HOW TO BOTTOM WATER HOUSEPLANTS | Should You Be Using This Method For Your Plants?! 

I bottom water my house plants. It does take a lot of time but with about 100 plants I rarely see fungus gnats. I’m retired so it’s my hobby so I have the time. LOL.

I started to bottom water early in my plant journey after a pretty serious fungus gnats infestation and never looked back. All my plants have strong root system to the point I had to remove extra top soil from some of my pots. In my case for a 6” pot I usually fill a 6” saucer x 2 which is approximately 150 to 200 ml. My big plants in 10 to 12” pots can soak up to 1 1/2 liter of water every 15 to 20 days depending on the weather However I recently start to sparingly top water because the infestation seems to be under control thanks to Mosquito bits and bottom water. ⚠️ If you have been bottom water for a long time be careful if you decide to transition back to top water because the roots are going to be mostly at the bottom of the pot and wet top soil could rot the base of your plant since there are no or few upper roots.

I have a really big problem with those knats, so now i am watering from the bottom, I actually put dish soap in a little shot glass and wow, a lot of those fungas knats are going in there. Good video❤

I bottom water almost all of houseplants and all of my vegetable seedlings for my outdoor garden. I put them outside for a rain shower or hose off in the sink to clean the leaves. It really helps cut down on fungus gnats and I think the roots grow stronger. I recently read somewhere that it’s good for top heavy plants like sansaveria to be bottom watered.

Your channel is the best! Every time I need help with my plants, you've addressed it in one of your videos. I'm going to try bottom-watering my peperomia I've been having issues with. Thank you :)

It’s about the frequency of watering and not the amount you water. As long as you let the plant dry out as instructed by research (aka google) you’ll be fine.

Thank you for the great tips!!

I bottom water 100% of my plants. I don't stick my finger in, bc I'm never sure. I scrape back an inch or two of the top soil a good inch or more down - if it is a dry damp (not soggy or shiny wet) then I water. Ever since I started bottom watering and checking the soil 'visibly' as well as touching - my plants are now thriving beautifully. Ofc, I have a lot of ferns and Calatheas, but for regular plants & succulents I let them get just a bit dryer. It's interesting how people say 30 minutes. I let them sit for hours, even over night but some like ferns & Calatheas in peat moss are much faster, however I know how much they will take up. I previously was a chronic under-waterer epic 'killer of plants', but now as soon as the very top layer of the soil is 'visually' dry I start checking for when the top inch or more is dry as a visibly dry damp.

I'm new to the house plant world, soo glad I discovered thus method 😄 ☺️ ❤️

thank you for sharing great ideas have a wonderful and blessed day❤❤

I think I havea few plants I might try this on. Thanks for sharing.

this is great! My previous peperomia orba pixie rotted off soon after watering even though I knew it was thirsty. Will have to try bottom watering next time

Thanks

Great Video! What type of Water? I know water on water softener line isn't good. What about distilled water? Does that help avoid the mineral deposits that you mentioned in your instructions? Thank you!

Thank you for using a snake plant!!!! I always overwater them! I will definitely try to bottom water from now on. Question: I have found a chunky fast draining soil mix. Will that mix work on bottom watering as well? Or should I use a moisture retaining soil instead? Thank you!

Congratulations on the growth of your channel. 🎉

All my planters have a saucer with enough water to let them drink as much I they want. I just fill it up with water once dried up. Use compost tea for watering. Or, steep or soak leaves or yard waste, compost or other organic sources for watering. Water will smell like rotten eggs but plants would love it. Your plants will look like they just fresh from the nursery. New shoots will start to pop out. Make sure to take before and after shots. Avoid chlorinated water, if you can.

I find this approach doesn’t take time if you use a big tub and put 4 or 5 plants at a time in there; and just never drain the tub so it’s at the ready for another day. And don’t do all of your plants at the same time, do 4 or 5 daily. It becomes a 15 minute, once a day job and over the course of a week you can easily cover off a very large plant inventory.

Hi Jeff. Good demo! I agree bottom watering is fine on a limited basis for certain plants but way too time consuming for more than a handful of plants.

Hi..Jeff, may i ask about jade plants, how long i have to bottom water of my jade plants, I'm use plastic pot. Tq..

So for bottom watering do I need to repot and add perlite first? They are all new plants and I'm a new plant mom but ots time to water them

I might need to do this for my herb sprouts. Some of them are so tiny that the finest overhead mist pounds them like a monsoon torrent.

Huge fan of bottom watering. After starting vegetables from seed indoors last year, and having a houseful of fungus gnats, I am very hesitant to top water. I know that every now and again it is in the best interest of the plant to flush things through, but .... 😣😬

I, too mostly bottom water. I do occasionally add water at the top, as well. Especially if the medium seems hydrophobic or I’m using Liquidirt. I’ve also let the plant sit longer, up to 30 minutes in the case of my peace lily and scindapsus. I always have a timer set, but don’t necessarily need it, since I water mostly in the kitchen where I can’t forget.

I have a gloxinia aka sonata, do I have it on top of stones?

How long do you leave the water ?

Won't you have fungus gnats at the bottom then in this case?

all great, my question is how to cotrol the mold on top of soil from bottom watering ?

If the soil is loose, does watering from below work?😢

Do you use LECA or PON at all? I'm not sure how much to water or how often??

🌿💚

I struggle with scindapsis and being sensitive to soil moisture, do you think they would benefit from bottom watering?

Hi this is kind of off topic 🙃 but I took some cuttings of my pothos plant it's grown and all I have is cactus soil from Walmart. Is it okay to use ?

might be a silly question, but how do you know when its time to water again if the top of the soil is always dry?

I bottom water all my succulents & Sansevieria but I add much more water than you in the plastic container. The plant sucks it up so much faster but I always let them sit on a cloth after to take away excess water.

How many minutes left the plant on water?😢

I do this occasionally

can I bottom water when traveling . I will typically leave for 2-3 months during the summer . can bottom watering work for that long?

What kind of peperomia is that? A Rana Verde?

Put one inch of water? 3:50😢

I've had plants to die because of heavy rain outside and I forgot to remove the bottom water trays so in just five six days it had rotted Roots severely in a bunch of plants if the soil is super wet this is a terrible idea

Such a bad instructional video, should be removed.

So for bottom watering do I need to repot and add perlite first? They are all new plants and I'm a new plant mom but ots time to water them.