Hot take: Bottom watering is overhyped for most houseplants

I spent 18 months bottom watering every single plant in my collection. Trays, wicks, the whole setup. Then I noticed my pothos roots were rotting near the surface while the bottom looked fine. A friend who runs a greenhouse in Winston-Salem told me flat out that top watering mimics rain and most common houseplants want that. Switched to top watering with a fan drying the soil surface and everything perked up in 3 weeks. Anyone else find that bottom watering creates more problems than it solves?

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thea1435mo ago

Man! My friend killed her calathea doing bottom watering for months.

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xenan645mo ago

Bottom watering killed my calathea too, @thea143. People swear by it but these plants are drama queens about moisture levels. The water never really reaches the top roots evenly and they rot out from the bottom while the top soil stays dry. Plus those leaves curl up like they're offended by the whole situation. Just top water them with filtered water and call it a day.

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