The top reason why we kill our houseplants is usually over-watering. Yes. 100%.
But is it just over-watering? Its usually overwatering+not enough light, this is a killer combo for any houseplant, because we're not giving the plant adequate light for it to survive and on top of that, we're also drowning it in water that's not evaporating in any way but rather sitting in the pot, which eventually causes root root and plant eventually dies.
So do not follow the watering guide, if you're not giving your plant the adequate light required for the plant to survive.
We divided the watering needs into three main categories:
Water only when top few cms of soil has dried out.
If your plant is in this category, that means it likes to be watered often, it likes to be consistently moist at all times because it does not have fleshy leaves/stems or a root-system that saves water, so insert your finger in the soil to test and if it feels dry to touch, time to water.
Plants in this category: Ferns, Calatheas and Marantas.
Water only when top half of soil has dried out.
If your plant is in this category then you must wait until the top half of soil in the container has dried out before watering again. Most foliage houseplants are in this category, the sweet spot for most of our houseplants.
Plants in this category: Philodendrons, Agloanemas, Monsteras etc.
Water only when soil has dried out COMPLETELY.
If your plant is in this category, then you must make sure the soil has dried out 100 percent before watering again.
Plants in this category can store a lot of water either in their leaves, stems or roots, which sometimes you will notice they have thick stems or succulent leaves.
Plants in this category: Mainly succulents and cacti and more.
HOW TO DETECT MOISTURE IN SOIL:
SKEWER STICK METHOD
Insert a BBQ skewer slowly away from the plant, careful not to ruin the roots. Leave it for a few minutes for accurate reading.
If it comes out dry, then it is time to water, if there's still any moisture, wait a couple of days before testing again.
SOIL MOIST METER METHOD:
If you have a lot of plants or plan on having more plants in the future, you can use a moist meter for a more accurate reading.
The meter has a moist to dry spectrum, 1 means extremely dry and 10 means extremely moist.
Each plant has a number within this spectrum.
EXAMPLE:
Here's a link that has most plants and their number on the spectrum, if your plant is not on the list please send us a message on instagram and we'll help you find it.
You can buy a moist meter from https://souq.link/3gel2Gk or https://souq.link/2QhSDV7.
