Some people like to reguarly water their plants. This might be by using a watering can, other water container, a garden hose, or an in situ irrigation system. The purpose of this page it to let you know, do it wrong, and you can cause as much harm as good.

There are some principles of watering to follow:

1. A plant cannot have too much water in a single watering. However you can waste water if you over do it.

2. A plant can be wrecked if watering occurs too frequently. What matters is frequency of watering, not the amount in a single watering.

3. Too much water too often means the soil never drys out. With plants, perpetual wetness means it is trying to live in a bog. This can cause tip roots to rot, especially when they are soft in the spring growing season. When tip roots (apical roots) rot the plant looks like it is suffering from wilt, which it is. The loss of apical roots means the plant is unable to take up water even though water may be available. Some think the solution to solving the wilt effect of too much water - is to give it some more water which escaltes the problem.

4. Soil media should be allowed to dry out to some extent between watering so it can aerate.

5. Plants know how to adapt to dry conditions better than you do. 

6. Plants with a silver, grey, or blue foliage color tend to be adapted to drought conditions. They need little to no watering in a garden situation, unless they are sheltered and get no rain.

7. Plants with micro sized leaves tend to be better adapted to drought conditions than plants with larger green leaves.

8. Often the country of origin will indicate what plants varieties are better adapted to dry conditions e.g. Australia or South Africa.

9. Nothing beats rain for watering plants. Watering systems may keep plants going in a drought, but plants will thrive better with rain. Rain has a more uniform spread of water and brings down nutrients from the aptmosphere.

10. Too little water is wasteful as all you are doing is washing the dust off the leaves.

11. A plant in a container does not have to be soaked in a bucket of water before planting. Plant the plant in the dirt at the same level it is in the container. Then give it a good soak to settle the dirt around the root ball and remove any air pockets. Then in most cases leave it alone and it will adapt.

12. In situ irrigation systems for home gardens are not necessary. What matters more is topsoil, and loose soil around the root ball when the plant is planted in the ground.