Is it possible to water indoor flowers at night? How to water indoor flowers correctly! Which plants like moist soil and which ones like dry soil?

Beginning flower growers sooner or later face the question: what kind of water is best to water the plants? It all depends on the specific plant. Some plants need very soft acidified water, for example, orchids, azaleas, carmona petulifolia, hydrangea or ferns.

Other plants need very hard water with a high lime content. A striking representative of this group of plants is oleander.

But, nevertheless, most indoor plants are acidophiles, that is, they do not like too hard water, which contains a lot of lime, and therefore, when watered for a long time with tap water, their leaves begin to turn yellow, chlorosis develops, and a white coating appears on the surface of the earth.

So what is the best water to water indoor plants? The best water is considered to be rain and snow water. But this option with watering is suitable only for those who live in rural areas; this trick will not work in the city.

In city conditions, tap water is usually used to water indoor plants. It's not so bad, but it contains chlorine and lime, which plants don't like at all. High chlorine content in water can cause shoot tips to die and leaves to burn.

Therefore, problems with irrigation can arise not only because of the amount of water or frequency of watering, but also because of the quality of the water itself. This is especially true for young rooted plants propagated vegetatively. Most potting mixes for indoor plants (with the exception of orchid potting mix) are capable of retaining water and dissolved nutrients. The capacity of the pot is limited, so excess lime or chlorine with constant watering will accumulate in the soil mixture, and the plant may show signs of wilting or may disappear altogether.

Also, the water used to water indoor plants should not be cold or hot. Cold water can stress the roots, and will inevitably lead to the development of root rot or bud drop. You can boil plant roots with hot water. The ideal water temperature for watering indoor plants is room temperature water.

Make it a rule: water your plants only with settled water, even tap water.

Fill the watering can in advance. Let the water stand for a day, it will warm up, settle, and chlorine, which is very harmful to plants, will evaporate. And during this time the water will warm up to room temperature, which is also very important. But after using such simply settled water, whitish spots may appear on the surface of the soil in the pot and on the leaves of the plants.

To avoid such troubles and soften tap water, you can add lemon juice or a few grains of citric acid to it. To soften water, you can use table vinegar: 10 drops of table or apple cider vinegar per liter of water. Also, flower shops sell a special lime neutralizer for water (not to be confused with washing fabric softener).

You can acidify water for irrigation using high-moor peat. Place the peat in a plastic bag pierced with needles and place this bag in water for irrigation. One hundred grams of peat is enough to acidify one liter of water.

You can soften tap water by boiling - the easiest and most affordable way. Boil water, cool, and pour into a watering can. That's it, problems with watering will practically disappear. Houseplants drink boiled water very readily. And if you add fertilizers or biological fertilizers to boiled water from time to time, your plants will feel great both in winter and summer.

When growing indoor plants, you want them to bloom luxuriantly on an ongoing basis. To achieve this, you need to use proven life hacks - water the plants with special solutions. How and with what to water indoor flowers so that they bloom, you will learn from today’s article.

How to water indoor flowers to make them bloom?

Proper care of indoor plants involves the implementation of several procedures, such as watering, fertilizing, loosening the soil, in rare cases, replanting, spraying, pinching, etc. The gardener needs to pay more attention to how to water indoor flowers so that they bloom. This section includes both regular watering and with the addition of special ingredients, as well as liquid feeding

Watering and feeding indoor plants

In order for indoor flowers to bloom, they need to be watered and fed constantly. The nutrition of indoor plants is based on mineral and organic fertilizers. If indoor flowers have not been fed for several years, their flowering becomes noticeably smaller. The general condition of the plants shows the lack of fertilizing.

Overfertilization also harms plant health. An excess of any components can lead to developmental disorders. For example, if you feed with nitrogen fertilizers during the flowering period, you can cause the flowers to stop blooming.

The choice of water for irrigation affects the condition of the soil mixture of indoor plants no less than the applied fertilizers. For example, alkalizing the soil can cause a houseplant not to bloom. An increased pH level (acidification) of the soil will also have negative consequences for indoor flowers.

The rule for fertilizing and watering the soil mixture is to maintain the required acidic, alkaline or neutral reaction of the soil mixture.

How to water flowers to make them bloom at home?

Normally, it is necessary to water and feed indoor flowers with fertilizers suitable for the variety. If indoor flowers do not bloom, you need to choose the appropriate care for restoration.

How to water flowers to make them bloom:

The first recipe is easy to make yourself at home: pour 1 tsp into a 1 liter bottle. castor oil and fill the container with settled water, close the lid and shake the contents. Water immediately.
Liquid mineral fertilizers based on potassium and phosphorus with the addition of microelements (boron, zinc, molybdate, etc.) stimulate the flowering of indoor plants.
Rotted organic matter in small quantities is good for long-lasting, weather-resistant flowering.

In addition to direct watering and fertilizing with liquid nutrients, you can carry out foliar spraying based on minerals with microelements, which also improve the flowering of indoor plants.

Note to the florist. castor oil in its pure form can burn the roots of indoor plants. Castor oil shakes well with water, dividing into small particles, so this type of fertilizer, which can be used to water indoor flowers, is safe for green pets.

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To prepare food for indoor flowers at home easily and quickly, you will need:

Spray
Bottle of mineral water
Jug of water
Bowl
Onion peel
Orange peels
Eggshell
Banana peel.

