WaterWATER

In the growing season, water generously once the surface of the mix has dried. In the winter rest, keep it on the dry side. Enduring drought and not needing water are different things: continued withholding stops growth and leads to browning leaf tips and exhausted roots. Japanese growers' records include plants that browned under dry management and recovered once watering was increased.

Do not leave water standing in the saucer. Water is taken up by the roots, not the leaves, so watering is aimed at the base of the plant, without rubbing the trichomes off the leaves.

On bottom watering

In our growing, bottom watering — standing the pot in water so that it is absorbed from below — is not used for everyday watering, but as a temporary method for limited purposes: rooting offsets, sowing seed, nursing plants whose roots have been damaged, and management in winter or indoors. Continued wetness leaves the impression of loosening the leaf form, so once the purpose — rooting or germination — has been achieved, we return to ordinary watering.

It is generally known in horticulture that continued bottom watering tends to concentrate fertiliser and salts in the surface layer of the mix, and occasional generous watering from above, to flush them through, is recommended. Our own line is not much at odds with these records.