If the pot is very shallow, using the guide to "water when the top inch (or two) of the soil feels dry" is usually ok. The same advice applied to plants in deeper pots, say 10" deep, is pretty much a recipe for over-watering. Here's why: For a very large % of plants, including PLs, it's best to water when there is just enough moisture in the medium to prevent drought stress. This means the soil column will be on the dry side except at the bottom. A pot filled with a 10" (deep) soil column very often supports a perched water table as tall as 6". This meant the top 2" of that soil column can feel dry, while the bottom 6" is 100% saturated. This has the potential to severely limit roots' ability to function, and, can set the stage for fungal root infections that wreck root health and often lead to the plant's loss of viability. Watering is a science and it holds significant sway over what kind of opportunity the grower might be able to provide the plant to realize as much of its genetic potential as possible. Poor soil and/or poor watering practices can rob a plant of virtually all of it's potential for growth and vitality, and much of its eye appeal. Using a 'tell' can take all the guesswork out of determining what moisture levels are deep in the pot where it counts most, and determining what intervals (between waterings) are appropriate. Using a 'tell' Over-watering saps vitality and is one of the most common plant assassins, so learning to avoid it is worth the small effort. Plants make and store their own energy source – photosynthate - (sugar/glucose). Functioning roots need energy to drive their metabolic processes, and in order to get it, they use oxygen to burn (oxidize) their food. From this, we can see that terrestrial plants need plenty of air (oxygen) in the soil to drive root function. Many off-the-shelf soils hold too much water and not enough air to support the kind of root health most growers would like to see; and, a healthy root system is a prerequisite to a healthy plant. Watering in small sips leads to avoid over-watering leads to a residual build-up of dissolved solids (salts) in the soil from tapwater and fertilizer solutions, which limits a plant's ability to absorb water – so watering in sips simply moves us to the other horn of a dilemma. It creates another problem that requires resolution. Better, would be to simply adopt a soil that drains well enough to allow watering to beyond the saturation point, so we're flushing the soil of accumulating dissolved solids whenever we water; this, w/o the plant being forced to pay a tax in the form of reduced vitality, due to prolong periods of soil saturation. Sometimes, though, that's not a course we can immediately steer, which makes controlling how often we water a very important factor. In many cases, we can judge whether or not a planting needs watering by hefting the pot. This is especially true if the pot is made from light material, like plastic, but doesn't work (as) well when the pot is made from heavier material, like clay, or when the size/weight of the pot precludes grabbing it with one hand to judge its weight and gauge the need for water. Fingers stuck an inch or two into the soil work ok for shallow pots, but not for deep pots. Deep pots might have 3 or more inches of soil that feels totally dry, while the lower several inches of the soil is 100% saturated. Obviously, the lack of oxygen in the root zone situation can wreak havoc with root health and cause the loss of a very notable measure of your plant's potential. Inexpensive watering meters don't even measure moisture levels, they measure electrical conductivity. Clean the tip and insert it into a cup of distilled water and witness the fact it reads 'DRY'. One of the most reliable methods of checking a planting's need for water is using a 'tell'. You can use a bamboo skewer in a pinch, but a wooden dowel rod of about 5/16” (75-85mm) would work better. They usually come 48” (120cm) long and can usually be cut in half and serve as a pair. Sharpen all 4 ends in a pencil sharpener and slightly blunt the tip so it's about the diameter of the head on a straight pin. Push the wooden tell deep into the soil. Don't worry, it won't harm the root system. If the plant is quite root-bound, you might need to try several places until you find one where you can push it all the way to the pot's bottom. Leave it a few seconds, then withdraw it and inspect the tip for moisture. For most plantings, withhold water until the tell comes out dry or nearly so. If you see signs of wilting, adjust the interval between waterings so drought stress isn't a recurring issue. Al

HU+digits - watering correctly isn't subjective in the sense that it pivots on the whim of the grower. IOW, given plant A, there is only 1 best way to water plant A, and no one can suggest an appropriate watering interval because that factor is in constant flux due to the fact that how much water the plant uses and weather's impact on evapotranspiration (water use by the plant + evaporation). How much to water: Ideally, a grower should be able to water to beyond the point of complete saturation of the grow medium, completely wetting the soil column, with at least 20% of the total volume of water applied exiting the drain hole, carrying any accumulating dissolved solids out of the pot in the waste water. If a grow medium won't support that type of watering without the plant having to pay a tax on root function/health due to prolonged periods of soil saturation, the grow medium is inappropriate. If watering intervals are much more than 3-5 days, it's a good bet (read a near certainty) the extended interval between waterings means varying degrees of potential are left lying on the table. It's very expensive in terms of energy outlay when saturated soil and the grower's watering habits come together to set up the cyclic death and regeneration of roots. Root growth always precedes top growth, so when saturated soil kills the heavy lifters (fine roots), t he top cannot grow until roots have regenerated enough mass to support additional top growth. Watering in small sips brings its own issues, namely, it ensures that all dissolved solids (salts) in tapwater and fertilizer solutions remain in the grow medium where they can A) accumulate to the point water uptake by the plant becomes impossible, or B) the ratio of nutrients in the soil solution becomes so skewed that an excess of nutrient X limits the plant's ability to take up nutrient Y - see "antagonistic deficiency". Watering is an art. When a bonsai master takes on an apprentice, the first thing he is taught is how/ when to water. Once (s)he understands that critical aspect of plant care, only then is the apprentice allowed to start venturing into other areas of plant care. Finally, if you're talking about me 'browbeating' Te, now that is subjective. I made a judgement call based on what I was reading in this thread and decided I would simply be straightforward and lay out the fact that (s)he is overlooking the remedy. My intent certainly was not to browbeat anyone. In order to come to that conclusion, you must overlook the several sincere and helpful posts, all dedicated to providing resolution to the issue Te is trying to deal with. I think Te fully understands I have his/ his plant's best interests at heart, and I think I was correct in my belief all that was needed was a little nudge. Al

"..... this plant came to me as a gift and i have no idea what kind if soil it is growing in. The organic fraction of grow media consists of millions of hydrocarbon chains. As the soil particles break down, some nutrients become soluble/ available in the soil solution from which the plant absorbs them. The carbon in the hydrocarbon chains gasses off in the form of CO2. This is why it seems like all of the grow medium has simply disappeared. I will have to buy new potting soil and new pots. What do you recommend i use?" I always recommend that growers use a grow medium (s)he can water at will w/o needing to worry about the grow medium remaining saturated for extended periods, limiting root function and killing fine roots due to an inadequate oxygen supply. Unfortunately, that suggestion eliminates at least 3/4 of the commercially prepared products we find loosely gathered under the umbrella of "potting soils/ media". Since the size of the particles that make up a medium are the primary driver of water retention, in order to take advantage of the superior texture of soils with a high level of air porosity and sharp drainage, the medium will necessarily have a very large % of coarse particles >1/10". I'm not suggesting you can't grow healthy plants in a medium based on all fine particles, but it will be more difficult and the margin for grower error diminishes inversely with the volume of excess water in a soil and the length of time the excess water hangs around. If we want to take advantage of highly aerated media with sharp drainage, it's best to build/ buy a medium that does that passively. If that's not in the cards, there are always the tricks I mentioned upthread that will help to limit the amount of excess water a planting is capable of holding. These are the 2 basic media I use for everything I grow. Both are very forgiving and easy to grow in. Al

i recognize this pic.. and wonder where your old post is??? .. scroll down the page and see if you can find it ... or even go to the second page if you cant find it ... if you posted in other forums.. link us to the other post ... ken