A Guide To Watering Indoor Plants

There’s no set answer for this. It varies from plant to plant, depending on your home environment, the size pot it’s in, the soil composition, and the time of year. All the above points and answers to these questions will help you out plus the individual care posts which you can find in our Houseplants Category.

Yes, watering your houseplants every day is too much.

I have always watered my indoor plants from the top and let the excess drain out. This method has always worked for me. If you water consistently from the bottom, there are two potential issues. Salts and minerals could build up in the bottom of the soil mix and the water may not absorb up high enough in the pot to reach all the roots.

This is the way that’s worked best for me: I water my indoor plants during daytime hours with room temperature water with a watering can or squeeze bottle (if the pots are very small).

It can be tricky to determine overwatering from underwatering. In both cases, the plant can show signs of wilting as well as pale or yellow leaves.

Here’s a general rule: if the plant is soft to the touchy (mushy) and you see brown spots on the leaves or portions of them turning dark, then it’s overwatering. Soggy soil over a prolonged period can lead to fungus gnats. If the leaves turn pale and/or look wrinkled, then it’s too dry. You might also see the soil pulling away from the grow pot.

In my experience, a plant can recover from underwatering better than overwatering.

It could. This depends on the type of plant and how long the roots have stayed waterlogged. Once you notice the damage to your plant, it’s often too late to save it.

When I worked in the interior plantscaping business many moons ago the main reason plants had to be replaced was due to overwatering. It depends on the conditions, the plant, and the soil mix but overwatering can mean a quick death for an indoor plant.

This is especially true if you water house plants with the same frequency in winter as in summer. When the temps cool and the daylight hours get shorter is a good time to back off on the watering frequency.

Overwatered plants can recover on their own if caught early on. In many cases, you’ll have to repot the plant into fresh dry soil to give it a chance for survival.

As I said above, you may not be able to. You can try repotting it into a fresh potting mix. Start by shaking off all the old, wet soil mix. You can then examine the roots. If too many of them aren’t damaged, then repot into the dry mix.

As to whether it’ll recover on its own depends on the type of plant and how long it’s been sitting in the saturated soil. The longer the roots stay saturated, the less chance for recovery there is.

water my plants by instinct. I’ve been doing it for so long that it’s 2nd nature for me. You might check into getting a houseplant watering calendar, journal, or app. This will help you keep track of when you last watered your plants and prevent overwatering.

I have no issues sticking my finger into the soil to test the moisture level. For my plants in larger pots, I use a meter as a gauge.

Just because the top of the soil is dry doesn’t mean the roots and soil down below are. You can stick your finger into the soil if you’re unsure, but that works with plants in smaller pots. I find a moisture meter to be useful for plants in large pots.

Your tap water may be just fine. It depends on the chlorine and mineral content of your water. Some people have to use distilled water or purified for this reason. The damage will appear as excessive brown tipping or brown spots on the leaves.

I have this tankless R/O filtration system because Tucson has hard water. It puts the good minerals back in the water, which benefits plants (and humans too!).

Room temperature water is best. The roots of houseplants don’t like it too cold or too hot.

A watering can with a long narrow spout helps with this. Get the spout as close to the soil as you can when watering. This will prevent soil and water from flying out of the pot. You don’t want to create a waterfall!

It’s best to have a saucer under the pot. A simple plastic saucer under that is fine if your houseplant is in a grow pot.  Any type of pot or saucer on the floor, table, or any other surface can have condensation build-up, leaving marks. I use pot risers and/or thin cork mats under pots and baskets. I’ve also seen felt protectors with plastic bottoms which would work fine too.

It’s best for the plants if the pot has at least 1 drainage hole on the bottom of the pot and perhaps also on the sides of the pot so the water drains right out. It’s hard to regulate the watering if the pot has none. Drain holes prevent water from building up in the bottom of the pot, which causes the roots to stay too wet.

This post on Planting & Watering Succulents In Pots With No Drain Holes might interest you.

Back off on the watering frequency. Plants rest a bit in winter and don’t need watering as often. Know that you can easily overwater a houseplant in the cooler, darker months.

I’ve done a post and video dedicated to Winter Houseplant Care with key points for keeping your indoor plants alive in the darker, cooler months.

Unless it’s Lucky Bamboo, not a good idea. I soak my Air Plants for a few hours in a bowl half-filled with water twice a week here in dry Tucson.

The exception to this would be if your houseplants have dried out to the extreme, and you need to water them from the top as well as soak them from the bottom to revive them. I do that to my Peace Lily if it’s gone bone dry.

It depends on the type of plant, the pot size, the time of year, and your environmental conditions. As a generalization, it’s 7-24 days. Plants need water to thrive and grow, but too much water isn’t the solution either.

I water my houseplants in the morning or afternoon because that’s when it’s most convenient for me. And I don’t have to turn on all the lights to see the pots! Houseplants rest a bit at night, so for that reason, I leave them be.

It depends on the type of plant. Most of them like it, but do a little research first to make sure.

I take my smaller indoor plants to my kitchen sink and spray the leaves once or twice a month. As I said earlier, I live in the desert, so I believe this makes my plants feel so good. I do it in the morning or afternoon so the leaves have time to dry before I put them back. I take my larger plants to the shower or take them outside for a rain shower once or twice a year to clean off the foliage.

You have to be careful that the leaves of houseplants don’t stay wet for a prolonged period, as it could lead to mildew or fungal growth on the foliage. This is especially true in the winter months.

This is a loaded question! My answer is: get houseplants with low water requirements so you don’t have to water them too often. Self-watering containers would make it easier, but I’ve never grown houseplants in them for the long haul.

Options that I know of for watering plants, when you’re away, are self-watering containers, self-watering inserts, self-watering spikes, self-watering tubes, and self-watering globes. You can also check and see if there are any plant-sitting services in your area.

I water cautiously when watering my indoor hanging plants and use my smaller watering can with a long, narrow spout. I don’t want water to gush out because saucers can fill up fast.

Hanging basket drip pan saucers, as well as self-watering hanging baskets, are other options. If your plant is in a grow pot inside a hanging basket, plastic pot, or ceramic, you can simply place a plastic saucer underneath the grow pot.