Key Takeaways
- Instead of watering on a schedule, water when soil feels dry to the contact.
- Use prime or backside watering; bottom-watering helps rehydrate dried out soil.
- Water extra usually in shiny gentle and when vegetation are actively rising.
Pothos vegetation tolerate neglect, which is one purpose they’re vastly standard houseplants, however that doesn’t imply they by no means want somewhat TLC. Your pothos will forgive you while you overlook to water it for every week or two, however the plant will keep more healthy and preserve placing on new development when given the moisture it wants. Here’s all you’ll want to learn about how usually to water pothos vegetation so that they thrive for years to return.
When to Water Pothos
When to water a pothos, like different houseplants, is predicated on the soil moisture, not on a calendar or schedule. Use any scheduling assist you prefer to remind you to examine the soil, however solely water when the soil wants it.
To decide when to water nearly any potted plant, no fancy meters or devices are required. Just stick your finger into the soil as much as the principle knuckle. If the potting combine feels dry, it’s time to water. If it’s nonetheless damp, maintain off.
Even although pothos vegetation are within the genus Epipremnum and are tropical vines that like evenly moist soil, it’s higher to err on the facet of preserving them somewhat too dry slightly than overwatering them. Overwatering might be the commonest killer of houseplants (apart from full and utter neglect).
Besides checking the soil moisture along with your finger, raise the pot. Potting combine absorbs lots of water like a sponge, and water is heavy. A pothos able to be watered is way lighter than one which has simply acquired an intensive drink. In time, you’ll develop a “calibrated hand” and know whether or not it’s time to water merely by lifting the pot.
If your pothos begins to wilt, that’s an excellent signal that it’s well past time to water, and also you would possibly want to make use of the watering-from-the-bottom methodology described under to rehydrate it and the soil.
Pothos Watering Techniques
Making common rounds of all of your houseplants with a watering can is the traditional and completely acceptable strategy to water pothos. The different methodology is named bottom-watering. Either approach, most faucet water is completely wonderful for pothos.
Using a Watering Can
To water a pothos with a watering can, first examine with a finger check that the pothos must be watered. Then, slowly add water from the watering can. Take a couple of seconds to let the water trickle out and sink into the potting soil as an alternative of dumping the water abruptly like a flood.
Keep watering till the surplus drains from the underside into the saucer beneath the pot. If water retains popping out and collects within the drainage saucer, wait a couple of minutes and dump out that water so the plant and pot don’t sit within the puddle, which might trigger root rot.
Watering from the Bottom
To bottom-water a potted plant, take it to the sink, bathtub, or different water-holding gadget (a normal seed-starting tray works nicely). Set the plant inside, and fill the sink or vessel with about 2 inches of water. Let the plant sit for half-hour. Water might be drawn up into the drier soil by way of the pot’s drainage holes and pretty evenly distributed all through the potting soil.
Remove the plant from the basin, set it someplace it may drain with out making a multitude. After water has stopped popping out of the drainage holes, put the pothos again in its regular spot. Because it is a deep drink, pothos watered on this approach can sometimes go longer between waterings.
Watering Dehydrated Soil
Potting soil can develop into dehydrated and hydrophobic, which means it repels water. The first signal of this situation potting combine that appears to have pulled away from the pot on all sides. Older potting soil (as in, you haven’t repotted the plant in a number of years) will be extra liable to this drawback.
Severely dehydrated potting soil can enable water to nearly instantly run out the underside of the pot when watered with a watering can, main you to assume the plant has acquired sufficient water when it has acquired little or no. To recuperate hydrophobic potting soil, use the slower methodology of watering from the underside.
Factors That Influence How Often to Water Pothos
Like different houseplants, pothos vegetation use water in another way primarily based on the time of yr, development charge, pot dimension, and different elements. You would possibly examine your pothos in winter and discover it doesn’t want water usually, however examine in summer season and discover it wants water extra steadily.
The Light Your Pothos Receives
Light impacts plant development, and in case your pothos will get the intense however oblique gentle it needs, it is going to develop quickly. Plants that develop rapidly use extra water than those who develop slowly, if in any respect. A pothos caught up on a bookshelf in a dim nook, barely hanging on, gained’t use as a lot water as one close to a shiny window.
The Size of the Pot and Plant
All else being equal, larger vegetation use extra water than smaller ones. A big pothos in a small pot wants watering extra steadily than the identical dimension pothos in a bigger container. If your pothos wants watering extra usually than weekly, think about repotting it in a barely bigger container with recent potting combine.
The Potting Soil Mix
All potting soils should not created equal. Some are greater in sphagnum moss or have extra vermiculite, each of which maintain moisture nicely. Others are designed for higher drainage. As potting soil ages, it usually retains much less water attributable to compaction and the breakdown of natural matter within the combine.
Fixing Common Pothos Watering Issues
An overwatered pothos could present black spots on the leaves, fungus on the soil floor, or slimy and darkish roots as an alternative of creamy-colored and wholesome roots. Fungus gnats buzzing round will also be an indicator of repeated overwatering.
To examine for root rot points, gently take away the plant from its pot and examine the roots. If they’re mushy, slimy, and darkish brown or black, your pothos has root rot, and also you’ll have to take away the affected roots. Trim them off, rinse the wholesome roots, and repot the pothos in recent soil and a clear pot.
An underwatered pothos will present drooping leaves, brown, dry edges or tips about the leaves, and the soil could also be exhausting and brittle. Take it to the sink or bathtub and water it from under. The plant ought to recuperate in a couple of days, though the brown elements of the leaves is not going to return to inexperienced and will be eliminated.