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I’m having some issues understanding what a stake should look like… | Anything about plants | Communauté Planta

Lynda

I’m having some issues understanding what a stake should look like when I’m using it to measure moisture in my plants that prefer to dry out before they get watered. My moisture meter showed that my philodendron was 34% moist, and normally I wouldn’t consider that a plant, with that moisture percentage, should be watered. However, I sent a picture of what the stake looked like after I checked the plant with it. There’s lots of little tiny crumbs, but not a lot of dirt on it. I think it would be really helpful, if some of you experienced Planta members, would show some of us less experienced individuals, what stakes should look like when a plant is not ready to be watered, and a picture of a stake when a plant is ready to be watered. Anybody game? TIA. 🤗💚

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  1. exitJiraffe

    So if it’s pretty much dry to the touch, I water. If it’s kinda moist, but only at the last 2-3” (depending on the pot) I water if it’s a plant that likes moist soil. If it’s pretty moist/wet along the entire stake, I hold off. I’d say based on how dry/crumbly that stake looks, I’d water. You can also weigh your plants when watered and then weigh when completely dry to get another data point that’ll help with figuring out when to water.

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    • exitJiraffe

      You also want to let the stake sit for 10 minutes or so before checking.

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  2. exitJiraffe

    So this I would consider not ready to water 3” pot, the wood is moist to the touch.

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    • exitJiraffe

      This one as well, 6” pot, and it’s a pothos, so I will wait a little bit longer.

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    • exitJiraffe

      This came out almost completely dry, so I would water. It’s really about how it feels and how the soil looks. But, just like a Water meter, it’s not a fool-proof method to determine whether or not to water; but it is a tool that can help you over time to recognize signs of when to water. When I first started I used clear pots to help establish what the soil looked like from a glance at the surface, and underneath.

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    • Lynda

      TXS for the pic; that’s helpful to see what a wet stake looks like. If a stake has just dry crumbs on it, then that means I should water it, correct? (In other words, a stake doesn’t have to come out perfectly clean, in order to be watered.) I also had no idea that a stake should be left in the soil for 10 minutes, or so. I had heard that you only needed to leave a stake in for a minute or so, in order to check a plants moisture level. I appreciate your time, and effort in helping me understand this method. 🤗💚🪴

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    • exitJiraffe

      You are correct, if it’s coming out completely clean it’s probably overdue for watering.

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  3. Lynda

    It would be a great idea, if pictures like these were available to newbies on Planta. In my earlier plant days, I never realized that watering could be such a complicated issue. It’s one thing to tell a new person to just put a wood stake in the soil, and read it, but without complete information on what to look for, it’s extremely confusing. I found that several of my plants had dried tips on their leaves, because even though I was using the stake method to check for soil moisture, I really didn’t know exactly what I was looking for. I thought if there were any crumbs, then I needed to wait more time before I watered my plant… and I ended up damaging some of my plants! Anyway, maybe there’s a way to help newbies understand this helpful method of watering. Thanks, again, for spending so much of your time helping me. 🤗💚🪴

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    • Sunny

      One member, PlantyAnn, has made many posts on the proper use of wooden skewers to check for moisture in potting soil. Unfortunately, you can’t search for posts by a member’s name unless the name is included in the post or in the comments. ExitJiraffe’s comments above are good descriptions of how to check for moisture. 🍀🪴

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    • Lynda

      Is there no way we can recall those posts of PlantyAnn’s? TIA. 🤗💚🪴

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    • exitJiraffe

      If you go to the community tab and hit the spyglass on the top right and search ‘Plantyann’ some posts come up.

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