Water, the stuff of life. Unfortunately can easily be the cause death for a house plant.
There are no simple answers when it comes to how much to water your plants. But I'll try to give you some guidance that will help you.
First and foremost your plant pot MUST have drainage, or it will likely eventually drown. Excess water must have a way to escape, and never leave a plant sitting in excess water.
Over watering is not so much how much water it receives, as how often you water it.
You can't put all you plants on the same watering schedule because every house plant has a preference for the amount of moisture they require. So it's important to know what kind of plant you have. Succulents like to be on the dry side, whereas ferns like to be moist.
If you have a plant that likes to be slightly dry, and you are unsure if you should water, don't. You can usually revive a too dry plant, but there is no going back from root rot caused by too much water.
One of the worst thing to do. Decide to just give it a little bit because you're not sure. What happen then is that you are just watering the top portion of the soil. The water doesn't get to the roots and the crown of your plant gets waterlogged and rots.
There are a lot of variables that determine how quickly the soil will dry out. If the house is warm, and dry. If it gets a lot of sun. If it's in a small pot or a large pot, more soil retains more water. How much water did it receive the last time it was watered.
The absolutely best way to water your plants is from the bottom. To do this, put water in your sink, if you have a lot of plants use your bathtub. Fill it with enough water so when you set your plant pot in it comes about a third of the way up the pot. Then, walk away! Go scroll through my blog for more helpful hints BLOG | Apropos Flowers | Perth Ontario or get lost in my beautiful Instagram feed Apropos Flowers ~ Sheri (@aproposflowers) • Instagram photos and videos (hee hee shameless plug.) Leave them to soak for up to an hour is fine. Plants are amazing, they have a shut off switch, so they will stop drinking when they're not thirsty any more. Pull the plug and let them drip off in the sink, before putting them back where they live. Notice the weight of the pots when you pick them up, they'll be heavy with saturated soil. The beauty of watering this way, is you'll find you have to water far less often as they'll get a good drink and then let them dry out slightly before you do this again. You'll have wonderfully happy plants!
Hope you found this helpful. Thanks for stopping by ~ Sheri.