That watering can in your hand might feel like the obvious choice when you spot a droopy houseplant. Your leaves and stems don’t necessarily hold all the information you need to determine whether your plant needs water. If stems are wilting, leaves are curling and tips are turning brown or crispy, there could be several different things happening. If your houseplant is not actually thirsty, and you water it too fast, then you risk worsening the existing issue. So before you water any houseplant, take the time to figure out what’s actually happening underground, below the top layer of your houseplant’s potting mix.
A common mistake that houseplant lovers make is assuming the soil is dry because it looks dry, particularly when your indoor plant is in a bright location. Soil on the surface may appear dry while the potting mix remains moist down below in the bottom of the container. And if you are using a decorative pot that has no drainage holes, water can build up in the decorative pot even if the visible soil looks totally fine.
A quick way to check soil moisture is by using your finger. Press your finger into the soil near the rim of the pot, not the plant’s stem. For most indoor houseplants, a good rule of thumb is to check the top layer of the soil. If your finger comes out damp, cool, slightly sticky, you don’t need to water your plant just yet. If your finger comes out dry, loose, lighter than usual, then your houseplant is ready for water. You can also insert a wooden stick into the potting mix, leave it for a moment, then pull it out and check whether damp soil clings to it.
Another good way to know whether your houseplant needs water is by weighing your pot. Gently water your plant and wait until you have observed excess moisture draining out of your container. Now, pick up the pot, get a feel for its weight, then set it down and wait a few days. Next, pick up the pot again and compare the pot weights. Getting in the habit of weighing your indoor plant before you water it is a good way to know whether your plant is still moist and you don’t need to water it, or whether the plant is dry and ready to be watered. Weighing your plants is a very good practice when you are working with nursery pots, small indoor houseplants, or your indoor plant is in a saucer that you can empty after watering.
Now when you actually water the houseplant, make sure you do it slowly, and avoid flooding your container at once. Distribute water around the plant until you see moisture coming out the drainage holes, then dump out the saucer of water or empty the saucer if your indoor plant is sitting inside a decorative pot cover pot to avoid soggy soil in the lower pot of your houseplant. If the soil around your plant’s roots stays wet for too long, then you can wind up with yellowing leaves, wilted leaves, or a damp, moldy smell from the soil.
Another helpful way to check whether your houseplant is thirsty is by keeping a short care log for your indoor plants. Record the date, the feel of your soil, whether or not you watered your houseplant, and how your indoor plant’s foliage looked. Your notes don’t need to be detailed. Something like, “Topsoil dry, lower soil damp-ish, didn’t water” should suffice. This practice helps you identify when one houseplant needs to be watered more often than the other. For example, a houseplant in a bright area that gets some direct sun may require watering more frequently than one in a very low light area of your home.
You shouldn’t try to come up with an “it’s watered every X hours” rule for every single houseplant. Instead, make the practice of checking the soil before taking action a habit. When you feel the soil, weigh the pot, check the saucer, and look at your houseplant’s leaves as a whole, watering your indoor plants will feel less like a guess and more like a response to your houseplant.