Drown and out

OVERWATERING YOUR PLANTS? AN EXPERT EXPLAINS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW. BY HANNAH STEPHENSON

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HOUSEPLANT enthusiast Jonny Balchandani, better known as the @thebeardedplantaholic, is determined to bust myths about how to best look after houseplants.

The self-taught ‘plant whisperer’ and digital marketing director has cultivated a leafy indoor jungle of between 5,000 and 6,000 plants at his family home and in his debut book You're Overwatering It!, Jonny dismisses some age-old advice. Here are his top tips...

Don’t follow a ‘once a week’ watering regime, he advises. All you need is your finger, or a chopstick will do, to tell if your plant needs water.

“Stick your finger into the soil. If you pull your finger out and there is soil stuck to your finger, leave the plant alone. Same principle with the chopstick. If you pull your finger out and there’s hardly any dirt or no dirt, it’s bone dry, then give it a good soaking, let it drip dry and put it back where it was.”