Preparing fertilizers for flowers

When to plant petunias for seedlings in 2017.

Petunia is one of the most popular annual flowers. And this is no coincidence. Beautiful flowers of different colors are a wonderful decoration for country flower beds, beds, balconies, flowerpots and hanging flower pots. Petunia is wonderful.

Planting purslane for seedlings. When to sow purslane for seedlings?

Purslane is a low-growing, fast-growing succulent that blooms all summer in good conditions. This plant perfectly decorates the garden and literally creates carpets of flowers. Some flower growers call it that.

Hello, dear indoor plant lovers! Our green friends depend on us in everything, and only proper care will allow crops to turn green, bloom and develop, so in continuation of the flower theme I would like to talk about such an issue as feeding flowers at home. It turns out that a plant living in a flower pot only has enough nutrients for 1.5-2 months after transplantation, and then it begins to suffer from a lack of microelements! Let's not starve our pets and learn how to feed them correctly!

When and what to feed?

Special nutrients must be added regularly; during the period of active growth (from spring to autumn), it is recommended to add fertilizer to the pot about once a month; in winter, you can relax, since most crops rest at this time and gain strength for the new season.

Fertilizers are divided into two groups - mineral and organic.

The first ones can be bought at any gardening store, they come in different types - with one microelement, several or a whole complex. Adding them is quite simple; just dilute the liquid in water according to the instructions and pour it over the flowers. When choosing a drug, you need to take into account the needs of plants. Thus, deciduous and decorative flowers (for example, ficus) love nitrogen, and flowering ones love phosphorus. You can find out more about the “tastes” of the culture in the description of the flower, or simply consult with a consultant in the store.

But there are also organic types of fertilizers, these are natural products that have a beneficial effect on plants. We'll talk about them in more detail later.

When should it be done?

You need to feed the plants constantly, without waiting for the first symptoms, but the following signs will help you find out that the flowers simply need additional nutrition:

weak and thin stems stretching upward;
lack of buds and flowers;
growth slowdown;
the leaves became smaller, weaker, paler;
the foliage turns yellow and crumbles;
the overall pitiful appearance of the plant.

But you shouldn’t get carried away with fertilizing, as excessive activity can be harmful. As they say, everything should be in moderation; if there are too many nutrients, home flowers drop their buds and are in no hurry to bloom.

Natural products for feeding flowers

1. Sugar or glucose

Sugar and glucose become the basis for plant nutrition, because this component is necessary for the respiration of the sprout, the processes of absorption of substances, the production of energy, and the creation of new cells. To do this, dissolve a spoonful of sugar or a glucose tablet in a liter of water and pour or spray the mixture on the sprouts. But you shouldn’t get carried away with this procedure; even in people, excess sweets cause obesity and diabetes; it is also harmful to the plant world. It is enough to make the life of indoor plants sweet once a month.

2. Coffee grounds

Coffee grounds contain a large amount of nutrients, making them an excellent fertilizer. The good news is that you don’t have to spend a long time preparing the composition; you just need to leave the coffee after drinking it and pour it directly into the pot. It will act as mulch, preventing excessive evaporation of moisture from the surface, and when watering, microelements will gradually dissolve and enter the substrate, and from there through the roots to the plant. But we remember that coffee increases the acidity of the soil, so you should not use this fertilizer on succulents (cactus, money tree, aloe), but azalea, rhipsalis, and hydrangea will be very happy with the delicacy.

3. Black tea

Tea is rightfully considered an excellent home fertilizer; it can be used in both dry and liquid form. Is there any tea leaves left after drinking tea? We just pour it into the pot instead of traditional watering. True, you shouldn’t do this regularly, since the liquid is very popular with black flies. And experts recommend adding dry leaves to the substrate; they make the soil loose and light; for this, the tea leaves must be mixed with the soil in a ratio of 1:3 at the time of planting. You can sprinkle tea leaves on the surface of the soil in the form of mulch, following the example of coffee. Such procedures are suitable for delicate crops such as violets, geraniums, and begonias.

4. Citrus peels.

Do you like oranges and lemons? Flowers also adore these fruits, because they contain a lot of vitamins that improve immunity. Therefore, we do not throw away the remaining crusts after consumption, but collect them in a liter jar, after which we fill the contents with a liter of hot water and leave for a day. Next, we filter the infusion, dilute it with water in a ratio of 1:10 and use it for watering indoor plants that prefer acidic soil - azaleas, hydrangeas, and rapsis.

Ash is a classic of the genre; ash from burning wood not only contains a lot of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, zinc, magnesium, iron, but also helps disinfect the soil, preventing the occurrence of various diseases. The easiest way to apply this fertilizer is during transplantation, mixing the substrate with ash. And in the future, you can water with ash water; for this, a tablespoon of powder must be diluted in a liter of water.

6. Onion peels

Are there any onion skins left over after cooking? And it will come into use, because this product contains many phytoncides that fight diseases and pests of flowers, and this feeding also stimulates the growth and flowering of domestic green pets. For the procedure, you need to take 20-25 grams of dry husk and boil it in a liter of water for 10 minutes, leave it and use it for spraying and watering, especially if there are diseases and midges in the pot.

