Top Reason’s Indoor Plants Die – Light & Water

Posted 1st November, 2020 in Plants

Light

Correct Placement of your plant in your home is vital for it’s survival.  Indoor plants require a nice bright well lit room with lots of natural light (not direct sunlight). The reasoning behind this is that all plant’s need to Photosynthesize in order to live. Photosynthesis is a process where plants uses light energy to convert water and carbon dioxide into oxygen and energy rich organic compounds (food) for survival.

If you place your plant in  a room with too little light it inhibits this process and in some cases stops it completely and in turn slowly kills it.

Conversely if you place your plant in a room that is too hot or in which it is receiving direct sunlight you run the risk of it burning due to the magnification of the sun through the glass.

Another tip in relation to light to grow a strong healthy plant is is to rotate them to encourage straight tall growth rather than letting it lean to one side searching for light.

Water

Water is one of the big factors that account for most plant deaths. Often it is over watering where you have over loved your plant and slowly killed it by rotting it’s roots.

Best practice with watering is to check if your plant is ready to be watered and not just water to a fixed schefule. Plants water requirements change. Their requirements are dependant on the amount of light that they are receiving, how warm the room is that you have placed them in, if you use air conditioning or heating and the time of year.

As a quick reference

Less Light = Less water

Warm Hot room = More water

Air conditioning and heating = More water

Winter = Less Water

Summer = More Water

As I mentioned before you start watering check to see your plant’s moisture levels. There are 2 easy ways to do this:

1. Test with your finger by pushing it down into the soil to approximately your second joint and see if it’s damp. If it’s dry, water, if it’s wet, leave it alone if it’s moist recheck in another couple of days

1. Lift the plant up. If the plant is light it requires water. If it’s heavy it signifies that the plant has enough water.

Of course this is all a general rule of thumb. Some plants have more specific requirements, some prefer to stay moist and some prefer to live on the drier side so best to check with your nursery when you buy your new plant to check if there are any special requirements.

Another way to keep an eye on whether your plant is thriving is by monitoring it’s leaves:

If the leaves appear to be wilting, the soil is dry and the plant is light to lift this often signifies that your plant requires a big drink. If however your plant is wilting and the soil is wet and heavy it may be that you have over watered and over loved it and it’s roots are rotting so let it dry off and back off the watering.

Best Watering Method

If you have left your plant to get bone dry and you find that the water runs straight off or straight through the pot this may signify that your potting mix has become hydrophobic. Hydrophobic potting mix does not absorb any moisture. To rectify this you will need to immerse the entire pot under water and wait for all of the air bubbles to escape and the pot to sink to the bottom of your bucket to reset the soil.

With this in mind it is important to make sure that when we water our plants we do it thoroughly. Don’t just add a cup of water here and there instead completely saturate all of the potting mix surrounding your plant.

A good habit to get into is to place your Indoor plants in the shower to give them a good soaking. This is good for 2 reasons one all of that potting mix gets a good soaking but the other great reason is that it allows you to rinse your plants leaves of dust and grime making for a much happier plant so that they can breathe through their leaves properly again.

Enjoy your Indoor Jungle x