Hi, Sarah - don't worry about 'fitting in'. Everyone is always anxious to help a fellow grower who's in need. A couple of things I noticed, one of which isn't too important, but the other is, is that lifting your pots can be an extremely effective way to gauge the moisture content of the soil. The soils I use are so porous that it's very difficult to over-water, yet I have at least a dozen plants I check regularly by lifting them to see how heavy the planting is, which instantly tells me if they need water. That technique works best for smaller plants in light pots. The second issue that I think warrants additional discussion is whether or not the effluent (water that has exited the drain hole) needs to be removed from the collection saucer. You can decide, but I left this, which directly addresses that issue, on another thread yesterday: The reason we are wisely instructed to flush the soil when we water so a significant fraction of the total volume of water applied when we irrigate exits the drain hole are two. One is to help ensure the entire soil volume is moistened, but equally or even more important is the fact that this practice purges the soil of accumulating solubles (salts) that make water/nutrient absorption increasingly difficult as the TDS/EC levels (salt levels) become more concentrated. At best, too high concentrations of solubles in the soil solution spoil the appearance of foliage, usually first becoming manifest in burned root tips and leaf tips/margins, at worst in the collapse of the plant. We need to note though, that the soil the plant is in needs to be able to support this type of watering w/o the grower having to be concerned about extended periods of impaired root function due to soggy conditions, or worse, root rot getting a hold because of the same concern. Isotonicity is the process by which the level of dissolved solids in the effluent in a collection saucer will quickly balance or equalize itself to/with the level of dissolved solids in the soil solution. When there is a 'connection' between the effluent in the collection saucer and the water in the soil that results from a wick dangling in the effluent or the fact that a part of the soil is in contact with the effluent, all the solubles in the collection saucer will find their way back into the soil solution until the level of solubles in the effluent is equal to the level of solubles in the soil solution. If you take a new sponge that is saturated with fresh water and stand it on end in 1/2" of salted water or fertilizer solution, using an inexpensive moisture meter you can measure the increase in electrical conductivity at the top of the sponge within a very short time - seconds - a clear indication of isotonicity at work, of the fact that salts in the effluent will quickly reach a balance with the salts in the soil solution. So, not removing the water from the collection saucer ensures all the salts flushed from the soil can make their way back into the soil unless the connection between the soil and the effluent is broken. Best would be to water over a sink if plants are small enough & return the plant to the collection saucer after the pot has stopped draining, or for larger plants to set the pot up on 'feet' or blocks that are inside the saucer, the object of which is to effectively lift the soil above the effluent in the saucer, high enough to ensure the connection between the effluent and soil or any wick you might be using is broken. I hope that was helpful. Welcome to the forum - have fun! Al

Reviving this thread as I also need some advice on my ailing polka dot plant (pics below). I don't have before pics, but my little polka dot plant was thriving - I got it last month and though it was already a healthy plant, it perked up considerably and got bigger. This weekend, I noticed that the roots were significantly growing out through the holes in the plastic pot it came in from the nursery. I repotted it yesterday into tapla's gritty mix (@tapla - I've been reading these forums quite a bit since starting up my house plant collection early this year and your posts have been so informative!). Today, it looks very sad and droopy and the leaves feel very delicate and soft, which was not the case yesterday prior to the repot. I'm new to plants generally so this is the first time I've repotted a plant, but this is what I did for the repot: - Took as much soil off as possible with my hands and then tried to wash off the rest of the soil so the roots were mostly bare/clean - Put it into a slightly bigger planter than the plastic nursery planter it came in - the new planter has a drainage hole - I watered the new mix after I put the plant in, which I'm now thinking I shouldn't have done I'm not sure what exactly to do now. It's located in the same spot it was before when it was doing well so is getting the same amount of light and temperature. I don't know if it needs a few days to adjust as I've noticed that this plant reacts pretty quickly to changes. For example, prior to the repot, it would perk up considerably after being watered even though it wasn't at all droopy prior to being watered. Any suggestions on what to do? Did I do something incorrect during the repot? Did I overwater it and it just needs some time to dry out? Is my new pot too big? Is the gritty mix not the right mix for this plant? Does it just need time to adjust? Did I need to arrange the roots a certain way in the new planter? (Sorry, so many questions running through my head!)

Happy to relate what I've experienced. The older stems die back over winter & then new ones come up. For this reason, my potted ones have other plants in the pot, so the pot doesn't get so terrible & boring looking from just the PD, and so it's not such a mystery about how often to water. During the hot, long days of summer, this is not a full-sun plant, but during the shorter days & weaker rays of winter, a spot near a sunny window is a great one for a PD sheltering from winter.

Shoot to the right looks like it has a stem rot, if you are located in the north conditions you are providing may have now become too damp and cool for this plant. I watered it(on it’s usually time Even though they are indoors tropical house plants located where there is a marked winter season often need much less watering once the cold and dark time of the year starts to set in.