BOTTOM vs TOP Watering 💧 How To Water Indoor Plants Correctly 🌱 Houseplant 101

[@TheJungleHaven]

Do you guys prefer bottom or top watering? I'm thinking of repeating this experiment and photo tracking it this time... Would you be interested to see this? 💚

[@its.basically_steve]

👍💯

[@wholistiksoul]

Thanks Claire, much appreciated 🙏 I have always top watered my indoor plants but this last winter all my indoor plants got infested with fungus gnats, I tried all the suggested recommendations for eradicating the fungus gnats that didn't work for my indoor plants (peace lilies, golden bamboo, green dragon, heart leaf pythos & snake plant)....I opted to let them really dry out & didn't water many of them for weeks, a few of the peace lilies where wilting / droopy and I opted to bottom water those to see if I noticed any difference - they perked up after a brief bottom water - the seasons are changing again & it's going to start warming up (im in Perth Western Australia) so I'm going to go back to top watering to see how the fungus gnat shit'suation is & I'm feeling I may need to change the potting soil of my indoor plants coz I'm aware fungus gnats & their larvae can cause damage to different parts of the plants. Q: I'm curious what you have noticed with fungus gnat infestations on indoor plants & wether it's worse in the autumn winter months versus spring summer months? 🪴🌱🌿🍃🍀🌻

[@reedebrown6006]

Thanks Claire. Very helpful video. This question might sound obvious, but as a ‘newbie’ I’m still getting to grips with everything. I noticed in one of your ‘chatty’ videos that as you watered, you poured the run off water back into the watering can. 1. Does using water that has come through one plant’s pot, potentially harm a different type of plant? And 2. Are you re-introducing the chemicals you are ‘flushing’ out? Or from time to time do you flush through and not use the run off? Thanks again for your videos.

[@paulbarty9296]

Hi Claire im glad ive found you on here. Ive lost a couple of plants this year and my peace lilly wint flower again since i got it at the beginning of summer. Im going to start using warm water instead of cold tap water and filter the water too and see if things improve. Thanks again 😊

[@ElyRyger]

I believe shrub-plants, like calatheas adapt better to bottom-watering than top-watering. I have killed so many calathea in my care. Then I started watering from the bottom, and they are thriving. In the dense jungle, shrub-plants don’t get the direct rain, the larger trees works as a umbrella and the high humidity makes the top layer of the soil always moist

[@Spuddingter14]

Thank you very much for such an insightful video! I'm new to the indoor plant game, with two Dragon Trees. A very therapeutic voice too!

[@lanecrescent4161]

I thought "top watering" meant the top of the plant.

[@StitchesbySharonH]

Most of the time, I top water in the sink, except for my African Violets - I will carefully top water a little bit and then I bottom water them. But, in the summer, when I fertilize, I don’t want to waste the water, so, especially for my thicker leaf plants like Hoya Compacta, I’ll top water them in a large rectangular container and then let them sit in the water for about a half hour to 45 minutes and let them bottom water, especially if they’re in terra-cotta pots. I hope that makes sense!! Thank you for sharing! 💜💚🪴

[@eileenmorris9357]

bottom watering was the only way i got rid of knats, i had this problem for months and tried everything to get rid of them, this way the plant was watered keepin the top soil dry where the larvae lives in the damp soil

[@PlanetMeMeTV]

I need all the help I can get lol. Thanks for this info. New Subbie!❤️

[@ThePiscesQueen]

Loved the video I learned alot, I think its time to get me a house plant to see how I do. 😍😍😍

[@AmydStockport]

Great video thanks! I recently had fungal gnats and found that bottom watering prevents that. How can you prevent fungal gnats when top watering?

[@TheJungleHaven]

Thanks Amy! Such a common question, there are quite a few things you can do - I'll make a video on it in the next week or two x

[@Westguy66]

Let the plant completely dry out before watering,,fungus gnats love moisture.

[@murusorowangu]

Thanks for another great video. I mainly top water but have been putting my plants in a tray whilst watering then leaving them for an hour to soak up the run off. I've noticed the compact soil you mentioned and think I'll stick to top watering. The tray thing has only been for a couple of months. I don't water to a schedule, I do the finger thing and also lift the pot to see how light it is. I'm a bit worried about my Monsterra. I watered him 2 weeks ago and he's still moist. He only gets top watered. I've been looking out for signs of root rot and he seems okay. I think I'll change the potting medium next spring just to be safe. He's huge so I avoid repotting unless necessary.

