The 5 Rules for Watering a Houseplant
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Are your plants dying one after the other? Are you hesitant to buy yet another bonsai and are you considering a cactus, which is less likely to die from dehydration?
DON'T give up, gardening is not something you're born with.
We learned by taking initiative, making mistakes, and trying again. We grew many green plants, orchids, trees, and shrubs before we saw results.
Here are our 5 maintenance rules to prevent your indoor plants from dying .
1) Program your watering!
So what to do? As a general rule, plants like to dry out slightly before being watered again .
Watering your plants occasionally isn't enough to keep them thriving. Watering depends on a variety of factors, including humidity, lighting, and room temperature. The warmer, brighter, and drier your room, the more regularly you'll need to water them.
It's essential to observe your plants daily, question their habits, try, take risks, and learn. The worst thing for your plant would be if you remained stuck in your positions and ideas and didn't realize its unhappiness. Plants generally express their difficulties through their leaves.
Our Tip: We recommend setting a daily reminder on your phone to inspect your plant. I personally started a little evening ritual, during which I spend 10 minutes observing my houseplants. It was thanks to this little moment of "communion with my plant" that I realized that I was watering my Ficus too abundantly. The leaves were wilting and falling off regularly. The solution to my problem was then to switch to a more reasonable weekly watering schedule.
2) Moisten the foliage of your plants!
In nature, plants are watered as a whole. Rain falls on their leaves, runs down their branches and trunks, and finally falls into the soil. After cooling the plant, the rain runs off and diffuses through the root system. The roots then capture nutrients and redistribute them in reverse to the trunk, branches, and leaves. The natural rain cycle thus provides complete and harmonious hydration for the vegetation.
Houseplants generally experience a completely different cycle. Their owner pours water into the soil, then leaves satisfied. You understand that your shrub will only be partially hydrated by doing this. Indoor gardeners are missing out on half the cycle!
To solve this problem, we suggest you break down your watering into two stages:
Misting the leaves and trunk.
Watering the roots.
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3) Do not drown your plant with excess water, drain its soil!
By following our advice, you'll start watering more frequently to see how your plant reacts. You must be careful not to drown the roots of your plants. These roots are fragile nutrient and vitamin receptors. Excessive waterlogging in the soil will initially lead to the appearance of small fungi and germs . This will lead to a gradual and rapid rotting of organic matter and the root system.
The solution to this problem that is causing the death of many houseplants is to develop a water drainage system . Rest assured, this is very easy to set up, and only takes a few steps:
Don't confuse flower pots with planters . A planter has small drainage holes to prevent water retention. A planter is used to decorate your pot and is therefore added on top of the pot.
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Place clay balls or small stones at the bottom of the pot . Arranged a few centimeters apart, these small balls will allow water to drain easily. This also raises the potting soil a few centimeters above the bottom of the pot, where water will stagnate.
Empty the water that has drained from your pot and is stagnating in your flowerpot or saucer .
Our tip: If you bought a planter with the thought of buying a flower pot, you can drill a hole in it yourself using a drill. If you can't drill a hole in the planter, we recommend repotting it in a real pot.
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4) Place your plant correctly (Sun/Wind/Stability)!
Many plant sellers include a botanical information sheet explaining their needs. The first indicator often highlights the light required by the plant. Some require full sun exposure, while others are more fragile and fear direct sunlight. If the light isn't enough to easily read a book, it's because it's too dim.
The location of your plant should also take into account potential air currents. You should avoid passageways and doors and windows that are too close. If you have a good habit of airing your home daily to refresh the air, we advise against placing your plant right in front of it.
In nature, plants are not designed to move. Their branches can spread and recreate new roots using cuttings, but their main roots cannot move. Yet, many people move their houseplants around as the mood takes them.
Never forget that plants are living organisms that need stability. Since their branches grow toward light to capture it, changing your plant's exposure would be counterproductive to its growth. Your plant is not a piece of furniture.
5) Clean the foliage of your plants!
It's important to regularly clean your plant's leaves to prevent dust buildup. In addition to detracting from your plant's aesthetics, dust deposits prevent the leaves from properly absorbing light. This reduces the plant's photosynthetic properties, making it more vulnerable to pests.
Cleaning frequency largely depends on your exposure to dust. The easiest way to tell if your plant needs cleaning is to rub your thumb against a leaf above the foliage.
To clean your plant's foliage, we recommend using a spray bottle. In addition to refreshing your plant, it will be effective in removing most of the dust. If your leaves are particularly dirty, you can add a little natural soap.
Don't forget to wipe the leaves dry with a cloth. If you skip this step, the water may leave white limescale marks as it evaporates.
Some foliage prefers brushing with a soft bristle brush.
Leaf trimming is also a good time to remove yellow and dead leaves from your tree. Be careful not to pull off any leaves that are still alive. The stems of dead leaves detach when touched, so there's no need to pull too hard on your leaves. If you come across a dead or broken branch, we recommend cutting or pruning it with pruning shears.
