Plants for infrequent watering

Every plant on this shelf stores water in its leaves, stems or roots, and every one of them is built to go a long time between drinks. That habit is why the shelf is worth having. A plant that wants to be watered every few days is easy to forget and easy to drown, but a plant that stores its own supply is the opposite: it is hard to kill with too little water and quick to fail with too much.

The rule that follows is the same for each of them. Let the compost dry right through, then water thoroughly until it runs out of the drainage hole, and let the pot drain completely before it goes back on its base. A pot that still feels heavy does not need water. Lift it to judge: a plant that needs a drink is obviously light, and the difference is easy to feel once you have done it a few times.

The indoor members of the shelf are the snake plant, the ZZ plant, the aloes, the echeveria, the jade plant, the curio and the yucca. Their entries give a summer interval and a winter interval, and the winter figure is the longer of the two, because short days and cool rooms mean the plant uses very little water. Watering on a summer rhythm through a dark winter is the usual way these plants come to grief, so when the light falls, start stretching the gaps.

The outdoor members are lavender, salvia and plumbago, along with the bird of paradise. They come from ground that dries out between rains, and they are at their best in a bed or a large container in a sunny spot. In a garden they still want watering while they establish, and a dry spell in the first summer is the time to give them a soak rather than a light splash on the surface.

Infrequent does not mean never. A plant on this shelf that is newly potted, newly planted or stressed by a move needs regular water until its roots have spread into the new compost. Once it is established, the soak-and-dry rhythm takes over. Leaves that wrinkle or curl are the sign of real thirst, and a deep soak usually puts them right within a day or two.

Use the entries to pick the interval, and use the compost to decide whether today is the day. The daily log on this site can carry the summer and winter figures for each plant, so the next watering is always on the list without needing to be remembered.