up .

What a good idea though house plants a whole unexplored territory.

[Funkthulhu]

Note to self:

If the pot was damned heavy when you put it into the shower, it will be damn-near impossible to lift after you've given it a soaker...

I almost had to shower with a Dracaena marginata before I managed to get it out again.

[Kumar]

My planted and potted palms are watered twice a week except during June to October. The problem is that I am far from them and in my absence the potted ones are usually overwatered (in India, people usually water a pot till the brim)

[Jastin]

This isn't a indoor plant but it could work out well indoors of you use a dish underneath the pot. I bought a larger dish and filled it up with some potting soil, bought some cheap small flowers and stuck them in the dish. When I water my pot there is no water wasted ( nore does it spill ) because the flowers/soil sucks it up!

[MattyB]

That looks great

[Gtlevine]

I finally figured it out, I take my plants outside and powerhose the leaves then deep soak. I leave them drain then bring them indoors the next morning. The key is not the watering, but how much water. I have found that once a month in the winter is enough and twice a month for the summer. I always killed my palms indoors from overwatering.