Yeast is recognized even by scientists as a fertilizer; it stimulates the growth and development of stems and roots. To do this, take a pinch of dry yeast, 1 tsp. sugar to activate them, and pour the powder with a liter of heated water. After a couple of hours, the liquid needs to be diluted with water five times, and water the flowers with it, and the method is not harmful, it can be used every two weeks during the period of active growth, and once a month in winter.

Banana is rich in potassium, which supports active flowering, so flowers with frequent buds will like this fruit. It was easier for me to dry the banana skins on a radiator or in the oven until brittle, and then grind them in a coffee grinder. Then the powder can be periodically sprinkled on the surface of the soil or added to the substrate when replanting.

Every plant needs regular nutrition, and now we know how and with what to fertilize green spaces so that they please the eye all year round. See you soon, good luck with your experiments with flowers and subscribe to the blog!

You carefully monitor your indoor flowers. you feed them, but they don’t bloom? This little trick will allow you to enjoy your indoor plants blooming for as long as possible! When watering, it is enough to add just 1 ingredient, which is found in every home.
The secret of feeding is simple and accessible, I’m sharing it, let your flowers please you too.

To make the plants bloom even more beautifully and luxuriantly, gardeners recommend fertilizing during the budding period. One of these fertilizers is castor oil, thanks to which flowering becomes lush and longer, and the flower heads turn out to be large and get a more saturated color.

A liter bottle is filled with settled water at room temperature and 1 tsp is added to it. castor oil.

ARTICLE CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE

A good housewife never wastes anything, everything comes into use! Therefore, indoor plants grow by leaps and bounds. And indoor flowers are blooming - it couldn’t be more beautiful! And feeding home flowers with folk remedies helps with this - infusion from shells and drainage from husks.

Indoor plants especially urgently need fertilizers in spring and summer. With the help of available materials, you can easily and quickly create excellent organic fertilizers for your green pets.

To prepare food for indoor flowers at home easily and quickly, you will need:

Spray
Bottle of mineral water
Jug of water
Bowl
Onion peel
Orange peels
Eggshell
Sunflower and pumpkin seed husks
Banana peel.

Preparing fertilizers for flowers

Fill the onion skins with water. We insist for a day. Then we throw away the husks and water the plants for their growth and disinfection of the soil.
Fill the orange peels with water and leave for three days.
We filter, pour the infusion into a spray bottle and treat the plant leaves with it, top and bottom. Many insect pests - scale insects, spider mites, thrips - cannot stand the smell of oranges.
A good food for flowers at home is water in which we wash or cook various cereals. Of course, water for irrigation should be at room temperature.
Excellent fertilizer for eggshell flowers. The shells are soaked for several days, then thrown away, and the plants are watered with the resulting infusion.
As a top dressing, you can use ash diluted in water - at the rate of a half-liter jar of ash per 10 liters of water.
The water in which you wash fish or meat is an excellent organic liquid fertilizer for flowers. It is also good to water the plants with “old” water from the aquarium when you change the water in it.
Seed husks are excellent drainage and leavening agent! And it is suitable not only for indoor plants, but also for growing seedlings. For small plants it is better to use small sunflower husks, for large ones in tubs - palm trees, ficus, araucaria - pumpkin seed husks.
Occasionally you can water the plants with carbonated mineral water. Carbon dioxide removes calcium - this is the same white limescale that forms on flower pots due to hard water.
In order for your roses to bloom better, you need flower food made from banana peels. To do this, cut the banana peel into small pieces, dry it and add it to the soil.

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Regular replenishment of moisture is one of the key conditions for successfully growing plants for the home. How to water indoor flowers correctly - knowledge necessary for every lover of greenery in the house. Indoor plants, like open-ground crops, need regular watering, and it should be specific for each species.

From this article you will learn how to water indoor flowers correctly and what characteristics of crops should be taken into account. We will also provide recommendations for arranging automatic watering and consider methods of watering flowers with peroxide, potassium permanganate or tea.

How to properly water indoor plants

Improper watering is considered one of the most common mistakes made by indoor plant lovers. It is the violation of the watering schedule that causes disease and death of crops.

If you lead a busy lifestyle and are often away from home, you will have to opt for unpretentious varieties that do not require regular watering or install an automatic watering system while you are away.

If you are planning to leave, the automatic watering system will provide sufficient moisture to your pets during your absence. Any gardener knows that abundant watering will provide the flower with enough moisture for two weeks.

Here's some expert advice on how to properly water indoor plants:(picture 1):

You can use woolen thread or braid: it will act as wicks through which water will flow into the pot. One end of the thread is stuck into the pot, and the other is lowered into a vessel with water standing above the level of the pot.
Mini greenhouse-cap made of transparent film over the pot. Stones are poured into a large transparent bag and a container with a flower is placed on them. The soil is watered abundantly and a film is tied on top.
Using a plastic container with wet wipes or newspapers pre-placed at the bottom. Pots are placed on top. Wet wipes are also placed between the pots. Instead of napkins, you can simply pour water, but this method is not suitable for all types.
You can use a plastic bottle with pre-drilled holes in the bottom and cap. The bottle is filled with water and dropped a few centimeters with the neck down. The optimal diameter of the holes is determined experimentally. The size of the bottle depends on the lump of earth in the pot.

Such methods will help provide crops with water for several weeks. However, it should be borne in mind that periodically the flowers still need to be watered in the traditional way.

The video shows how you can set up automatic watering of plants at home.

