This tends to be a cycle:
People buy airplants > water according to what they’re told (e.g. once a week, mist daily, soak once a month) > airplant rots > people are confused as to why because they followed the ‘instructions’.
So, let’s explain why.
Firstly, when you buy an airplant in Singapore, most of them come with a care guide. This is a guide. It is not a hard-and-fast thing. The same actually can be said of every single other plant you buy. I’ve seen so many of these ‘water ______ x times a week’. IT WON’T WORK. Why? Because in Singapore, all of us live in different environments.
Welcome to Singapore, where you have a) HDB flat corridors, b) HDB flat windows, c) landed properties, d) condominium balconies, e) penthouses… The variations are endless, actually. The variations are endless. Do you face another building? Do you face the vast emptiness of nothing? Do you face the main road? North? South? East? West? Hot? Not-so-hot? If I were to continue, it would be two paragraphs and I still wouldn’t be done.
Because of the endless permutations of living conditions, there are endless permutations as to how often you should water your plants.
So, instead of asking: How often should I water my plant, to which I cannot answer you with a definite answer (and will invariable tell you ‘depends on your environment’, consider this:
1) Where do you stay, and which direction do you face?
This is important because depending on your direction, you might get more or less sun throughout the year.
2) How much sun do you get?
More sun, more water. Less sun, less water. I adjust my watering throughout the year for my window plants. Obviously, you cannot water daily if your place is only bright shade as opposed to someone whose plants are out in the open.
3) How windy is your place?
A balcony will inherently be more airy and windy as compared to say, a corridor that’s blocked by another block.
4) How hot is your place?
I’ve spoken to people who say that their plants are severely dehydrated. Why? Hot tiles. Hot air makes your plants lose water and have a higher potential of cooking your plants. Mitigate by increasing humidity.
I’m going to give a few examples of different watering regimes based on environment:
Daily drenching. Plants tank water throughout the day.
Location: Balcony with unobstructed views, morning to afternoon sun.
Once every two to three days, depending on the weather.
Location: HDB corridor.
Once a week, regardless of what the weather is. Fan-assisted about an hour after.
Location: Indoors, under lights. (That’s me!)
Every day, regardless of weather.
Location: Plot conditions, warm in the day, cool at night.
See how in four examples, you have four different types of watering regimes? And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The variations are endless!
With that knowledge, analyse your home and where you’re hanging your plants. Start with perhaps once a week, and then adjust accordingly.
Remember, it’s always better to under-water the plants rather than over-water, and always water thoroughly!
A few more useful reads in the ‘Watering Your Airplant’ series:
“I mist my airplants daily!” – An exercise in watering.
Soaking and other shenanigans – A further exercise in watering.
A watering how-to: Tanking your plants
Essentially Epiphytes by Gwen 