Water Your Pot has years of experience watering pots, planters, hanging baskets and everything that has to do with drip irrigation. Proper watering of the plants in your containers is crucial to having them perform their best. Once you get a little bit of experience, understanding when and how much to water becomes almost second nature. However, when you are first starting out, figuring out how to make those plants happy can be pure frustration. The most common cause of early plant death is generally considered to be over-watering

If you are planting in a pot, make sure there is at least one drainage hole in the bottom of the pot. Proper drainage is essential to happy roots, and happy roots are essential for happy plants. Pots that do not have proper drainage are very easy to over-water.

If your plant is in a pot, check the surface of the soil in the pot either by looking at it or touching it with your finger. Wet soil will be dark in color while dry soil will be lighter in color. For peat based soil mixes (the most common type), this means dark brown to black is wet, while ‘paper bag’ brown is dry. If the surface of the soil is dry to the touch (or looks dry) water your plants. You may need to check your plants twice a day to see if they need water. Remember just because one pot needs water that doesn’t mean they all do. Differences in pot and plant sizes will impact how quickly a pot dries out.