Peculiarities

For automatic watering to be successful, you need to take into account some of its features. Firstly, in the warm season it is better to water flowers in the evening, and in winter - in the morning. Secondly, the pot must have drainage made of stones, broken bricks or expanded clay so that moisture does not linger at the roots. In addition, rain or settled water should be used for irrigation, since tap water contains a lot of lime.

Other features of watering indoor plants are:

Watering is required only when the soil has dried well, so you must constantly check the condition of the soil before adding moisture.
Varieties such as gloxinia, cyclamen, and saintpaulia do not like water, so they are watered in a tray.
If the flowers tolerate water well, then do not forget to spray them. This action will additionally humidify the air and help keep them clean.
To prevent burns from appearing on the leaves, it is not recommended to spray it if it is standing in direct sunlight, since the drops serve as a kind of magnifying glass.
If, when watering, water is not absorbed into the soil, but pours out of the pot, this indicates that the soil has dried out. In such cases, it is recommended to immerse the pot up to the soil level in a container of water.
An increase in temperature and light intensity increase the crop's need for watering.

Figure 1. Methods for automatically watering indoor flowers

In addition, it should be borne in mind that plants in ceramic pots are watered more often than flowers grown in plastic containers.

Secrets

The appearance of the plant reflects the lack or excess of water when watering. By carefully examining the flower, you can determine whether it has enough moisture.

For example, with a lack of water, the edges of the lower leaves become brown, dry or drooping, and the flowers quickly wither and fall off. With excess moisture, the lower leaves turn yellow, signs of rot appear on them, and not on the flowers - mold, and the roots become limp.

Kinds

There are several types of irrigation, each of which is suitable for a specific type of crop.

There are certain characteristics for each type of irrigation(Figure 2):

Overwatering: The soil contains a lot of moisture. This type of watering is suitable for calamus, azalea and cyperus.
Abundant watering: The soil is kept constantly moist but so that the water does not stagnate in it. The flower is watered carefully as the soil dries. This type of watering is loved by: begonia, alocasia, calathea, lemon, ivy and oleander.
Moderate watering: Before watering, the soil in the pot is allowed to dry out a couple of centimeters in the top layer of soil. This type of watering is preferable for representatives of the decorative group.

Figure 2. Basic methods of watering flowers in the house

Rare watering belongs to a separate species. In this case, the crop is kept in dry soil or watered only during active growth. The soil is allowed to dry completely before the next watering. They like this type of watering: gloxinia, caladium, crinum, philodendron, epiphyllum.

Automatic watering system for indoor plants

It is not difficult to make an automatic watering system for indoor plants at home (Figure 3). To do this, just take a large piece of dense natural fabric, moisten it generously with water and place pots of flowers on top (without pallets).

The second part of the fabric is lowered into a basin or other container with water. This way the fabric will remain constantly moist, and the crops will receive the necessary moisture through the drainage holes in the pots. However, this method should only be used if you will be away for no more than two weeks.

How to water indoor flowers to make them bloom

The gardener's reward is the lush flowering of his plant. For this, time and effort are spent, a number of rules of care and maintenance are observed, and conditions are created.

Note: There are some species that rarely bloom. They release buds only when mature. These species include cactus and bamboo. Some cacti produce flowers in 10-15 years of life, bamboo once every 80 or 100 years.

In order for a plant to bloom, it is necessary to awaken the “survival instinct” in it. To do this, uncomfortable conditions are created for them, since under the watchful attention of the grower they are often in comfortable conditions and do not want to reproduce.

To form buds, a difference between day and night temperatures is artificially created. In normal times, a temperature of 18-20 degrees is considered comfortable, but in such conditions the plant will only throw out its leaves. To increase the chance of a bud appearing, the night temperature is reduced by 15 degrees.

Many varieties require vegetative dormancy. During this period, watering them is much less frequent and much less. The ambient temperature is 10 degrees less. Such conditions are created only in a cold greenhouse or on the veranda; this provokes the flowering of some species.

Figure 3. Methods for making an automatic watering system with your own hands

There is a direct relationship between flowering and lighting. The formation of buds depends on the amount of light and its intensity. The length of daylight hours depends on the period in which the plant blooms in its natural habitat. One may require short daylight hours, while another may require long ones. For example, chrysanthemums, nerines, kalanchoes, cyclamens, poinsettias require short daylight hours, while pelargoniums, senopolias and glokisinia require long daylight hours to flower.

Is it possible to water indoor flowers with hydrogen peroxide?

In agricultural practice, soaking seeds in a solution of hydrochloric acid is used, since it is known that seeds contain inhibitors that prevent germination. In the natural environment, inhibitors are destroyed due to natural oxidation.

Note: Hydrogen peroxide is used to destroy inhibitors. The sown seeds are sprayed, moistened with a 1% peroxide solution from a spray bottle. But even a slight excess of the concentration of the solution will not cause harm. This method is suitable for sowing seeds in jars.

You can also simply water the plants once every 3-4 days with water and a three percent peroxide solution (Figure 4). With this type of watering, the crop is disinfected, since the concentration of the solution is chosen specifically for the purpose of disinfection.

Is it possible to water indoor flowers with potassium permanganate?

The main beneficial elements of potassium permanganate are potassium and manganese. Under the influence of manganese, microorganisms living in the soil increase their activity. However, watering should be moderate, since an excess of this element can cause harm, as can its excess.

