Bottom Watering Houseplants | How To Water Indoor Plants Bottom Watering Method

Hey guys! Before we get into the video, please just note that I woke up at 2 a.m. to pee diddle. When I laid back in bed, I felt my baby move for the first time, so then I was way too distracted and excited to fall back to sleep. I got literally four hours of sleep last night. I didn't fall back to sleep and I still have not fallen back to sleep. So please excuse the fact that it'll be pretty apparent that my brain is not fully functional today. Anywho, today we're going to chat about bottom watering. I am a huge advocate of bottom watering, even though a year ago I was not really into it and I didn't quite understand the point of it. Now I don't think I'll ever go back to not bottom watering, especially certain varieties of plants. So I do actually prefer bottom watering to top watering for pretty much majority of my plants. The reasons I prefer bottom watering is, number one, so many times I have top watered my plant. I've let the water drain through to the saucer underneath, thinking that all of the soil is completely saturated. If the water's pouring through, I'll even give it a second douse sometimes and let it fill the saucer a second time. And if I dig into the soil a little bit, there are still dry bits of the soil. Basically, gravity is pulling the water down. Doesn't necessarily give it a lot of time to absorb into the soil. And again, it can vary a little bit depending on the soil mixture you tend to use. I do prefer an airy soil mix. I've just had an issue with this. So it does lead to underwatering in plants in my case sometimes. I guess basically we should start with what bottom watering is. Basically, you fill a vessel of water, place your plant into it, and allow the plant to soak up the water from the bottom up. So I do feel a lot more confident that the plant is getting the water that it actually needs because the water is going up and working against gravity. I mean, it's absorbing as much as it can to work its way up. You know what I mean? Does that make sense? I hope that makes sense. I do know some people's gripe against bottom watering is that when you top water your plant, when you pour the water on top of the soil, it's forcing air down to the roots. And yes, I totally agree with that. But something I do when bottom watering to help to get adequate aeration to the roots is I'll just work the soil a little bit with like an orange wood stick or something. Or I'll just poke little holes very gently a few inches down to ensure that the roots are getting adequate airflow. So then in my opinion, that's not really a reason to top water because it's easily fixed. Another reason I really prefer bottom watering is for plants that do develop stem rot quite quickly. So an example would be many different types of peperomia. I have, especially in the beginning, I lost so many peperomia to stem rot of all things. And I do find that by not top watering, the water isn't localized to the top of the pot. So the stem isn't sitting in excess amount of water for an extended amount of time or really any amount of time. So it has helped negate a lot of those issues for me, especially in those rot prone plants. Another thing kind of along those same lines about top watering versus bottom watering is when you're pouring the water over the top of the soil, it forces the soil down. So it does compact it around the roots a lot more. And I have found, in my experience, as I bottom water, soil doesn't become as compacted over time as I'm watering, if that makes sense. The soil isn't being forced down with as much pressure as if you're pouring water over the top of that soil, forcing it down. The last two reasons kind of go together, but especially with such a large plant collection, I'm sure a lot of you understand where I'm coming from. Top watering can be a hassle and it oftentimes is really messy. I mean, I don't know, maybe it's just me and I'm a super messy person. A lot of the time when I was top watering, water would splash everywhere, soil would splash everywhere. Maybe it's just me being careless and not a cleanly person, but I haven't had as much of a cleanliness soil getting everywhere issue when I'm bottom watering. And on that same note, sometimes it is really hard to gauge how much water your plant is going to absorb. So you kind of have to water, wait for it to absorb, go back, check the saucer if it has water, water it again, check if the saucer has water, and like keep doing that until you notice the water draining out of the bottom. Otherwise, it's so easy for the water to overflow and get everywhere, which I have done on so many occasions and bottom watering really, really gets rid of that issue entirely. I don't really have that problem anymore and I don't end up with like ring marks underneath all of my plants like I used to have because I would drip water everywhere. Maybe that's a me issue though. Let me know if it's a you issue too. Kind of on that same