The day I realized my houseplant deaths were from overwatering not neglect

I kept killing snake plants. Thought I was forgetting to water them. Turns out I was drowning them every two weeks. My neighbor who runs a greenhouse saw me pouring water into a pot and just said "you know those don't need that much right?" Looked it up that night. Been underwatering everything since. Anyone else grow up thinking plants just need constant water?

4 comments

4 Comments

victor_carr251mo ago

Yeah, see, that's the thing though... "underwatering" everything isn't quite right either. I used to water my pothos like once a month and it got all droopy and sad. Turns out some plants do want a good soak, just less often. Snake plants can go weeks for sure, but my spider plant starts looking crispy if I wait more than 10 days. The trick is sticking your finger in the soil, like an inch deep. If it's dry, water it. If it's damp, leave it alone. Way better than guessing on a schedule.

abby1891mo ago

Wait, are we really pretending the finger test is some kind of foolproof method? I've been using it for years and half the time I'm just guessing what "dry" even means, especially if my soil has that weird top layer that feels dry but is still wet an inch down. Plus, everyone's finger is a different size, so my "inch deep" might be way off from someone else's. I swear, the only thing that ever worked consistently for me was getting a cheap moisture meter from the hardware store. No more guessing, no more crispy leaves, just a number that tells me when to water.

jade7381mo ago

@victor_carr25 do you water on a set schedule or just when the soil feels dry

mason8471mo ago

All these general rules people throw around like "water once a week" or "just underwater" don't account for potting mix or pot type. The terracotta vs. plastic pot thing changes everything because terra cotta pulls moisture out way faster. Finger test is the only method that actually works across different setups but even then you gotta adjust for seasonality. What mix are you running your plants in?