PRACTICAL ADVICE ABOUT WATERING

A lot of people I meet find the whole subject of watering plants a difficult one. Talking about it is always accompanied by a lot of sighing, as if they had a lot of plant deaths on their conscience. Watering isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but nor is it the hardest. I think you’ll manage – with the help of a few rules of thumb, although it’s actually your finger that can save your plants.

Time to water? Here are two ways of finding out.

THE FINGER TRICK

Push your index finger a few centimetres into the potting compost. If it’s dry when you bring it out and the compost falls away from your finger, you can water. If your finger is moist, and there is still some compost stuck to it when you pull it out, then there’s still some water in the compost, so you don’t need to water for about the next week.

WEIGH THE POT

If you’re still not sure, lift up the pot. If it feels light, then there’s not much water in it and you can water. If it feels heavy, then there’s a lot of moisture in the compost and you can wait from a few days to a few weeks, depending on the type of plant.

FACTS

• The thicker the leaves, the less frequently you need to water.

• Most plants want to dry out between waterings.

• Water using water that’s at room temperature.

• During the warmer months, most plants want to be watered at least once a week, but in the colder months you can cut right down to every two weeks or less. Always check the watering needs of individual plants – some are thirstier than others.

• Not enough water is better than too much – over-watering combined with low light levels is the number one cause of death for plants. Accidents are most common during the colder months.