Hi,
So im groind a few aroids in my apartment. I live on israel, and the winters here are quite short and not too cold (id say its usually about 13°c-20°c and goes down to 7°c at the coldest) and summers are very hot (usually about 28°c-32°c and goes up to about 40°c at the hottest).
Its always humid, about 65% humidity on average .
As for watering, its never consistant. I noticed that if i follow a schedule (say, watering once every 10 days) i most certainly am overwatering or underwatering, as the olants need of water varies and depends on its size, the weather and many other factors.
Therefore, i check the soil every now and then in order to keep track of its dampness, and i make my descision to water a plant accordingly.
My questions is: how dry do i want the soil to be before watering? Ive already overwatered plants to nearly death, and i realised that overwatering is actually more harmful than underwatring, so i usually lean towards underwatering.
Im still seeking the sweet spot, so please let me know what you think.
Here's a video of my monstera's soil which was last watered on march 11th (19 days ago), and according to what i see right now, i believe itll be watered again around april 5th.
What do you think?
Thanks!
by Putrid-Cry-3780
4 Comments
groind = growing*
cant edit, sorry.
Yeah, it still looks a bit moist in the lower layers.
I test it like a cake. I insert a wooden skewer in as deep as I can, and if there is any moist soil sticking to it, I don’t water yet. If the skewer comes out clean and dry, then I water.
For my Monstera Deliciosa I typically wait until the leaves start to roll themselves up taco style. Not all the way, but thats been a good indicator, that the plant needs water. Generally i just shove my finger in the soil and if the top 2-4cm are dry its time to water.
Another trick I use is lifting the pot to see how heavy it still is. But this is only really practical for small plants and of course you need to know how heavy it was wet. But if your Monstera takes 3 Weeks to dry out, Its probably that your pot is way to large. That also makes it easier to overwater, since there are no roots to drink it all up.
Anthurium on the other hand really enjoy if you go boat-mode and put them up bigger then you really should, but they dont like to dry up most of the time, so that kinda works out
Each plant likes it a bit different and every soil mix dries at different rate, also it changes according to the weather / light situation
Check how dry/wet the soil is with a wooden skew(שיפוד), and over time you will learn when it it is dry enough to be watered
*usually in the winter let it dry a little bit more