Top Plant Care Tips and Tricks I Wish I Knew When I Started
In this article, I want to share some top plant care tips and tricks—things I really wish I had known when I first started building my plant collection.
If I had known these things, I might have saved a few unfortunate plant souls from dying. So, you’ll be learning from my mistakes today.
Let’s dive right in.
Table of Contents
Watering Too Soon
Avoid Overwatering
When I first started, I had a set day each week that I called my plant watering day. No matter what, I would walk around the house and water all my plants. But one thing I didn’t realize was that not all plants have the same watering requirements. They might not need to be watered on a set day each week.
This often meant that I was overwatering my plants. I tend to overlove my plants to the point of killing them. One of the best tips I ever learned was to let the soil of our plants get completely dry before watering again. This prevents root rot and avoids creating moist conditions that attract bugs and insects.
Check Soil Dryness
Having a plant watering day is still really helpful. I still have one, but it’s more of a check-up day. In the spring and summer, I have two plant watering days. Before watering any plant, I first check to see if the soil is dry.
The number one way I check soil dryness is with my trusty little finger. This is the best and most affordable tool to ensure you’re not overwatering your plants. What I used to do was look at the top of the soil to see if it was dry, but that’s not enough. The top of the soil dries out before the bottom does. Ideally, we want to stick half or even all of our finger deep into the soil. If it feels moist, don’t water it. If it feels dry, go ahead and water it.
Lift to Check Weight
For smaller plants, you can lift them to check their weight. Over time, you’ll get a feel for how light or heavy a plant should be. If it feels very light, it’s time to water. If it’s still heavy, there’s moisture and water in there.
Use a Skewer for Big Plants
For big plants in huge pots, where lifting or using a finger isn’t enough, you can use a skewer or stick—some people use wooden chopsticks. Insert it straight into the center of the pot and leave it for a minute or two. If there’s moisture and residue on it, skip watering. If it comes out dry, water the plant.
Walking Away
Water Thoroughly
After checking your plant’s soil, be ready to water it. One of my rookie mistakes was watering one plant and moving on to another without waiting to see if I might have overwatered or underwatered. Plants absorb most of their nutrients and water from the root hairs, which are concentrated near the bottom of the pot. Encouraging roots to go deep into the soil helps stabilize the plant. Our goal is to water the plant enough to see some water emerging from the bottom.
Use Pots with Drainage Holes
Choose pots with drainage holes for this reason. Water your plants under a little shower, either in a tub or sink. Let the water run through the soil and then let the pots sit to drain sufficiently before putting them back. As a bonus, using the shower head helps rinse away dust on the leaves.
Dirty Leaves
Clean Your Plant’s Leaves
I used to hardly ever clean my plant leaves, letting them get really dusty. Every few weeks or months, we should wipe the dust off the leaves, especially for plants with big leaves. Cleaning off the dust increases the plant’s ability to photosynthesize, which is how a plant makes food.
How to Clean Leaves
You can clean leaves in the sink or bathtub, or use a damp cloth with just a little water—no soap needed. Clean leaves especially for plants in darker spaces to maximize light absorption.
Feast or Famine
Fertilize Properly
When I first started, I didn’t know I had to give my plants fertilizer, also known as plant food. Add this straight into the water, especially in the spring and summer when plants are growing. It makes sense, right? If the plants are in the same soil for a while, they’ll use up all the nutrients. We need to replenish them periodically.
Avoid Overfertilizing
But I learned that you can overdo it. Too much fertilizer can burn the roots and decrease the plant’s ability to absorb nutrients. It can also burn the leaves when watering. Avoid getting water on the leaves and aim straight for the soil. Follow the package instructions for the right amount of fertilizer per liter of water. When in doubt, underfertilize a little rather than overfertilize. Overfertilized plants will show a salty crust on the soil surface.
Compacted Soil
Loosen Compact Soil
Plant soil can get too compacted over time, which is normal. Compacted soil lacks air pockets, preventing water and oxygen from reaching the roots. Roots need oxygen to thrive. If you notice compacted soil, you can take a stick or fork and break apart the soil to create air pockets. Alternatively, replace the old soil with fresh new soil.
