Watering instructions | greenituphk
What kind of water is best for the plants?
Most plants love acidity (PH <7), not alkaline (PH >7)
Best water for plants is
1) Raindrop
Alternatively, we suggest you to use filtered water or tap water which has been put aside in the kitchen for 2-3 days after the chlorine released.
Chlorine would make the leaves turn yellow over time.
If you use tap water with chlorine to spray leaves, it might cause white small dots on the leaves over time. But this can be removed by using oil based products.
How to do watering for big plants?
Watering is to the soil, not the leaves
Please do the overall watering to the soil – it means that each corner should be evenly watered, not just water a specific spot each time. It will cause only one-sided root got water but the other side remains thirsty; potentially you may see one side leaves get yellow and wilt if it has long time under-watered.
You can feel free to spray to the leaves, but not to the soil. Spraying to the leaves will increase the air humidity, remove the dust on the leaves and it can rinse away insect pests and fungal spores.
Suggested to have spraying / misting leaves 1-2 times a day. If there is a direct sunlight in the morning and you spray the leaves, potentially you will see a small black dots on the leaves as the leaves will get burnt.
Thus it will be good to spray / mist the leaves every evening
Spraying is good for most of the big plants, such as fiddle leaf fig, birds of paradise, areca palm, rubber plant, monstera and etc. But snake plant is an exception.
Spraying to the leaves can help remove the dust on the leaves in order to prevent plant illness, but you should also need to do a leaf-clean-up exercise once a month. This is better to get the dust removed. Please see the bottom of this page here to find out how to clean up the leaves.
How to determine how frequent you should water the plants?
We recommend to use put a chopstick (you can get it easily from any takeaway package) to insert in around 10-15cm deep of the soil ( Note - the depth depends on if you put the plant indoor or outdoors; for outdoor plants, we suggest you to insert the chopstick in the soil around 2-5cm depth especially for full sun condition) you can use it to check regularly if the soil is already dry or moist -
When you pull the chopstick up, if there is no soil attached on the chopstick and you touch the chopstick and feel it is dry, you can just water the plant;
if there is soil attached on the chopstick, and you touch the chopstick and feel it is wet - it means it is still moist deep inside and it is just good to leave it unwatered.
In short, the basic rule here is - water the plant when the soil is dry. For outdoor plants, usually water will evaporate faster and hence we will need to check the surface soil condition. For indoor plants, then we can just check the soil with 10-15cm depth.
Please use the chopstick to check a few spots of the plant, not just one specific spot as in case of uneven watering.
This is the best way to tell you when you should get the plant water as different places have different humidity and different plants have different water absorbance ability.
It also prevents you to over water the plant to cause the root rotten.
After you water, how to do you know if the water is sufficient for the plant?
You can check if the soil still remains wet after your watering in 1 - 2 hours and perfrom the above chopstick testing. You can leave the plant unwatered if the soil is wet in 10-15cm's deep.
To follow up, the next day after you water the plant, please do the same thing by using the chopstick to check.
How to determine how much water for your plants?
Each plant has different watering preference - some prefer more moist condition but some prefer more dry condition.
The weather is a factor here - you need to adjust your watering amount and frequency depending on the weather - for example, if it is in winter, the growth of the plant will get slower and thus, less water amount will be applied. For spring and summer, the plants need to get growth and more water amount is required.
The home condition also determines how much water for your plant. Under direct sunlight conditions, the plants should get more water (otherwise easily to have yellow leaves). If your home is extremely dry (with low air humidity), you should also increase the watering amount with spray to the leaves.
The watering frequency also matters.
Thus, it is not easy to tell you how much water you need exactly for each big plant each time. It is a case by case even for the same plant.
Hence, we can give you a rough idea here how much water to start with for your first watering below.
h​ttps://www.greenituphk.com/getting-started-with-big-plants
Please note that the above amount is for the first watering which should be higher than your usual watering amount. You may need to use 200-300ML lower from your second time testing. Please do adjust the watering amount later on if you find if it is too much/ less for your plant based on your chopstick testings over time.
When you start with this amount of watering, please check the chopstick the next day to see if it has been dry up in 10-15cm deep of the soil ( Note: for outdoors, you can check it at 2-5cm depth of the soil for full sun/ half sun condition); You should always adjust the watering amount and watering frequency based on your check with the chopstick and how the plant reacts.
- If it is dry, ​please kindly water again to the soil. In the meanwhile, you can also adjust your watering amount next time by applying more water to the soil and see if the plant will absorb the water quickly.
- If the soil is moist, then please just leave it alone and do the chopstick testing again the next day.
- Sometimes the plant will also tell you if it wants to get more water or not. For example, if you note that the leaves are curly and unfolded, it may be a sign of thirsty. Yellow tips of leaves and droopy leaves could also suggest lack of water. Black spots with yellow leaves may be due to excessive water.
The answer for watering amount and frequency should be all tested by yourself.
You need to adjust and change your watering amount depending on your home, weather and plant conditions time over time.
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INSECT REPELLENT INSTRUCTIONS
How to use the Insect repellent?
Shake a few times well before use
Spray tops of leaves and the soil at a distance of approx. 30-40cm
Only spray 1-3 times by doing short click of the button; don’t over spray
Repeat treatment every 2 weeks; once a week to be applied if there is a severe bug issue
Don't spray in full sunlight, nor on open blooms.
After using the spray, please water your hands and don’t touch the plant immediately
Better touch the plants after spraying 1 week later for the best safety
WATER PROPAGATION INSTRUCTIONS
(ONLY FOR CERTAIN PLANTS)
[ Not every plant can be water propagated; this only applicable to certain types of plants].
Propagation for many plants is best done in potting soil, but some plants can be propagated in water.
Most Aroid plants can be propagated in water, including pothos plants and monsteras.
These plants originate from an ancestor that lived in swamps, so being able to adapt to flooding conditions and still being able to grow was key to survival. As a result, the descendants of that ancestor have the ability to grow in water, too.
However, they are still land plants and will do best if planted in soil over the long term. Follow our easy steps below and you’ll be putting the ‘pro’ in propagation.
Glass pot / vessel filled with room temperature water
On a mature vine, look right below the leaf or stem/vine juncture for a tiny brown root node. The brown root node is the aerial root, which is the key to propagating pothos.
Use scissors to cut off the stem with the aerial roots.
Place your plant cutting in your glass pot with room temperature water ​and put it in a spot that receives bright to moderate indirect light. Do not place in strong, direct light or super-low light. Ensure the water in the pot covers the roots.
Lastly, you need to replace the water at least once a week. It will help the plant grow healthier.
If you don't change the water frequently, there might be murkiness or fungi growing. If the water is murky, we recommend replacing it for the health of the growing root system.
If you’d like to transplant your plant cutting from the glass vessel into a pot with potting soil, we recommend waiting until the root is at least 1 inch long or longer.
This should take 4-6 weeks. Once the roots of the cutting are potted in fresh potting mix, saturate that mix with room temperature water and place in bright indirect light. Let potting mix dry out between waterings.