Is it better to water your house plants in the morning?

I’m here to give you info about house plants, so instead of making you read all the way to the bottom of the post to get the takeaway, I’ll just put it here:

The best time to water your plants is when you remember.

There you go. I purposefully forwent (?) SEO juice to make you feel better about panic-pouring your half-empty water glass on your collapsed fern at 3am on Sunday morning.

YOU’RE WELCOME.

Getting into house plants can present ENORMOUS learning curves.

I had no idea that you had to pick a side over issues such as:

• Whether you’re Team Castrate or Team Leave-flowers-alone
• Team Filtered water or Team Tap

And, of course, most dividing of all:

• Team Mist or Team Misting does fuck all

I’m in the latter team of all of these, and proud.

Read why I’m anti-misting here.

When I first got into the heady world of house plants I thought the only aim we all had was keeping our plants alive.

Turns out you can also have a really strong opinion on something you never thought you would.

I’ve formed an opinion on whether or not it’s beneficial to water in the morning, but it’s not strong. I try to keep all my rules about house plants pretty flexible, for the benefit of my plants.

Feel free to pop any opinions you have (on anything, just keep them kind) in the comments below.

So, does it really make a difference whether you water your plants in the morning or the evening? Apparently so. Let’s dive in…

Benefits of watering your plants in the morning

• The air isn’t too hot, so the plants have the opportunity to absorb it before it evaporates

• If you get any water on the leaves, it can evaporate more quickly, and be less likely to damage the plant

• Hydrating your plants before the hottest part of the day can reduce the chance of sunburn, but don’t let your plants sit in direct sunlight for extended periods of time without acclimatising them first. If you take your house plants outside in the summer, read this article before doing so.

• Plants that are dehydrated in the sun become targets for pests because their stems are more tender

• If you’re a natural over-waterer, the sun can evaporate any excess that your plant may be sitting in.

Benefits of watering your plants in the evening

• Water takes longer to evaporate, so if you’re an underwaterer your plant will get more time to absorb water without the sun stealing it.

Any disadvantages of watering in the morning or evening?

• Watering your plants in the evening leaves the soil damp for longer, and if you get water on the leaves there’s no sun to dry it off. Wet leaves and soil can encourage fungus and mildew to grow on your plant. Damp soil can also attract other pests like mealybugs

• Since it’s darker at night (wow, I’m really doling out the wisdom today) you’re less likely to spot any pests at night.

The best time to water your plants

You’d think, considering all the stuff I said in the section above that watering in the morning is a clear cut winner.

And yeah, in an ideal world, you’d bounce out of bed at 6 am and float around your abode, watering can in hand, tending your charges with the air of a disney princess.

But, erm, it doesn’t work like that.

I mean, what if you start work at some ungodly hour, have pets and kids to feed, or, you know, just plain don’t have time?

Plants are meant to improve your life, not cause more stress.

Then please, by all means, water your plants in the evening. Sure, you might have to be extra careful to not get water on the leaves, but you could always bottom water (read this article if you’re not sure whether bottom watering’s for you).

The best time to water your plants is when you remember.

Seriously. There is no point beating yourself up about missing the odd watering. Crispy tips are a fact of life. Some plants are just divas.

If you happen upon a dry plant at midnight, water it.

If you want to feel better about missing waterings, then check out Planterina’s channel. Whilst you’re at YouTube, please have a look at my channel too. It’s new and absolutely crap (WE ALL START SOMEWHERE) but packed full of tips, nervously told by me.

Get yourself into a routine, plant care-wise.

Every three days or so, take the time to look at all of your plants. The time of day isn’t nearly as important as the fact that you’re, you know, looking at your plants at all. Check if they need water, check for pests etc etc.

So yeah, water in the morning if you can, but if you have no choice but to water in the evening, then do that.