[@TheJungleHaven]

I'm glad you enjoyed it! At this time of year your plants won't need as much water, so just keep monitoring the soil and don't be tempted to water again too soon. I haven't watered my Monstera for a few weeks and she's doing just fine ☺️

[@autumn5852]

Aren’t you just letting the plants soak up the toxins/mineral salts etc that it jus5 got rid of from the watering by letting it soak up the run off?

[@xchrysantha]

My opinion about bottom watering is that it's not the plant absorbing the water but the soil. I'm not a scientist though, lol, but that would be my reason why the plant in your experiment didn't grow as well. Anyway THANK YOU for this video, I just discovered your channel a few weeks ago but am working my way through your videos and have loved them lol.

[@beca9194]

About the root only soaks up what it needs through bottom watering is actually not proven to be true by some research. Instead of the root that soaks up what it needs, it's the soil that soaks up what it can hold. So if we pot a plant with very little root system in a bigger pot, the water that is soaked would not be little but it would follow the amount of the soil in the pot. Still give it a chance of rotting. So it cannot be a reason why we should bottom water. To me personally bottom water advantages me because it does save some time because we can water some plants together all at once, dry top so fungus gnats and other bugs can be avoided, also helps the plant stem to stay dry while it receives humidity from the bottom ☺️

[@cherylbeswick7327]

Bottom watering was a game changer for me 🫶 i killed sooo many from overwatering from above

[@MrUpgradable]

I'm great at over watering plants - It's my way of making sure they're hydrated before they inevitably move on to a better place... Just found your channel and you have wonderful advice - thank you.

[@mokuho]

Its very difficult!😢 How do you water peperomia from above? Does it put a lot of water or little water? the substrate is loose and filters the water very well but I am very afraid of giving it little water and it does not water well!😢

[@Uzma888]

Hi Claire, do you use room temperature water? I heard you say lukewarm in another video I think? Thanks

[@MaybeTiberius]

something negative i found out about letting my tapwater sit for 24h is that... i m now drinking the plantwater myself because it also tastes better to me. im mostly drinking water and simple tapwater myself and if i compare a glass of fresh tapwater to my plantwater ... the plantwater tastes 10 times better. :S

[@heatherstephens9295]

Brilliant information Claire 👍👍

[@carolcooper7298]

Wonderful videos Claire and Yoli. I thought botttom watering prevented the pesky gnats, is that true?

[@ronrosenkaimer1096]

Thanks Claire! Every seed starting video has said to bottom water. My father had a big green house and he swore the best is to top water and use miracle grow. I know, the politics tick off some people too. After paying so much for plants I have started my own with grow lights. I think the cleansing is the secret.

[@bencux]

Did NOT know about letting tap water stand to purify! Thanks! 👍👍👍

[@TheJungleHaven]

It's a great way to help some of the chemicals evaporate 🙃 I do it all the time!

[@ladyn5273]

This is the comment that I came for!!!!!

[@TheINFP_Diary]

I started doing this as well!

[@mokuho]

Do you have a video how to watering on top? 😢

[@ladyn5273]

Hi JH and Joli. If we top water, should we use the hydrogen peroxide treatment every time we water to reduce the chances of fungus gnats??

[@TheJungleHaven]

Hiya! No I definitely wouldn't recommend using it every time, just because it can kill off the good bacteria in the soil that your plants love and need to grow healthily. I tend not to use it any more than a few months at a time, or if my plants really need it 💚

[@U-TUBE-me]

