Wait, you're supposed to water from the bottom? Just found out after 8 months.

I've been watering my balcony tomatoes from the top this whole time like a dummy. Last week I saw my basil leaves getting all yellow and spotted, so I looked it up. Turns out I was basically drowning the roots and causing fungus problems. Now I'm using a tray system under my pots and the plants look way happier after just 5 days. Has anyone else had that "oh no" moment with a basic veggie care thing?

3 comments

3 Comments

willowc6017d ago

Wait, eight months? Rookie numbers. I went two years before I figured out my succulents weren't supposed to sit in wet soil.

the_robert1mo ago

Bottom watering saved my pepper plants last summer, for real. I had the same problem with my basil getting all yellow and sad looking, and I thought it was just not enough sun or something. Turns out I was basically keeping the soil too wet on top and the roots were rotting out underneath. Switching to a tray system changed everything within a week, like the plants just perked right up. One thing I learned the hard way is that you gotta make sure the tray isn't too deep though, otherwise the roots can sit in water and rot just as bad. It's a fine line between helping them drink and drowning them again.

casey_barnes1mo ago

Got that tray trick to work for my tomatoes too @the_robert, but I learned something else that helped even more. I started letting the soil dry out completely between waterings, like bone dry almost cracking on top, and then bottom watering from there. The plants went crazy after that. Had a buddy who swore by misting his herbs every day and couldn't figure out why they kept dying, so I told him to stop babying them. Sometimes we overthink this stuff when the plants just want a little neglect. Works better than any fancy system I ever tried.