My husband just told me he has been watering the moss pole of my Philodendron Congo every night for months. I had no idea it was that frequent. I haven’t seen any signs of a problem, she’s been putting out new leaves at her usual pace and all the new and old ones look perfect.

We do live in Colorado so it is pretty dry, the normal amount of watering would probably be every other day. Also, the moss pole is only 1.25 in diameter, open on all sides, and pretty full of roots, so does dry out pretty quickly.

I told him to stop doing that (might give him some assigned reading from this sub)… but will she be okay?

Picture from a couple days ago.

by pediatri_a

32 Comments

  1. misumena_vatia

    She looks deliriously happy, honestly.

  2. Ok_Ant_9815

    Colorado is INSANELY dry, wdym?? I’m sure it’s fine, what a nice thing for him to do.

  3. lifeisawildrideman

    She looks perfect don’t touch her

  4. DrMouseplant

    Nothing about that plant looks sad or overwatered to me. Your husband was trying!!

  5. Narrow_Car5253

    I gave up on moss poles because I live in an attic and had to water them 2-3 times a day. He might be on to something 😉

  6. garbles0808

    Why stop? He knows what he’s doing it seems 😂

    I water my monstera’s pole daily – if it’s working, it’s working, there’s not a single strategy

  7. ZealousidealFall1181

    Clearly you have a plant genius, and humble at that.😉 That is a very happy plant❤️

  8. variegayted

    If he’s been doing it for months and she looks this good, what is the problem?

  9. Lost-friend-ship

    I mean, how much is he watering it? If I put a small bottle of water upside down on mine it barely gets wet half way. I need 3 bottles of water (they really are small but a bigger one wont stay in) to get the pole wet the whole way down. I don’t do it every day but I think if I did one bottle of water every single day it wouldn’t even be adequate, certainly not too much. And that’s a moss pole with barely any roots in it yet. 

    You didn’t say how much you water it either. 

    Honestly if, on top of my regular watering, my husband watered all my plants the way he normally waters (gives them his left over glass of water) then all my plants would be fine. I probably leave it too long anyway. 

    So to answer your question: 

    > will she be okay? 

    No one here can guess without more details, but she looks great. 

  10. I’ve got that Colorado low-humidity as well!

    I switched from moss poles that are fully open like the one you mentioned, to D shaped moss poles that are fully enclosed. Highly recommend them.

    Mine were a bit thicker than yours so I went from watering every 2-3 days to now every 5-7 days depending on how dry the weather gets.

    I’d love to see the backside and what the roots look like! Beautiful plant!

  11. WorldlyAnt4079

    You have a good husband! Please give him this reading.

  12. beam_me_uppp

    It’s clearly working. I don’t understand what the problem is. Feels like it deserves a “hell yeah, thanks honey”

  13. Dramatic-Warning-166

    Hand over care of this plant to your husband on a full time basis and say, thank you Sir! And, let him read these comments about his excellent work!

    “House plants” are typically from the tropics where it rains a lot and is very humid. It seems that your husband’s watering habits give this plant conditions that are a lot closer to what the plant would experience in nature, compared to your own watering regime.

    The last few months have been summer. Once winter arrives it is very likely that the plant will need far less water. At that point your husband’s daily watering may be too much.

    I live in Korea where it’s practically tropical in summer and freezing & bone dry in winter. So, my watering habits are very different at different times of the year.

  14. MostlyMicroPlastic

    Is this a veiled humble brag about your husband?

  15. pittqueen

    You’re supposed to keep the moss pole hydrated, only watering the plant itself every day would be a problem.

  16. Key-Lunch-3953

    No idea what the issue is supposed to be. Plant looks great, and the frequently watering the moss pole probably really helped with that. He did good! 

  17. antagon96

    Let him keep doing that. Keeping the poles moist, so the roots within are fine, can be a lot of work. How nice of him to take that load off of you. Besides providing the plant with more water without harm, the moist poles provide some humidity.

  18. NotYourAverageBeer

    Sounds like your husband has been doing a good thing. Good job husband

  19. LilyL0123

    It looks like you are the who has to read it. It is doing well because it is getting enough water.

  20. BeyondFar123

    Your husband seems to know what he’s doing 😁

  21. Dear-Project-6430

    What’s the issue? Can we give you some light reading on basic plant care?

  22. Deep_Picture6111

    Your husband sounds like a better plant parent than you, not to shame but like would you tell him to stop feeding the happy toddler because of advice you read of reddit?

    Why are you telling him to stop caring for this beautiful plant? Maybe gift it to him and get yourself a cactus….

  23. cottagecorefairymama

    Imagine being able to complain that a loved one is correctly caring for your plants behind your back.

  24. samaniewiem

    Why on earth would you want him to stop doing this? Like I really need you to answer this question. Why do you want him to stop?

  25. watermelons59

    Your husband is doing a good job, why would you tell him to stop keeping your plant alive?

  26. Thomaswebster4321

    Your husband is doing just fine. Stay out of the way.

  27. ListenOk2972

    I hope he gets the plant in the divorce.

  28. ShoddyEmphasis1615

    Idk but I’d be stoked if my husband was secretly helping keep my plants alive because he knows how much I love them but sometimes am too busy and forget.

    What a beautiful gesture.

  29. Habit-The-Rabbit

    “Might give him some assigned reading from this sub” and the plant looks perfect lmao

    Maybe be a bit nicer to your husband?

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