Home Plant Watering Hacks That Every Indoor Gardener Should Know
Watering is one of the most (if not the most) important tasks in houseplant care. Unfortunately, many new home gardeners (and often experienced ones) misunderstand this. Whether it is underwater, over-watering, or using the wrong water, there are some issues that can cause some serious damage to your plants.
1. Use self-irrigating plants
The phrase ‘self-irrigator’ may seem like a thing of the future, but they are actually more common than you think.
Self-irrigating cultivators use a number of processes, usually capillary action or wicking, to add water when the soil begins to dry out. Instead of letting the plant sit in the water, the soil absorbs moisture only when it needs it, keeping it evenly moist and not overheating. This helps to avoid many plant problems such as yellow or brown leaves, root rot, and stunted growth. In addition, watering the plants themselves effectively, completely eliminates a whole maintenance task. If you want to save time or have trouble getting water at the right time, these are the best.
2. Make Use Of Wicking
If you do not want to go the whole planting path, there are other self-watering options. One of them is Viking. By using the same principles as self-watering gardeners - set only outside the pot - you can water your plants in minutes.
Take a string or thick cotton string and bury it in the soil. Try to keep it as close as possible to the center of the pot without disturbing the roots. Place the other end in a glass or jug filled with water and place it near the plant to start it.
3. Try Hydrospikes
For those who forget more often than water or want to drink more water, hydrospikes are your answer. Anyone who is a busy plant parent who does not have much time for plant care or who owns several houseplants can not imagine them watering all at once. Hydrospikes, which come in many shapes and sizes, are buried at the edge of the pot. Whether filled with water or attached by string to a jug of water, these little inconsistencies will slowly fill the soil, giving your houseplants enough water to thrive. Most hydrospikes are simple, designed to cover the large leaves of your tropical plants. They come in three packs, so you can add them to your small pots or two or larger pots if you are very thirsty.
4. Buried bottles
For DIY lovers, it takes a few minutes to make your own irrigation device similar to Hydrospike. This is a great way to use recycled plastic bottles and control the amount of plastic in the waste and environment. First, grab a bottle with a neck small enough to bury in the pot you like. With the lid, heat a nail or screw and make some holes by pushing on the plastic. Make a few more holes in the neck at the top of the bottle.
5. Create your own irrigation can
If you need a watering can in a pinch, you can create your own using the same principle as above. This will also work if you have lost the connection to the existing irrigation can or have lost the entire irrigation can somewhere in your home garden.
Using a hot nail, press a few holes in the lid of a plastic bottle. Fill it with water, change the lid and turn it upside down into the water. Press the bottle to release more or less water as needed. Again, this solution is not particularly attractive and will definitely not contribute to your interior like some other fancy irrigation cans. But, it does work and transforms into simple irrigation can for those who spend their money on plants.
6. Irrigation below
Anyone who spends their time on PlantTok (the self-appointed name for TikTok's horticultural page) is already familiar with this hack. Plants taking water in large buckets have many times gone viral, which proves the ubiquity of this recommendation.
Bottom irrigation is to place a pot in a bath, sink, or bucket filled with water and allow the soil to automatically draw moisture through the drain holes.
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