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Houseplant Watering Tools
Posted On 2010-08-14 , 4:49 PM
To keep our houseplants healthy, we need to provide our houseplants with water when they need it. This means checking our plants often so that we provide the water at the right time.
The right tools will make this task easier.
Firstly, your houseplants need to be in a grow pot that has a tray to capture the excess water as it runs through the drain hole in the bottom of the pot. By using enough water so that water runs throught he pot, we help to flush out excess salts from the fertilizer. Salt build up in the soil will harm and even kill your houseplants.
Secondly, we need to use a watering can with a long thin spout. Many houseplants are harmed by water touching their leaves. This is the case in most plants with a soft furry covering like African Violets. A long spout will allow you to apply the water at the base of the plant under the leaves and not damage the leaves.
Thirdly, the watering can should have a large enough resevoir to minimize trips to refill it. The one I use holds approximately 1 quart ( 1 litre). This provides enough volume to make mixing fertilizer in the right portions quite easy.
To collect excess water that is caught by the tray beneath each plant, we can use another common kitchen tool. A turkey baster, the kind with the bulb that you squeeze to draw in the liquid, can be used to collect water that sits in the tray after 5 or 10 minutes. You never want to let your houseplants to stand in this water for long.
I have used the watering can pictured for many years now.
You can find watering cans and turkey basters at many stores you use in your everyday shopping.
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How often do You Water Your Houseplants
Posted On 2010-07-16 , 1:51 PM
How often do you water your houseplants is a question I see asked over and over again. The real answer is as often as they need it and no more often. Both overwatering and underwatering will be harmful to your houseplants.
As unsatisfying as this answer is, it is the only correct answer. What you need to do is set up a watering schedule that will accomplish this.
To do this you need to pick a time of day, preferably before noon, when we can water two to three times a week. You check each plant at that time but water only those that need watering. Those that don't need watering are left until the next visit.
How do you know which plant needs water and which should not be watered? You use the finger test. Push your finger into the soil about 1 to 2 inches depending on the depth of the pot ( about 1/4 to 1/3 of the depth of the pot). If the soil is dry, add water. If the soil is still moist, do not water until the next visit.
Many will think this is a lot of work, but it is not. It will only take about 5 minutes to water ( or check) 20 to 25 houseplants.
Morning is the best time to water houseplants. The plants will take up the water during the growth of the day. When the sun goes down, your houseplants take a bit of a rest just as we do when we sleep.
Make this a pleasant task rather than a chore by looking at each plant and removing any flowers that have wilted or any leaves that have reached the end of their life to be replaced by new growth.
Personally, I check my houseplants 3 times a week in spring and summer and twice a week when the temperatures cool and growth slows in fall and winter. Some plants will need water each day but others may go 10 days to 2 weeks without needing any.
The need depends on many factors including temperature, humidity, rate of plant growth, soil type and consistency, pot size, and length of daylight. The biggest mistake is to try to put your houseplants on a watering schedule that doesn't take into account the various factors that affect the needs of the house plant.
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Water Houseplants Less in Winter
Posted On 2009-09-03 , 1:28 AM
We need to water houseplants less in winter
As the heat of the summer passes we find we need to water houseplants less. There are several reasons for this.
The houseplant needs more water when it is actively growing. In the fall the growth rate slows and the houseplant will need less water to increase the size of the plant. Water will still be needed to maintain the houseplant at its current size and health.
One of the reasons the growth rate slows is the shorter daylight hours. The houseplant needs the light for the process of photosynthesis, the process of plant growth, to take place. Also the intensity of the light decreases because the sun doesn't rise as high in the mid-day sky. Because the light intensity decreases, the plant will not grow as quickly and will require less water.
When the temperature is hotter in the summer, the rate of evaporation increases. We need to water houseplants to replace the water that is lost by evaporation.
Although houseplants will need less water during the winter months, proper houseplant watering during the winter months is still essential to ensure the health and beauty of your houseplant. At this time of year we need to be aware of how much water we are giving our houseplants. This is the time of year we are most likely to over water our houseplants.
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Wilted Leaves- Does Your House Plant Need Watering?
Posted On 2009-07-17 , 11:10 PM
During the summer we may see the leaves of some of our house plants appear to be wilting. We immediately think of watering them, but this may be the wrong thing to do. It may actually harm the plant.
In the heat of the summer more water will evaporate from the leaves. In a room that is not air conditioned, the temperature may rise to over 80oF. At that temperature the house plant may be unable to move enough water up from the roots to the leaves to replace the water being evaporated. Peace lilies are one of the first house plants to show this condition.
To determine if the house plant needs watering, we need to see if the soil in the pot is dry. Test it with your finger. If so, water the plant. If not the houseplant does not need watering and we need to take other measures.
The cause of the wilting is too much water evaporating from the leaves. The rate of evaporation can be reduced in two ways.
Firstly, we can reduce the rate of evaporation by increasing the humidity around the plant. The humidity can be raised by using pebble trays around the plant. Place pebbles in a tray and fill the tray with water nearly to the top of the pebbles. Place the plant in its pot on top of the pebbles. Do not let the bottom of the plant pot stand in the water.
The best way however is to reduce the temperature of the room to a temperature the houseplant is more suited to. This is normal room temperature at other times of the year. The plant is developing to live in this temperature as it grows, building a root, stem, leaf balance suited to this temperature.
If the temperatures outside the house are lower than in the room, the temperature may be lowered by opening windows and providing more ventilation.
Drapes or awnings can be used to stop the sunlight from shining directly into the room. Glass windows not only let in the light, they also allow the heat of the sun's rays inside. Covering windows on the sunny side of the house will help keep interior temperatures lower.
Before you water that wilting houseplant, find out if that is really what it needs.
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Indoor Plant Watering
Posted On 2009-06-23 , 2:19 AM
Indoor plant watering is a subject that many do not understand well. We find that some of our indoor plants need more water than others. We also see that plants seem to need different amounts of water at different times of the year. Lets examine some of the factors that lead to these differences.
Different types of plants need different amounts of water. Those with stiff, shiny leaves need less than those with softer leaves. less water evaporates from the stiff, shiny leaves like those of a pothos than eveporates from thesofter leaves of a fern. Succulents, like cacti or aloe vera, require very little water.
Larger indoor plants need more water than smaller versions of the same plant. Larger plants will have more growth and more leaf surface area.
Indoor plant watering is also affected by the consistency of the soil. The sandier the soil, the faster it will dry out. The sandy soil does not hold the water as well as a less sandy soil.
Indoor plants also need more water during the part of the year they are growing most quickly. As well as carrying the nutrients to the leaves, water is used in the growth process.
The amount of light a plant receives also affects indoor plant watering. This increase in light can be due to the longer days in the summer. The longer days stimulate many plants to put on a spurt of growth requiring more water. The increased strength of the sun in summer will also increase plant growth. The strength of light is also affected by the location of the plant in the home. How near is it to a window and what direction does the window face.
The humidity of the room affects the amount of water a houseplant needs. A houseplant in a humid room will require less water than the same plant in a room where the air is drier. Indoor heating will cause the air in the room to become drier.
The room temperature will affect the indoor plant watering requirements. As the temperature of a room rises, a houseplant will require more water.
These are just some of the factors that affect indoor plant watering needs. We need to adapt our watering schedules to accomodate the watering requirements of different indoor plants at different times of the year. We need to water houseplants according to their needs, not some predefined schedule.
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