Looking for the best way to water planters? We've got watering tips and tricks for your container plants here!

Did You Know?

dry soil is hydrophobic. It can be difficult to rehydrate if your soil gets to dry!

Choose the Right Soil Medium

Sometimes watering troubles can be caused by the type of soil in your planters. Some soil has a tendency to dry out too quick, while other soil mixes may stay swampy and waterlogged seemingly forever. It's important to pick a good medium for your planters, to make your watering job easier.

In general, container plants should be in a potting mix. Potting mixes contains lots of perlite for aeration and drainage, as well as lots of peat moss or coco peat to help hang onto moisture.

In dryer climates, I suggest adding more coco peat or peat moss to your potting mix to increase its moisture retention.

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shredded coco peat rehydrated for gardening
Coco peat is a great soil addition if you want your planters to retain moisture for longer

For humid climates you'll do better with more perlite and sand, and less peat moss / cocoa peat to help your soil dry out faster.

Often, I find that the watering issues people are having come down to their planters being filled with a low quality topsoil, or dirt they dug up from the yard. A fluffy, light, airy potting mix works much better.

In a pinch, perlite and coco peat can be added to topsoil in order to improve its quality. Still, I'd suggest compost instead of topsoil if you have the means to do so.

Don't be surprised if you try to use topsoil or lawn soil in your planters and they end up waterlogged, swampy, and start breeding fungus gnats. The soil texture and quality are likely the problem in this case.

Let the Soil Dry Out Enough

In general, people have a tendency to over-water their plants much more than under-water. A simple moisture meter can immediately give you an objective moisture level at any soil depth.

This is helpful to know, as you can avoid this issue pretty easily.

One sure sign that you're not letting your soil dry it out enough is the presence of fungus gnats. These mildly annoying little critters act as a canary in the coal mine to warn you that you've been letting your soil stay too wet for too long. If you see them, let the soil dry out more thoroughly between waterings.