Many plants parents recommend not to use any kind of watering schedule and generally I agree completely but I also use one and here’s why. These are my tips and tricks so make sure that you pay attention to your specific plants and their environment when researching how to care for them.
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House plant watering schedules are generally frowned upon for many reasons and do not work for many people, but it really helped me properly care for my plants. Personally, I am very spacing and forgetful so without a watering schedule I found that my plants were being either underwatered or over watered and I rarely if ever fertilized. I used to water on a specific day once a week but once I had to many plants for my scatter brain to keep track of in my head, I started noting and keeping track of when I watered my plants on a sort of “last time I…” tracker sheet so that way I could clearly see what I was doing. I also noted if the soil was still wet or dry on my watering days so that I could start to calculate how long was too long and short was short between watering’s. I slowly added more and more plants to my tracker and even noted where they were in my apartment and the type of pot they were in (type of pot matters!) to see how they effected my watering. I slowly started seeing patterns for each of my plants and supplemented those patterns with online research. That is when I was able to start planning my watering’s into the future and stray more from a watering day. Now do not get me wrong the once-a-week watering still worked and kept my plants alive but having a unique watering schedule for each plant has helped some more of my plants thrive! Now I sit down at the beginning of each month to plan my watering’s so that I have something to refer to when caring for my plants.
Now my definition of a watering schedule may be different than that of others to I want to clarify that when I saw watering schedule I mean: a rough schedule for when to water and mist my plants which is not set in stone and is to be changed as needed. I do not water my plants every time my schedule saws to. I use the schedule as a reminder to check on that plant and see how her soil feels, if it is still wet then I will move the water to another later day, if it is ready ti I will water, and if the dirt is completely dried out, I will make the next watering sooner (unless it’s a succulent of course). I have learned many things while creating my watering schedule like how different things affect how often watering is needed such as, plant type, pot type, amount of light, growth, season, temperature, humidity, and more each day. Therefore, I use a watering schedule, so that I can create a unique schedule for each plant and their individual environment conditions. My method is not perfect and may not work for everyone, but it works for me and my plant collection.
Here are some of the more important pro’s and con’s of my water schedule method:
Pro
- Reminders
- Save time
- Planning
- Unique for each plant
- Adjustable
- Learn about my plants
Con
- Planning
- Research
- Initial time commitment
