Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Why do my Rexes always die?, 1 by hcmcdole

hcmcdole wrote:
I hear you on sensing the weight of the pot for signs of dryness/wetness. I sure can\'t do that with mine - way too many! The old timers/experts/pundits say to stick your finger an inch into the soil and if it feels dry, then water it thoroughly. Again that would take forever for me and I\'d have one wrinkled up dirty finger if I did that to all my pots.

What I look for is how wet it looks on the surface and for signs of wilt. If the soil looks wet I may skip watering it that day but if dry looking then I water it. If the plant is wilted and the soil is wet then it may be roots are rotting or maybe the surface is wet but the root ball is dry - the finger test is good in this situation. If the soil is really dried out and the plant is wilted then usually a thorough watering will revive it. In summer I try to check daily and often water by overhead showering. Sometimes a thorough watering is needed though and you will eventually see what plants are extra thirsty and which ones aren\'t. In winter I have to be a bit more judicious on what to water and how much.

Anyway hang in there, you have to kill a bunch to get the hang of it at times.

Here is an old adage from the Aussies (this was added to the ABS \"The Begonian\" magazine a few years ago)