Beginner Gardening: How do you water your plants? Indoors and in the greenhouse., 1 by tapla

tapla wrote:
..... and another:

The water drains from the pot into the collection saucer, usually a plastic plate. I don't even bother discarding the effluent (drainage water) because it just evaporates. The channels (about 1"x1"x2") raise the pot above the effluent, ensuring the flushed salts can't get back into the soil.

Watering is actually an art. A bonsai apprentice who might travel to Japan and work for a master (like a slave - no pay) might never even touch a master's tree until he has learned to water properly - it is considered THAT important.

In order to water your plants in an ideal manner, it REQUIRES that you use a soil that drains freely enough that root rot cannot be a concern. The reason for this is that you would be watering to beyond the saturation point each time you water.

The ideal way to water your houseplants:

Slowly apply enough water to saturate the entire soil mass, but so very little water initially exits the drain hole. Wait 10 minutes and return to the plant and add more water. This second application should be somewhere near 20% of the total volume of water applied. The first application allows accumulating salts in the soil to go into solution. The second application flushes these salts from the soil. I can't emphasize strongly enough how important a low level of salts in the soil solution is to plant health and appearance. The higher the level of salts in the soil solution, the more difficult it is for the plant to absorb water AND the nutrients dissolved in the water. Your goal should be to keep all the essential nutrients that plants normally take from the soil available at all times, at the ratio in which plants use the nutrients, and at a level low enough to to facilitate water/nutrient uptake, but high enough to prevent (nutrient) deficiencies.

I know that sounds complicated, but it is very simple/easily done if you are using an appropriate soil. If you're not using a soil that lends itself to watering copiously every time you water without worry about root rot, it's much more complicated and time consuming, but still it CAN be done with the extra effort required.

The other Picture:

Al

This message was edited Dec 26, 2011 10:59 AM

This message was edited Dec 26, 2011 1:47 PM