I’ve always erred on the side of caution and kept my plants on the dry side because experts say that overwatering is the No. 1 cause of houseplant death. So why, then, is my Instagram feed filled with photos of plants stuffed into people’s bathtubs, leaves dancing in the downpour? Wouldn’t running the shower on your plants for an extended period of time drown them out? “If you forget to water for a while and your soil is really hard and cakey, putting it in the shower is a great way to rehydrate it,” she says. Another telltale sign your plant is too dry is if it’s “channeling,” which basically means that little channels have formed in the soil that make water drain straight to the bottom quickly. In situations like these, hand watering might not be enough to get your houseplant the nutrition it needs, so you can pop it in the shower for a few minutes. (Think of water like food to your plant pal). Bullene likens a dry plant to a dry sponge: It needs to be damp before it can really start to absorb the good stuff. Sticking your plant in the shower will saturate its soil again and clean off its foliage too. However, it’s possible to overdo it—especially if your home doesn’t get much light. “If you don’t have high light, you shouldn’t put your plants in the shower because they’ll have so much water to process now, and they need enough light to do it,” Bullene explains. If you have a really dry plant in a low-light area, she says there are a few options: You can put it in the shower and then move it to an area that gets more direct sun, invest in a grow light, or forgo the shower and just compress your soil instead. Using the back of your hand, press down hard on your soil to break down the channels that have formed. Don’t be afraid to really get in there! Once you’ve lowered the soil level, you can add a new layer of topsoil and give the whole thing a good hand watering. That’s one plant paradox solved. Emma received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. In addition to penning over 1,000 mbg articles on topics from the water crisis in California to the rise of urban beekeeping, her work has appeared on Grist, Bloomberg News, Bustle, and Forbes. She’s spoken about the intersection of self-care and sustainability on podcasts and live events alongside environmental thought leaders like Marci Zaroff, Gay Browne, and Summer Rayne Oakes.
