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Also, is it best to water house plants from below or top?

9 years ago

When i water my plants (just got a bunch of new ones) i let the tap water run through it until the soil is soaked and coming out the drainage holes.
But is it ok or even best to sit the pit in water and let the water enter through the drainage holes?

Please advise.

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Comments (5)

plantomaniac08
9 years ago
Personally, I feel that it is better to water from the top so that you're continuously flushing excess salts out of the potting mix. If you want to water from the bottom, just be sure that you water from the top enough (maybe every other watering) so you're flushing the potting mix.

Planto
Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
9 years ago
If one is not using a potting medium that wicks moisture upward/sideways, the question is moot, bottom watering isn't even possible.
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How far from the surface the potting mix is isn't critical. In a conventional, top watered container it is common to leave an inch or two of container above the mix, but certainly is not required. Doing this makes it easier to water without overflowing the container. With a self watering container the mix can be below the top of the container or mounded up above it, the plant isn't going to care much. Do you have around 4" of potting mix depth for your lettuce? If so I think you will be just fine. Even this amount is somewhat arbitrarily chosen by me. Removing plants from a nursery container is fairly straightforward. Just turn the pot over and dump them out into your hand. If they don't come right out give the container a squeeze or slide a butter knife along the inside edges to loosen. While there are some plants whose roots need to be treated gently, lettuce doesn't. Most plants respond just fine to having their roots treated fairly roughly. If you get the plant out of the container and find it is a thick mass of roots I recommend (literally) ripping a good chunk of the roots off (particularly if they are circling the bottom of the pot) and then planting them. You will be doing the plant a favor by getting rid of those roots. Lastly, if you feel you have 'mangled' the plant just plant it and try to keep it out of direct sunlight/wind for a day or two in case it wilts. Don't panic if it does, it will likely perk up in a day or three and do just fine.
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It's the water that stays in the soil/potting medium too long that causes damage. It can sit in your peat based mixes and block air from getting to roots and without air,roots die and rot. This is why those who use peat based stuff add other ingredients like perlite in order to fluff it up to let air move through it better. Assuming we are still talking about the peace lily,they don't succumb to rot as easily or quickly as some others. Being native to swampy areas has to play a big part in that.
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I water my C/S plants from above and I grow them in varying degrees of gritty mix. Reason is....I find the grittier they are the more they fail to draw up water quick enough not to let them sit for hours on end in a dish full of what can end up as rather cold water, or even in big enough amounts as capillary action doesn't take place readily. Also, as you say, it can help to flush out excess salts. I can also be reasonably sure that the majority of the mix is thoroughly wetted. Plus I reckon it's the way they get watered in nature! Can see a fault though....if there's any amount of 'soil' in a mix, it will eventually get washed down to the lower levels, or out completely (would losing it be detrimental, I shouldn't think so?) It could induce rot if it is able to stay within the mix at the bottom and hold onto the water. Anyway, top watering is what works for me & my plants, so I'm stickin' to it :) Gill UK
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nomen_nudum
9 years ago
I've several types of rottings that are bottom watered and have grown some others by bottom watering only some of mine that have white foliage can only be watered by the rim of the pot

if you want to bottom water a plant then help yourself bottom water , even in grits water will find a way
petrushka (7b)
9 years ago
most mixes straight from the shop will bottom wick, as they contain largely peat, which wicks easily. but if you let it sit too much - it might absorb too much water. peat needs to be cut with perlite roughly by 25-30% , so as not to get water-logged.
if the mix is coir peat however, it will not get water-logged, even though coir-peat actually absorbs a little more water then reg peat. but it maintains air-spaces even when wet - so the roots can still have air.
IF your mix contains coarser coir pellets (chips) - they maintain as much air-space if not more then bark. they wick up very well too, but bark does not wick.
so if your mix contains mostly bark (more then 50%) - it will wick some but poorly, only the bottom layer (which is usually the wettest anyway).
for bottom-wicking in general the 1:1:1 ratio of bark/peat/perlite is recommended (see raybo mixes for example).
MsGreenFinger GW
9 years ago
Bottom watering is fine especially for those plants that don't like water on their leaves or rosette. Yet it is harder to estimate the need of the plant this way. It may sit in water or go thirsty. A thorough flush every now and then is necessary for all potting media.
I grow in hydroton (semi-hydroponics), clay balls wick really well, keep roots moist as long as there is water in the reservoir + 2 days. Easy to flush.

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