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Am I the only one who uses a chopstick to check if soil is dry before watering?
I run a small flower shop in Austin and I used to kill so many potted plants by overwatering them. Last spring I was losing maybe $200 a month in inventory because the soil looked dry on top but was soaked down low. A customer who grows bonsai told me to stick a plain wooden chopstick into the pot for 10 minutes and pull it out. If it comes out clean, the soil is dry and needs water. If it comes out dark or has soil stuck to it, leave it alone. I tried it on my peace lilies, pothos, and ferns and honestly it worked almost every time. Now I keep a cup of chopsticks on the counter and check everything before I even grab the watering can. My plant loss dropped to almost nothing after about a month. Has anyone tried the same trick with something other than chopsticks, like a skewer or a pencil?
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anna7175d ago
Sticking a chopstick in for 10 minutes is way longer than I've ever tried, so now I'm wondering if my 2 minute check has been lying to me this whole time. Do you pull it out and read it right away, or let it sit a bit before judging? Also curious if depth matters, like do you push it near the edge of the pot or straight into the middle where the roots are? I've been using bamboo skewers from the grocery store and they seem to work, but the pointy ends make it harder to tell where the wet line actually stops.
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