line, you don't have to wait for the water to fill the saucer like you would before and then go back and keep watering it. With bottom watering, it's kind of a one and done kind of thing. So I just have a bowl. This one right here, actually, I have two of these exact same ones that I got at the thrift store for 50 cents. I just go around to all of my plants, seeing which ones are thirsty, filling this up with water, putting a pot in there. And then once I noticed the top of the soil is damp, I take that plant out, put it back into its dry saucer, and then replace the plant in this little bowl with another plant. So it's just a really easy process. You don't have to like hang around too much wondering if the water is draining out. And then even if say you forget your plant and it's sitting in water, for the most part, there's not a lot of issue that comes with that. Because like I said, the water is being forced upward. It's working against gravity. So excess water isn't just going to absorb up to the soil. And then the last reason I really love bottom watering is A, for large plants, because especially indoors, large plants can be difficult to keep watered, especially if you're trying to thoroughly saturate the soil. It's just super hard to know if I'm getting all the way down there. Even a moisture meter doesn't fit all the way down in the pot on some of my plants. So bottom watering is just a really easy way to ensure that my larger plants are getting enough water without as much guesswork. That's really awesome. And then also for super thirsty plants, specifically in my case, like my peace lily, and then also some of the Maranta plants in my collection, they are very, very thirsty. Specifically, my silver mist peace lily. It's the thirstiest plant in my collection. I do keep plants like that in a bowl like this, and I just use the bowl as its saucer. Pretty much, if I notice the water is empty on my thirsty plants like that in the saucer, I just fill it up and then wait until I notice it's empty again. And it really makes the process so much easier, especially if you have a lot of houseplants, in my opinion, in my opinion. Basically with my larger plants, of course, I don't have like massive bowls. I mean, I guess maybe I do, but they're my cooking bowls. I don't want to use them for watering these plants. You totally could and just wash them, of course, but where I'm constantly watering plants, I need like a plant-specific bowl. So in the summer, what I'll do is I just have this plastic tote thing, storage tote thing, that I'll fill up with water and keep on my back deck. And then I move my plants out, my large plants out like once a week to sit in that water and soak up what they need. So like as an example, the Schefflera is one I move out there to water because it is in a 10-inch pot. This Peace Lily, well, I recently gave it a bucket to sit in because she's a thirsty little baby for sure too. So she gets her own bucket. But before I was moving this one out, my Ficus Audrey in a 10-inch pot, Money Tree in a 12-inch pot, just those super large plants, I do move out roughly once a week, maybe once every two weeks, depending on me, I guess. I don't know. Depending on things, okay? Just things. I get them out there. If I notice they're looking sad, I get them out there ASAP. It's really, really easy. Put them out there in the morning and then bring them in in the evening. And they love it, especially the warm temperature out there, you know? No direct sunlight, though. Be careful of that. And then in the winter, I'll do the same thing except I just take all of the larger plants into my bathtub. I don't know why. For me, it just really helps me keep track by doing different sized plants on certain days of the week. So I have uploaded a weekly plant care routine. And for the most part, the routine is the same now, except I've just kind of tweaked it in small ways. So instead of going through to inspect every single plant every single day, I do it probably about every other day I get to every plant, I will focus on a certain size category. So like small plants, medium sized plants, and large plants. If you do worry about overwatering your plants by bottom watering, you can definitely use smaller vessels. So I do also really like to use these ceramic saucers for my like cacti and succulents that are a little bit less thirsty, just because then there's less water for them to soak up, of course. Or you could also use like the deeper terracotta saucers. I love this saucer. It's my favorite saucer of all and I haven't ever been able to find another one like it. But I do often use this one for bottom watering. Even though it is terracotta, sometimes the terracotta, the water does soak through the terracotta. But for the most part, I do find that the plant absorbs the water before it has a chance to seep out of the terracotta. You can also use cash pots for bottom watering. I don't know if any of you remember in the beginning, I was so against pots without