Figure 4. Watering indoor plants with hydrogen peroxide

Potassium permanganate acidifies the soil, so watering using this solution is most suitable for species that prefer acidic soils. Crops that prefer acidic soil came to us from the tropics: begonia, hydrangea, ferns, tradescantia, cyperus, etc. But watering with potassium permanganate will also have a beneficial effect on violets and primroses, which are familiar to many gardeners.

Is it possible to water indoor flowers with tea?

This question is often asked by beginning gardeners. It is important to know what type of tea should be used and whether it should contain sugar (Figure 5).

This watering option is well suited for organic supporters, since tea can be considered a good natural fertilizer. Any tea can be used for irrigation, the main thing is that it does not contain flavorings or additives of synthetic origin.

In order for watering with tea to be successful, you need to make sure that acidified soil is suitable for your flowers. Flowers are watered with tea several times a month.

Note: Do not use tea with sugar, moldy or sour for watering. Use a fresh tea solution that is not strong or sweet; it should be at room temperature.

In addition to watering with tea itself, tea leaves are also used as a top dressing. Its dosage is strictly controlled, and when applied it must be mixed with the top layer of soil. This fertilizing will help retain moisture in the soil and reduce the amount of watering.

Is it possible to water indoor flowers with yeast?

House flowers need more intensive fertilization than open ground plants. Yeast is especially useful for such crops, since indoor flowers grow in pots with a limited amount of nutrients.

Yeast has a good effect on plant growth and development. They become more resistant to pests and diseases, and also more resilient under conditions of insufficient humidity and insufficient light. Their root system develops better, and cuttings take root faster. After such feeding, the previously sluggish stem becomes more massive, the leaves fill with juice faster, and the buds develop faster and bloom longer.

Figure 5. Using tea to water plants

The secret of feeding with yeast is that it contains a special fungus that changes the composition of the soil. Microorganisms contained in the soil begin to actively produce in the body, releasing a lot of potassium and nitrogen, which are necessary for flowers. In addition, this is a simple and affordable remedy, since both dry and raw yeast diluted with water (at a concentration of 10 grams of yeast per 10 liters of water) are suitable for feeding.

Note: To enhance the effect of the fertilizer, plant additives are added to its composition: hops or potato tops.

If you don’t have yeast on hand, you can use food waste: bread, crackers and other products containing the necessary substances.

The author of the video will tell you which fertilizers are best to use for indoor flowers.

No other growing condition for indoor plants requires as much attention as watering. It must be monitored all year round. It is in this area that novice indoor plant lovers make the most mistakes. They either flood the plants with water, thinking that this will make them happy, or they completely forget that it needs water. As a result, the plant receives either too much water or too little; both of these can simply destroy him.

What determines the plants' need for water?

It may seem that all plants need only be watered a certain number of times each week. However, it is not. Each plant has its own watering requirements - it depends on the size of the plants, the size of the pot, the time of year, temperature and light, soil quality and the moisture needs inherent in a particular species. For example, on cloudy days the plant needs less moisture, but on sunny days it needs more water. During the warm summer months, plants need a lot of watering, but in cool weather they need less water. Even in stable conditions, a constant amount of water is not a guarantee of success, since the plant increases in size and, accordingly, the amount of water it needs increases.

Water more often and more abundantly:

✓ plants in clay pots;

✓ plants with large or thin leaves;

✓ plants with thin stems;

✓ plants during the period of active growth;

✓ plants with a powerful root system;

✓ flowering plants;

✓ plants with hanging stems;

✓ in the warm season and at high temperatures in the room;

✓ in bright light;

✓ in dry air;

✓ with open windows.

Requires less moisture:

✓ plants in plastic pots;

✓ plants with thick leaves with a waxy coating;

✓ plants without leaves;

✓ plants with thick stems;

✓ plants at rest;

✓ newly transplanted plants;

✓ plants with a poorly developed root system;

✓ weak and exhausted plants;

✓ at low room temperature;

✓ on cloudy days or in low light;

✓ at high air humidity;

✓ when there is no air movement in the room.

For example, orchids from the genus Dendrobium are watered no more than once a week.

How to determine that a plant needs watering?

The experience of many lovers of indoor floriculture has developed an exact criterion: it is time to water the plant when the earthen mixture in the pot becomes dry. The only problem is that the mixture, which seems dry on top, remains wet in the middle of the pot. You water, thinking that the soil is almost dry. In fact, you are oversaturating it with water from the middle of the pot to the very bottom, which is no less harmful to the plants than drying out the soil. How to understand what condition the earthen ball is in: wet, dry or almost dry? Sometimes this can be determined “by eye” and “by ear”.

The color of the soil mixture depends on whether it is wet or dry. A wet mixture is dark brown, while a dry or nearly dry mixture becomes pale brown and dull. One common technique, therefore, is to water the plants when the soil mixture begins to turn pale. However, eyeballing is not always reliable. When the mixture is dry on most of the surface of the pot, it may be wet at the bottom. However, for small pots it can be assumed that if the soil mixture is dry on the surface, it is dry enough throughout the pot. You can determine whether your plants should be watered simply by tapping the pot with your finger. If the soil in a flower pot is dry, the sound will be loud, but if it is wet, it will be dull.

