As a new plant parent, I'm trying to figure out the best watering techniques for my plants. Do you guys prefer top watering or bottom watering? If you choose bottom watering, how long do you usually leave the pots in the water?
3 Answers
I water my Christmas cactus and orchids from the top. I learned that from my mom, and it works really well for me. I make sure to mist the leaves daily since they don’t like wet feet. They seem to love that humidity!
I usually go for bottom watering because it wastes less water and really saturates the soil quickly. I use a well-draining organic mix, so it gets evenly moist within minutes. Just keep an eye on it to avoid over-saturation!
How do you tell when the soil is fully soaked? Are you not worried about root rot if it stays too wet?
So I'm curious, do you just drop the pots in a bucket of water and then take them out after a bit?
I’ve always gone with top watering, but lately, I've seen lots of posts advocating for bottom watering. I wonder if there's really an advantage to it, especially when I’ve always been told to water from the top?
It could be useful to try both methods and see what works best for your plants. Everyone's situation is different!
Totally! A lot of tropical plants thrive in high humidity, so misting is a great idea.