House Plants

[Grace58]

I have the world's most stupid question. I want to get some plants for the house, but taking the plants out of the pots to water them in the sink like I've seen my Mum do will probably mean I put it off for ages until they die! Are the pots that have a saucer underneath built in any good? Or is there any kind of alternative? I had a planter thing for the windowsill years ago that seemed to have a drainage bit built into the bottom, but I don't remember what it was called. I was hoping for something more decorative though!

Any help would be greatly appreciated - sorry I know it is probably a bit of a stupid question to people who know things about plants!

You absolutely don't have to water them in the sink - that is good for giving them a good bottom up soaking and then letting them drain completely but it's not compulsory!

You will need either saucers under the pots, or decorative pots without holes to put the pots with drainage holes into, and then you can just water them in situ. You do have to check that they aren't left sitting in water which has run through and gathered in the saucer/pot for any length of time as most houseplants don't like to sit in water and it will make their roots rot if it happens for long periods.

I have mine in typical plastic garden pots inside more decorative pots. I put water in the bottom of the decorative pot, let them sit in there until the top of the soil feels wet then take the plant out and tip out the excess water. In my experience, letting them sit in water in a saucer kills them off.

Most houseplants don't need water as often as you think. My most frequently watered plants are once every 2 or 3 weeks in summer. My snake plant is more like every 2-3 months. I've killed a lot of plants by overwatering in the past. When plants are dying from root rot it looks like they need water so it's very tempting to keep watering.

I've got a beautiful money plant that doesnt even need a saucer. I water it once a week.

I also have some cacti and succulents which don't sit in saucers - I let them get quite dry then I absolutely soak them, like I'm replicating a desert wet season. Or something.

All my plants are very happy.

I don't shower or bottom-water (that sounds rude, but you know what I mean) mine.

I just stick with things that I'm pretty confident I can't kill! Which at the moment extends to sansevieria, zamioculcas, aspidistra and pothos.

I have lots of houseplants, some of them are in pots with drainage holes on saucers/plates and some of them are in pots with no drainage holes.

I hate pots with drainage holes!
The ones I have with holes and saucers/plates underneath I am constantly looking for the same size pots without holes and researching ways to block the holes up.

I haven’t yet managed to kill a plant by overwatering but I have come close to killing plants by underwatering as the water runs out quickly and floods over the saucer making the floor wet, so I end up not watering them enough in fear of flooding.

Some of my houseplants just get watered from the top, as described by PP.

Others if do sometimes put a load in the sink at the same time for a bottom water or thorough soak (esp orchids ) but more often one at a time in an old plastic tub.