The easiest way to determine if a plant needs watering is to test the soil in the pot with your finger or a wooden stick. Dip your finger into the soil mixture up to the first or second knuckle. If the soil feels damp, no watering is required. If it is dry, then there is clearly not enough water in the soil. This technique is a reliable indicator of the soil moisture in the entire pot, and can be used for plants in pots 20-25 cm high. Avoid checking the moisture of the mixture with your fingers several times at a time. This way you can damage the roots of a small and delicate plant and thereby bring it more harm than good. It is better to check the soil moisture with your fingers at the outer edge of the pot, rather than at the base of the plant.

You can tell if a plant needs watering simply by lifting the pot. It is clear that recently watered soil mixture weighs more than dry soil. Plants in plastic containers growing in standard soil mixtures weigh about twice as much as dry plants after watering. This is, of course, a rough estimate. The difference in weight depends on the type of pot, soil mixture and the material from which the pot is made. However, even plants in clay pots with a heavy potting mix are noticeably lighter when the soil dries out. Using the "weighing" method takes some practice. Lift the plant several times between waterings to feel the difference in weight between pots with wet and dry soil. Then, after some time, you can easily tell the difference between a lighter pot when the plant needs watering, and a heavier one when it doesn’t need watering.

How do soil moisture indicators work?

Watering plants in large containers - more than 30 cm in height - has always been a problem for indoor plant lovers. Plants growing in deep pots or tubs are constantly at risk of waterlogging. Fortunately, reliable and harmless devices have been developed for determining soil moisture in large containers. You can find various soil moisture indicators on the market. These devices measure the amount of water at a certain depth. Insert the indicator fork about 2/3 of the way into the soil. The arrow on the scale will indicate “wet”, “dry” or something in between. Water only when the indicator indicates the soil is dry. Keep in mind that an old, worn-out meter will not give reliable readings, so it should be replaced with a new one about once a year. However, even a new meter may be inaccurate if the soil mixture contains a lot of mineral salts. They can build up if you've been watering your plants with hard water for years. In this case, inaccurate meter readings indicate that your plants need to replace the old potting mix with fresh ones.

In addition to the standard meter, an audible humidity meter is commercially available; it indicates when the plant needs watering by ringing, whistling or other sound signals. The sound meter is designed in the same way as a standard one, but instead of a scale, there is an audio transmitter at the other end. It costs about the same as the standard one. It makes sense to buy one of these meters and keep it in a pot of a plant that tends to dry out faster than others. When the indicator beeps, it’s time to check the rest of the plants using traditional methods.

What is the watering regime?

Each type of plant needs its own watering regime. This information can be gleaned from the description of the contents of a particular plant. There are abundant, moderate and rare watering. Abundant watering is carried out immediately after the earthen clod dries. Most tropical plants with thin leaves require deep watering. With moderate watering, the plants are not watered immediately after the earthen ball dries out, but after a day or two. Moderate watering is required, in particular, for plants with pubescent leaves and stems (African violet, peperomia, etc.) and thick roots and rhizomes (dracaena). When watered infrequently, plants are left dry for days, weeks or even months. This applies to cacti and succulents, as well as dormant plants.

How to set the watering mode?

Maintaining a strict watering schedule for each plant is not easy, especially if you have a lot of plants. Ideally, you should check the condition of the plant regularly and water it as soon as needed. This method brings the best results, because in this case the soil alternates between wet and almost dry conditions. Check each plant every 3-4 days using one of the methods described above and water only those plants that currently need it. Recommendations in this matter can only be general.

It is better to water the plants more often and little by little, rather than less often and more abundantly. It is better to carry out the main watering in the first half of the day. Each time you water the plant, you need to give it enough water to thoroughly moisten the entire earthen ball and the glass in the pan.

What are the signs of water shortage?

Regular violations of the watering regime affect the appearance of most plants.

A lack of water can be noticed by the following signs:

Leaves droop;

Leaves and shoots become sluggish;

In plants with hard, leathery leaves, the leaves dry out and fall off;

Flowers and buds fall off or quickly fade.

What are the consequences of overwatering?

If there is excess water:

Signs of rot appear on the leaves;

The plant is clearly growing slower;

Mold appears on buds and flowers;

The tips of the leaves turn brown;

Both old and young leaves fall off.

How to save a dried out plant?

When the soil mixture gets so dry that it becomes almost crunchy, a curious phenomenon occurs - the soil mixture refuses to accept water. No matter how much water you pour, the soil becomes slightly damp only on the surface. This happens because very dry soil moves away from the walls of the pot and gaps form between the walls and the earthen lump. When you water dry soil from above, water flows through these cracks to the bottom and pours out into the pan through the drainage hole. The earthen lump will remain dry. Therefore, when the soil is too dry, watering it from above is useless. What to do? Water the leaves and stems of the plant from the shower. Fill a basin or other container with water at room temperature and completely immerse the pot with the plant in it, carefully pressing the pot with a weight (stone or brick) so that it is completely immersed in water. Then add a few drops (no more!) of liquid detergent to the water - this will help reduce the water-repellent properties of overdried soil. After about an hour, remove the plant pot and allow excess water to drain. If the plant has revived (not all plants recover after drying out), it will soon become succulent again. Please note that even when the earthen ball takes its original size, some distance will remain between it and the walls of the pot. Fill this gap with soil mixture.

How to save a flooded plant?

