How Often to Water a Chinese Evergreen Indoors

Water by dryness, not by day of the week

Chinese evergreen holds water in thick stems and fleshy roots, so it tolerates being dry far better than being wet. The whole of good watering is knowing when the pot has actually dried, and the answer changes by a factor of five between a warm bright summer room and a cool dim winter one.

The working rule is to let the top two inches (5 cm) of compost dry, then water until it runs freely from the drainage holes. Never water a small amount to a schedule: that keeps the surface damp while the bottom third of the pot stays permanently saturated, which is where root rot starts.

1. Push a finger in To the second knuckle, at the edge of the pot. Dry and loose at your fingertip means water. Cool and damp means wait, and check again in three days rather than watering to be safe.
2. Learn the pot's weight Lift the pot right after watering, then again a week later. The difference is unmistakable once you have felt it, and it reads the whole pot rather than one spot.
3. Use a wooden skewer in a big pot Push it two thirds of the way down at the edge and pull it out. Dark and damp means wait. In a pot over ten inches (25 cm) this is the only reliable way to know what the middle is doing.
4. Water until it runs out When you do water, water properly. Half the volume the pot needs leaves dry pockets that never rewet, and the roots in them die back.

Rough intervals through the year

These are for a plant in a pot about eight inches (21 cm) across, in moderate light. Halve the interval in a bright warm room and double it in a dim one. Adjust from what the compost is doing rather than from the table.

In a room that stays below 55F (13C) the plant is taking cold damage, and watering makes it worse. Move it somewhere warmer first, then work out the interval for the new position.

Why winter is where plants are lost

Almost every dead Chinese evergreen was killed between autumn and spring, and the mechanism is always the same. The room cools, the plant stops growing and stops drinking, the compost stays wet for weeks, and the owner keeps to the summer interval because the plant still looks fine. The roots rot in the wet, and the leaves collapse a month later when there is nothing left to save.

Cold water makes it worse. Water straight from a cold tap in winter can be twenty degrees below room temperature, and pouring it over roots that are already at the edge of their tolerance shocks them. Fill a can and let it stand overnight, or take the chill off it so it feels neither warm nor cold on the inside of your wrist.

1. Water in the morning The surface then dries before the night-time low. Watering in the evening leaves wet compost sitting through the coldest hours, which is the exact combination that rots roots.
2. Reduce the frequency, not the volume When you do water in winter, still water until it runs out of the bottom. The change is that you wait three or four weeks between waterings instead of one.
3. Empty the saucer within the hour Standing water at the base of the pot keeps the lowest roots permanently wet. This matters more in winter than at any other time, because the pot has no chance of drying it out.
4. Lift it out of the cachepot Watering a plant while it sits inside a decorative outer pot means you never see the water pooling underneath. Lift, water, drain for ten minutes, and put it back.

Telling too much from too little

The frustrating part of diagnosing this plant is that thirst and rot produce leaves that look broadly similar from across the room. The difference is in the compost and in the feel of the leaf and stem base, and checking those two things settles it in under a minute.

A thirsty plant stands back up within four to six hours of a proper watering. If it has not recovered by the next morning, the problem is the roots, and more water will finish it.

What to do when you have overwatered

Caught early, this plant recovers well, because the thick stems hold enough reserve to push new roots. Do not simply stop watering and hope. Take it out of the pot and look, which is the only way to know how far it has gone.

1. Slide it out and inspect Firm white or pale tan roots are healthy. Black, soft roots that slip their skin when pulled are rotten. Wash the old compost off gently so you can see what you actually have.
2. Cut back to firm tissue Trim off every soft root with clean scissors. If the stem base is soft too, cut the stem up into clean firm tissue and treat what is left as a cutting to reroot.
3. Repot smaller, not larger Put what is left into the smallest pot that holds the remaining roots, in fresh free-draining compost. A large pot around a reduced root system stays wet and repeats the failure.
4. Then leave it alone Water once lightly, keep it warm and out of strong light, and do not water again until the surface is properly dry. Do not feed for at least a month.

Water quality, and what to record

Brown crisp tips on an otherwise healthy plant in a pot that has not been changed for two or three years are usually a build-up of salts from tap water and fertilizer, not dry air. Twice a year, flush the pot by running water through it slowly for a couple of minutes and letting it drain fully. Rainwater or filtered water avoids the problem in the first place if your supply is hard or heavily chlorinated.

Keep a note of the date of each watering for one full year, alongside the room temperature and where the plant stands. That single record tells you your own intervals, which is worth far more than any table, and it makes the seasonal change obvious before the plant has to show you.