Watering plants: what does "dry-wet cycle" really mean and how do you do it?

Flowers & Gardening Jan 1, 1970 0 views

Gardeners often ask in group chats what exactly "dry-wet cycle" means. Today Hua You Jun will explain it in detail for fellow gardeners. The dry-wet cycle is really just a way of thinking about watering, not something you copy mechanically, because on the surface it is four words, but underneath it is about understanding your own potted plants.

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First, let's talk about why we water using the dry-wet cycle. Hua You Jun's understanding is that this mimics the natural environment with its sunny days and rainy days. When plants lack water, they have a self-protection mechanism, and when water is available, a water-storage mechanism kicks in. In this alternating dry and wet environment, plants can maintain their natural state to the greatest extent, which is beneficial for promoting flowering, maintaining plant form, and root growth.

Keeping the potting soil constantly moist either leads to leggy growth or root rot, while potting soil that is too dry easily causes plants to die of drought. Potted plants differ from ground-planted ones: potted soil is limited, and plants can easily die from lack of water.

Back to the topic: the dry-wet cycle mainly means not watering too frequently, but also not being too lazy to water.

Let's give an example. Suppose we have a potted plant on the windowsill. After watering it thoroughly, when should we water next time? I look at two things: whether the potting soil is dry, and the state of the plant.

If the potting soil is already dry, you can water again at this point. If I want to wait a bit longer, then look at the plant's condition to see whether there are signs of water shortage. If the leaves are rather wilted or not green enough, it means the plant is short of water and you cannot wait any longer. If the plant looks normal, you can continue to wait before watering. Beginners must remember: do not grab a ladle of water every morning the moment you open your eyes, feeling that the flowers will not survive without it. Experienced growers who know their own plants can ignore this.

In addition, when watering plants we also need to consider the depth of the pot and the permeability of the soil. What we said above mainly applies to plants in shallow pots. For these plants, water drains quickly and evaporates quickly, so the dry-wet cycle is relatively easy to manage.

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Some potted plants are in large, relatively deep pots. In that case, do not be fooled by the surface of the potting soil. Be sure to dig into the surface of the soil to check the moisture at the lower layers. You can insert a chopstick or bamboo skewer into the soil to see whether it is wet.

Deep pots lose moisture slowly, so you do not need to water too frequently; otherwise, waterlogging and root rot easily occur.

I do not know whether fellow gardeners have understood. Watering flowers is not hard; what is hard is that different containers, soils and growing environments all affect watering frequency. But the core point is that there must be no waterlogging.

Plants grown outdoors can mostly be watered generously with ladle after ladle without problems, while for indoor plants, watering can easily lead to root rot over time because the previous watering has not yet evaporated before the next one is added.

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Watering plants: what does "dry-wet cycle" really mean and how do you do it?

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