If excess water has accumulated in the pot, this is no less dangerous for the plant than drought. However, even in this case, all is not lost. Tap the edge of the pot on a hard surface and remove the pot from the earthen ball. Usually the earthen ball is penetrated by roots and retains the shape of the pot. Remove damaged roots and wrap the earthen ball with a rag or old kitchen towel - it will absorb excess water from the earthen ball. You may need to change the towel several times.

Then wrap the earthen lump in blotting paper and leave it there until dry, but do not overdry. When the earthen ball is dry, plant the plant in a clean pot with fresh earthen mixture.

What size should the pallet be?

As a rule, flower pots are sold together with a pallet. The pan is absolutely necessary - excess water flows into it. You can also use saucers or bowls of a suitable size from any material as a tray. It is only important that the diameter of the tray is not less than the upper diameter of the pot. After watering, it is necessary to drain excess water from the pan.

What is drainage?

Drainage is a French word. It means the artificial or natural removal of excess liquid, usually from the soil. In indoor floriculture, drainage is used to prevent water from stagnating in the pot. Ceramic shards, gravel, pebbles or large expanded clay are suitable for drainage.

A large shard with the convex side up, or a handful of smaller shards, is placed on the drainage hole, then a layer of coarse sand is poured and the plant itself is planted on top of this. Since you don’t always have shards at hand, it’s easier to arrange drainage from expanded clay.

If the pot has a hole for water drainage, then you need to put 1 cm of large expanded clay at the bottom. If there is no hole, then the height of the expanded clay layer should be at least 3-5 cm. In general, it should be approximately a quarter of the height of the container.

How do you water from below?

Although plants are traditionally watered from a watering can, there is another way - watering from below. With this method, the so-called capillary effect is triggered - water moves from wetter layers to drier ones. When the soil is almost dry, place the pot in a tray of water and moisture will begin to flow through the soil and into the roots of the plant.

When watering from below, you simply fill the tray with water. If the water leaves the pan quickly, add a little more. After about an hour, the entire soil will become moist and its surface will shine with moisture. When the plant has absorbed all the water it needs, pour out the remaining water from the pan. Bottom watering is preferable for plants with pubescent leaves or a lush rosette of leaves.

Plants that you water from below are better able to meet their moisture needs. However, you will have to change their soil mixture more often, since excess mineral salts will accumulate in the soil more quickly.

What is the best way to water plants?

Watering from above seems to be a more “natural” way of watering since in nature plants get their moisture from rain. On the other hand, what is important for a plant is not the source of moisture, but the result - moist soil. Therefore, it is not so important whether you water from above or from below. When watering from above, be careful not to get water on the leaves. Many plants have very delicate leaves and stems that become stained by water droplets. In addition, water droplets in the light focus the light like lenses, and even on dense and leathery leaves, burns can form. Therefore, when watering from above, be sure to lift the leaves or move them to the side so that the water only hits the soil.

How to water plants in hanging pots?

Plants in hanging pots often hang quite high, and watering them can be difficult. For convenience, you can buy a special watering can, which will make watering such plants much easier. It consists of a plastic bottle with a long tube that bends at the end. This type of watering can is quite inexpensive.

What kind of water do you water indoor plants with?

It is preferable to water plants with soft water, that is, water with a low salt content. If the water in your area is soft, then tap water is quite suitable for irrigation. Hardy plant species can be watered directly from the tap, but this should not be overused: there are not many such plants. It is better to let the water sit for about a day. During this time, gas bubbles will come out of it, especially chlorine and fluorine. Fluoride is very harmful to indoor plants. You can also use rainwater, melted snow and well water for irrigation.

What is “hard water”?

Hard water contains a lot of soluble calcium and magnesium salts. It is very harmful to plants. The surface of plant roots is covered with skin, which acts as a kind of filter.

It lets through and retains only what the plants need. When watering with hard water, the filter “clogs” - remember the scale on the walls of the kettle! As a result, the roots begin to poorly absorb water and nutrients. The plant begins to starve. In such a situation, increasing watering only leads to rotting of the roots and death of the plant. A sign indicating hard water is a yellowish-white coating on the surface of the soil, on the walls of the pot, and sometimes on the stems of the plant.

How to soften hard water?

To soften hard water, add wood ash at the rate of 3 g (1/2 teaspoon) per liter of water. You can also add acetic or oxalic acid to the water. This must be done very carefully, checking the pH until the desired value is established (5.5-6.5).

Filtered hard water, that is, water passed through a desalting plant or osmotic filtration system, will not harm your plants. To soften hard water, special filter cartridges and water softener tablets (so-called pH tablets) are produced. If for some reason the described methods of softening hard water are not available to you, you can water the plants, especially delicate ones, with boiled water.

What should be the temperature of water for irrigation?

Water for irrigation should be at room temperature. It’s even better to take water 2-3°C warmer. Don't neglect this rule. Remember that watering heat-loving tropical plants with cold water can damage their roots and leaves.

Are there ways to self-regulate soil moisture?

Yes, there are such ways. Firstly, this is a so-called self-watering pot. Secondly, cultivating plants in a hydroponic system. In both cases, watering will require your attention once every 1 - 2 months, and in between the plants will be provided with water automatically. In addition, there are substrates, such as hydrogel and granules, that can retain water in the soil for a long time and release it to plants as needed.

Watering indoor plants is one of the most important points in their proper care, if not the most important! All flower growers understand this, from beginners to seasoned academics. Plants need water and that's a fact. But unfortunately, many beginning flower growers take this too literally, mistakenly believing that excess water will not harm the plant... It will. And how! Watering plants, be it garden plants on the site or even a single flower standing in a room on the windowsill, is a serious matter, and one must also take it seriously, with an understanding of the needs of each plant.

