Over the past few months, I’ve taken to growing and learning about more indoor plants than ever before. I would have probably purchased a few plants earlier had I not heard so many horror stories about large, expensive plants dying suddenly. This gave me the impression that indoor planting was an investment of more time and money than I was willing to give. I tried memorizing water schedules, adjusting the air humidity, and researching potential insects / fungi that could harm my plants. All of this to make sure I don’t buy a show plant or indoor tree only for it to die in two weeks.
The truth is a majority of these sudden deaths of indoor plants – especially those in a large pot – have to do with too much or too little moisture.
You can schedule your waterings all you want, but a number of factors change the best time to water your plant. The amount of sunlight can change from day to day, the soil may be more compact in some sections than others, the air is too dry/humid, etc. The worst thing you can do is eyeball the top layer of dirt and assume a plant is too dry, leading to over-watering. The top layer of a potted plant will dry significantly faster, which is why you’ll want a tool like a moisture meter. Of course, you can always use your fingers a few inches beneath the dirt to feel for moisture yourself, but you’ll never be as precise.
A moisture meter usually comes in either a thermometer-style dial display or a digital display format, with the digital displays usually offering a wider and more precise range of measurements. These measurements can tell you the ideal moisture levels for indoor and outdoor plant families alike. Simply push the device into the dirt until an inch below the root ball of your plant. Its good to tell multiple depths and multiple sides of your pot. With the plant families listed on the packaging of your moisture meter, compare your plant with the ideal moisture level. If your plant is much higher than ideal in moisture, try to give the pot as much sunlight as the plant can take and make sure drainage holes are allowing water through.
This tool can only tell you to water if the soil is desperately low compared to the ideal. If that’s the case, try to soak the pot and allow it time to rehydrate. This is a great tool for diagnosing problems before we create more of them. I highly recommend it to new gardeners!