Follow Care Instructions
Most nursery plants come with a tag that tells you the preferred lighting conditions and where to place the plant in your home. If it doesn’t, most plants prefer a well-lit space but not direct sun rays. Some tropical plants are exceptions. If the leaves are delicate, keep the plant away from direct sun rays. I learned this the hard way by placing plants on a windowsill with too much light, causing sunburnt leaves that turned yellow and died.
Adapt Care for Location
Plants in low light locations or darker corners don’t thrive as much. Don’t fertilize or water them as much because they don’t need it.
Bringing Home Bugs
Inspect New Plants
When at the plant nursery, inspect the leaves closely. Bringing home a plant with bugs is a shame. Checking for bugs while at the nursery can make a huge difference. When you bring a new plant home, keep it away from other plants for a few weeks to ensure it’s healthy before integrating it.
Bonus Tip
Rotate Your Plants: Rotate your plants periodically because they grow towards the light. Rotating them keeps them symmetrical and enhances their appearance.
 *(Include an image of droopy leaves)* Some plants, such as calatheas, prefer moist soil at all times; otherwise, they develop that signature brown tissue damage on the leaves. The annoying thing here is that the damage cannot be reversed and can only be cut away, leaving you with a damaged plant. If the soil of your plant is bone dry, you'll notice that it's pulling away from the sides of the pot. This is because the soil has shrunk due to a lack of moisture, so make sure you are not letting this happen by watering a little more frequently. #### Signs Your Plant is Overwatered (darkgreen) Overwatering plants is a really common way that people kill their plants. Beginner plant enthusiasts often have a common misconception that houseplants need lots of water, but the reality is that these plants are native to hot climates where they may get periods of drought followed by large rain which rehydrates them. **Yellowing leaves** (red) can indicate an overwatering problem as well as an underwatering problem. If you are watering your plant too often and the soil is always wet, this can lead to root rot, which will begin to affect the leaves of your plant. **Limp and mushy leaves** (red) also indicate that you are overwatering your plant. This is particularly true with succulents such as Echeverias. Echeverias store water in their thick leaves and have difficulty storing excess water if you are watering your plant too often. This leads to mushy plants that eventually fall off.  *(Include an image of yellowing leaves)* Philodendron and Pothos plants tend to get mushy leaves that fall off if the soil is consistently soggy. My Philodendron Birkin recently developed some new brown leaves that fell off because I was overwatering it. Whereas crispy brown edges on leaves indicate an underwatering problem, if the whole leaves are turning brown, this tends to mean that the plant tissue is rotting due to too much water. You may also notice some water droplets on the ends of the leaves of some of your plants. This is the plant perspiring excess water through its leaves and can indicate that you are giving the plant too much water. Now, this tends to happen on plants that prefer drier soil, and I notice it quite often on my Philodendron Birkin and my Tradescantia Nanook. **Increased presence of fungus gnats** (red) can also be a sign that your plant is too moist. Fungus gnats like a moist top two inches of soil to breed and lay their eggs, so if your soil is wet, it creates a breeding ground for gnats. If you see lots of flea-like flies jumping around the top of your soil, I would just dial back on the watering and let the top two inches of the soil dry out before watering again. #### Watering Tips (darkgreen) It is important to allow the soil of your houseplant to dry out between waterings. This prevents the possibility of over-watering, which is one of the most common reasons people kill their plants. **Check the soil moisture** (red) before watering your plant by sticking your finger two inches into the soil. If it feels wet, leave it a few days and then check again. An even better way to check the soil moisture is to invest in a moisture meter. This device needs no batteries and tells you exactly how much moisture is in the soil, giving you control over watering your plants.  *(Include an image of a moisture meter)* When you identify that your plant needs water, make sure you give it a thorough soaking. Take your plant to a sink area and soak the soil four or five times until water drains out of the bottom each time. This ensures that all the soil in the pot gets moistened and there are no dry patches. **Bottom watering** (teal) is a method that has changed the health of my plants since I implemented it a couple of years ago. Place your plant in a container of water and let it absorb moisture from the bottom up. This method prevents water from getting on the leaves, which can cause leaf tissue damage. I hope this article was helpful. Now you know when to water your plants and when not to. Apply this knowledge to your plants and see the growth. Happy gardening! --- Incorporating these visual and formatting enhancements will make your article more attractive and engaging for your readers.](https://growinggaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/pexels-artempodrez-7242495-scaled.jpg)