Statistics show that most indoor plants die due to improper watering. You cannot water, for example, Dieffenbachia like geranium, or azalea like chlorophytum.

The recommendations given for the care of each plant must indicate what watering regime must be followed for it. But there are also general rules that may not be indicated there, but you should know and follow them strictly.

What to consider when watering

First of all, it should be taken into account that the frequency of watering in summer and winter is significantly different. For many indoor flowers, winter is a period of rest, which means the need for water decreases. And if during this period it is kept at a low temperature, then waterlogging of the soil can be disastrous.

The frequency of watering also depends on the pot in which the plant lives. In clay, unglazed pots, the soil dries out much faster than in plastic ones. Of course, the size of the pot itself also matters. Very often, beginning flower growers make the mistake of planting plants in pots “to grow.” They say it will be more spacious for him there. You can't do this! The plant needs as much water as it can consume. The remaining water, not absorbed by the flower, leads to acidification of the soil, rotting of the roots, and blocks the access of air to the roots. All this leads to disease and death of the plant.

Air temperature directly affects the frequency of watering. It is clear that the higher it is, the faster the earth dries out.

When and how to water indoor plants

There is no universal recommendation for when to water a houseplant. A big mistake is to water “on schedule,” that is, once a week, for example on Saturday. As I already mentioned, each plant has different watering needs, even if they are kept in the same conditions. We can only advise what to pay attention to.

Plants watered abundantly:

Those that are in the flowering stage;
Young plants in the active growth stage;
Flowers with a powerful root system;
Indoor plants with large, large leaves;
If the plant has a lush crown with dense foliage;
At elevated temperatures and dry air.

It is necessary to water more moderately

Plants that do not have many leaves;
If it is planted in a pot without drainage holes (mostly hanging pots);
During the dormant period (for some plants it can occur in summer);
At low air temperatures;
Plants with a weak root system (example: guzmania)
Flowers that are sick or have survived a pest attack.

There are several ways to determine when to water. Experienced gardeners can determine it by lifting the pot and determining the need for watering by weight. This is not yet possible for a novice gardener. There is an easier way.

The top layer of soil is dry, crumbles into dust - you can water it. But the safest thing to do is to plunge your finger halfway into the ground. If the tip of your finger is dry, be sure to water it.

I repeat. These are only general rules, and you cannot be guided solely by them. For example, among indoor plants there are a lot of succulents. These are plants that are able to accumulate moisture in leaves, stems, etc. (cacti, money tree, zamioculcas, nolina and many others). For them, the watering regime is completely different.

Methods of watering indoor plants

Traditionally, there are two traditional methods of watering - from a watering can and into a tray. Each of them has its own merits. For example, there are some indoor flowers for which it is highly undesirable for water to enter the above-ground part (orchids and cyclamen, for example). It is better to water them through a tray or by immersing the pot in a container of water. But even such plants can be watered from a watering can. It is better to take a watering can with a thin, long spout. Personally, I made my own watering can from an ordinary plastic bottle and a metal tube. But the photo below is a simple device.

This watering can is indecently simple to make. We make a hole in the roof and insert any tube. In this case, this is an antenna segment from an old radio. Another good thing about it is its mobility. The threads on the bottles are the same, so you can screw this attachment onto bottles with different liquids (fertilizers for different plants, for example).

Excess water flows into the pan through the drainage holes. This is normal, but don't let her stay there for long. If within an hour the soil has not absorbed the water back, be sure to drain it. In addition to these traditional watering methods, there is also automatic watering, which does not require your participation. But I would not recommend abusing various devices for such watering. This method is good for the duration of your long absence (vacation, business trip), but for constant use it is not very good. For Saintpaulias, Streptocarpus, and Gloxinias, wick watering is often used. This is a very effective method, but its use makes sense when you have a large collection of these plants, it is too unaesthetic...

Water for irrigation

What kind of water to water a particular indoor plant is no less important. Of course, the best water for irrigation is considered to be rain or melt water. True, the ecology is now such that it is still unknown whether this is better... Most often, ordinary tap water is used. But before watering, such water must be left to stand so that the chlorine evaporates from it. Hard water itself will not harm most flowers (unless its hardness is specified separately). But after watering with such water, a white coating remains on the surface of the soil in the pot, and a crust of insoluble salts forms along the edges of the pot. There is one good way to make water softer. To do this, just take a handful of peat, wrap it in a rag (or you can pour it into an old stocking) and put it in a three-liter jar of water. For a bucket of water and peat, of course, you need more. If you do this in the evening, you can use this water in the morning. It is necessary to settle the water not only to remove any impurities, but also so that it warms up to room temperature. You cannot water indoor plants with cold water. Moreover, it is desirable that it be a couple of degrees above room temperature.

The main rule is to carefully monitor your flowers. They themselves can tell you what is going wrong.

In case of insufficient watering:

Leaves lose turgor (become lethargic and soft);
Flowers and buds begin to fall off;
If a plant has hard leaves, it begins to lose them.

For overwatering:

Mold and rot appear, the soil acquires a specific smell;
Leaves are falling en masse;
The plant stops growing and developing;
Dark spots appear at the ends of the leaves.