I can see why you asked people not to come at you because there's a lot of inaccurate and just bad information in this video. You are clearly not an expert. Let me explain bottom watering to you since you don't seem to understand it. First the reasons why you bottom water is if you plant has delicate foliage like an African Violet with delicate leaves they can't get wet because it will leave brown spots where it kills the leaf cells, so they must be watered from the bottom. Two if your soil is compacted you need to bottom water one indication that it's compacted is if the soil is very dry and pulled away from the pot it's actually shrunk, it might be extremely lightweight difficult to push your finger into or when watered it runs off quickly. It often means that the soil has become hydrophobic. Bottom watering will ensure that the plants soil has not become so compacted that it's hydrophobic meaning that it's dried out to a point where it repels water. Top watering would be adequate as it would just run off. If you're Watering your plant and it runs through quickly you're not fully watering it but may not easily be able to tell. To help reduce gnats you don't want to leave your topsoil wet. You can still get gnats with bottom watering but it's significantly reduced and by putting a little diatomaceous earth in the bottom of your decorative pot when using a pot in pot situation you prevent the problem. It's much easier to prevent than it is to get rid of them. In a separate pot that comes preferably 3/4 of the way up the pot, you submerge the pot into water allowing some room so it doesn't overflow. It needs to sit for a substantial amount of time if you're using a plastic pot with plenty of holes it will Wick up faster especially if the soil is not compacted. When it wicks to the top that's when you know the plant is properly watered most people skip this stage. Don't get impatient it can take a substantial amount of time. The topsoil will be just slightly damp within an inch of the surface periods If you're using clay pots this is particularly important as they take much longer to water because the clay itself wants to drink and if you're only top Watering your clay pots can suck up the water not allowing your plants roots to get enough of it. That's why you're supposed to soak your Clay Pot before using it for the first time. The other problem was top watering though it is beneficial to rinse a buildup of minerals from the soil people often get water trapped in the bottoms of the stems which can cause them to rot. Bottom watering will not cause root rot and if your plants is Young it doesn't make sense to say that its roots wouldn't get water because if you're putting it into large pot and not stepping it up size by size then you're overdoing the soil amount which will rot your plants roots. If you have too much soil for the size of the root ball the soil will hold excess water rotting your roots. I want you to do an experiment take a piece of peat moss which is usually used in stores to ship plants because it's light and can hold a lot of water it also drives into a hard ball and becomes hydrophobic when it dries out. Take a really dry lump and water it from the top you will see what I mean. Take another very dry lump and place it in water eventually that water will penetrate that lump but you can sprinkle water from the top multiple times and it will not. It's not that your plant did better from Top watering it's that you didn't properly and adequately bottom water. It's best not to let your plants get overly dry but we all do it from time to time. Once it's happened if you don't adequately fix the problem buy bottom watering top watering will not be sufficient. Here's a better challenge get to clear pots Orchid pots work well. Perform the same experiment it will give you a better understanding . The other benefit of bottom watering is some plants like succulents have a Farina on their leaves and you don't want to wash that off it's actually their sunscreen and without it the delicate leaves can burn easily. If delicate plants like succulents are left with wet leaves especially near a window it can cause the leaves to burn because the water amplifies the Sun. If you have hard water and water from the top it can leave water marks on your plants. Some plants occasionally need a good rinsing to get the dust off or you can individually wipe down individual branches. I get that everyone started collecting plants during the pandemic and quickly decided that they were an expert and are well meaning but I think you can dive a little deeper and make sure you've got accurate information before you spread it. For a small 4 inch pot I usually give it about 2 inches of water in a ball such as a cereal bowl and about 30 minutes to suck up the water if using a plastic pot. Your theory on compacted soil being caused by bottom watering is actually the opposite. Scientifically completely opposite! Water has a great force if you're watering from the top it's pushing the soil down if you're watering from the bottom the light bits in The Soil such as perlite will be forced to float a little increasing aeration the force of the water itself will push the soil apart. I know you mean well but please take down this video and redo it. You're just giving people so much bad inaccurate information here

[@U-TUBE-me]

Also let your plant fully drip dry before you put it back into its decorative outer pot. Leaving a little de at the bottom of that pot will also help ensure that any not problem is kept under control. Diatomaceous earth AKA DE will put tiny little Cuts in the bodies of the gnats dehydrating them as they do not have the ability to clot. It also messes up their reproduction and their eggs development. I like to make sure the de stays dry. Haven't watched all of your videos but please don't go telling people to put it on the top of their soil, as it just causes compacted soil.

[@pablinsky2006]

Get a life.

[@deborahchetcuti4753]

Hi Claire I wanted to start bottom watering to reduce fungus gnats but not if my plants will suffer. They are all doing well but I thought if I bottom watered it will be dry near the top where they like to lay their eggs. For the longest time I have used neem oil in my watering to keep the gnats at bay but it is sooo expensive here in Australia, I just can't afford it anymore. I also thought I might try Ant Rid to sit on the top of the soil. Apparently gnats hate it. Can you give me some advice? Deborah from Melbourne Australia.

[@TheJungleHaven]

Hey Deborah! So from time to time I do bottom water and it's absolutely fine - some people do it all the time, but it's just something I wouldn't personally recommend. I made a video a few weeks ago about hydrogen peroxide and some of the ways you can use it for your plants - one of which is to get rid of fungus gnats! It's honestly amazing stuff and probably the best thing I know of currently for completely getting rid of them 💚

[@deborahchetcuti4753]

Thanks sooo much for your swift reply Claire.❤

[@jessicakane4697]

Hey Deborah! Have you had any luck with fungus gnats? I get them all the time is Qld aus. I've just gotten onto this company called "We the Wild" and they claim their product helps with gnats, pests and general overall well-being. I've literally just bought some products today to try. They only have 3 products available as they believe this is all you need. I actually have just started using hydrogen peroxide as per Claire's recommendation. I'm setting up some control and test subjects to see which works best 😊