drainage holes, but now I love finding a good pot with no drainage hole because I can just put water in there, especially like begonias. I can fill up the pot with water so that it's barely touching the bottom of the nursery pot and let the plant soak it up as it needs. And it helps provide a little bit more moisture and humidity to the root system, which they really prefer without overdoing it. So yeah, cash pots are also another great method for bottom watering. And then that way you don't have to transfer your bowl around to different plants. That even is more of a time saver in my opinion. But definitely, definitely the large plastic tote I have outside. And then this Pyrex dish are my favorite ones. And I will go ahead and link the tote I use outdoors in the description box, just because it has come in so handy for my plant keeping. So if you want to pick one up, it's down there, as well as all my other favorite things I use. So the plants that I do 100% all the time, bottom water, never top water, not even in the most dire of thirst times, are calathea. They love this bottom watering, I am telling you. It has made such a difference in keeping my calathea adequately watered without crossing that line into root rot. Because in the beginning, I did find that. Again, I really think it all comes down to the water forcing the soil to be more compacted around the roots. And it's difficult once it's compacted to get it back up, because gravity is forcing it down a lot stronger if the water is pouring on top of it. Anyway, you've heard that already. That's my little spiel. The way I see it, it helps them choose how much water they need, right? They're getting exactly what they need. They're soaking up exactly what they need out of that dish. And I do kind of want to show you really quick. Plants like this, where the roots are coming out of the bottom of the pot. I know I need to repot this guy ASAP, just haven't gotten around to it. These roots are going to be able to reach the water when I use the bottom watering method, which I do 100% of the time with this plant. And those roots are going to be able to absorb the water before the soil even is able to absorb the water. I mean, it's making its way right up to the plant. It's really cool. If you notice that, try bottom watering and see what happens. Plants that you know need to be moist, it's, in my opinion, they're almost more easy to overwater because you're so focused on just constantly saturating them in water, they do end up with rot. And I'm going to be honest with you, I have killed many, many Calathea before finally finding success in this bottom watering method. Same with Peperomia. I really, really struggled with Peperomia. If you watch back, I had a video where I talk about plants I've killed and Peperomia were like pretty much all of them because I really, really struggled with them. But I love the look of them. So bottom watering has helped with that. Hoya are another plant that aren't very easy for me to keep alive and thriving. But if you follow me on Instagram, you've seen that my hoyas are blooming. They're growing like crazy and super happy now that I am bottom watering them. Again, because I think it takes out a lot of the guesswork from us as the plant parents, the plant keepers. We don't have to guess what they need. They take what they need. As far as fertilizing when bottom watering, as far as fertilizing when bottom watering, I definitely wouldn't recommend using a terracotta saucer when doing that. So just go ahead and fill up your thing with your container, your vessel with as much water as you think your plants are going to need. And then go ahead and just add in. I use fish fertilizer. The one I use will be linked down below. My plants, again, really love that kind. In the warm months, I do fertilize them pretty much every single time I water. And even though it is extremely diluted, it does the job. So just kind of eyeball it. Be sure not to add too much. I, in my opinion, I definitely subscribe to the whole weaker weekly mindset. I just water them every single time, but a little bit more diluted than normal. So I think that that's everything that I can say about bottom watering. I love bottom watering. I will continue bottom watering as long as there's plants in my collection. I don't know if I just rambled straight on for 10 minutes or however long this ends up being and if it will be coherent or not make sense. Because like I said, I'm running on four hours of sleep, okay? I'm sorry. That is, I think, everything I wanted to say. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments. I will do my best to get to all of them, although it's not always entirely possible. So if you see a question in the comment section that you know the answer to, then please feel free to answer. Let's help each other out. More input from more people, I think, will equal greater success for all of us. That is it for this video. Thank you so much for watching and I will see you in my next one. Bye!