It is a bit difficult for anyone to have a precise measurement of how much water a container garden plant would need and one thing you need to know when dealing with watering potted plants is that there is a thing line between soggy soil and drought.
Either of these mentioned conditions could be disastrous for a plant’s health but this article would be revealing some tips and hints on how to water container plants. Certain tools like moisture gauges can be made use of in determining the amount of water that would be ideal for a container or potted plant.
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When Contained Plants Should Be Watered
Potted plants have the tendency to dry out quickly compared to plants that are rooted inside the ground and the way the pot is constructed combined with the limited soil space the plant has makes it impossible to store up the required amount of moisture.
The optimal time that you would need to water potted plants is during the early mornings and early evenings and this is because this is the right time for the plants to take up water before the day starts getting hot. It also makes it possible for excess water to get evaporated so as to eliminate getting attacked by fungus.
When the soil feels or looks dry down to its bottom is also the perfect time for you to water your plant but in some cases, it might already be too late for the plant so you should start looking for leaves that are already discolored, dropping petals, limp stems and shriveled leaves.
During the warm and dry conditions, potted plants should also be checked as well and when the soil or an inch of it looks dry, that shows that it is also the right time for you to start applying water.
During the summer season, it is also necessary that watering your outdoor container plants should be done twice on a daily basis for certain species and it is also very important to water your outdoor potted plants when the temperature rises above twenty-nine degrees centigrade.
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How To Water Container Plants
If you are the type that monitors or checks your potted plants constantly then you would certainly be able to tell when a potted plant needs watering. However, the frequency is also dependent on the specie of plant and plants that are succulent or tolerant to drought requires less watering compared to plants like vegetables and annuals.
Plants that are well established would certainly go a long way when it comes to watering compared to plants that are newly planted.
Watering slowly and deeply is the best way anyone can get to water potted plants and this helps the roots and soil to access the water easily. Light and short watering would go out through the drainage holes before the soil would absorb the water or plants to acquire moisture.
In some cases, most potting soils can also repel water if they are allowed to dry out completely and deep and slow watering doesn’t just make sure the roots of plants access this water but it also forces dry potting to absorb water again.
Soaking the entire container plant in water is the right thing to do if your soil has dried off accidentally and it should be soaked for at least an hour so that rehydration of the potting soil can take place.
The amount of water to be added also varies from one species to another so you would need to make use of a moisture gauge to be able to ascertain the level of moisture a particular plant needs.
This tool is very useful when it comes to watering container plant and in some cases, it is always trial and error before finding out what a particular plant specie truly want.
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