Secret to Watering Houseplants-Squeeze the Plant Pot

Learn the secret to watering houseplants so they thrive. Squeeze the plant pot when watering
to make sure the soil becomes saturated.

Secret to Watering Houseplants: Squeeze the Plant Pot
Have you watered houseplants only to watch the water rush right through and the soil doesn’t
get very wet? There are two possible reasons this is occurring.
Number 1—The plant may be rootbound, and there is no longer much soil in the pot. If that’s
the case, you need to repot.
Number 2—There may be fissures in the soil where the water is running through and out the
bottom of the pot without wetting the soil well. This results in excessively dry roots, which can
lead to root dieback and even death. You’ll also find yourself watering the plant again and again
just to keep it alive.
The solution?
Squeeze the plant pot. Of course, this is only possible with plastic pots. With ceramic pots,
you’ll want to pull the plant out of the pot and repot in the same pot with new soil—or a bigger
pot, if it’s time to repot.
Back to squeezing the plastic pot! When you squeeze the pot, you move the soil around and
break up the fissures. This allows the water to saturate the soil, rather than rushing out the
bottom of the pot. Squeeze the pot as you water. This will cause the soil to stay in the pot.
How will you know if it worked?
The soil will be saturated. The pot will be heavier. And the plant will be happier! You’ll also have
to water much less often.