Plants turn a house into a home and enliven a space with their beauty and greenery. Being a plant parent isn’t exactly hard, but it does take time and care. Any time we can cut down on plant maintenance and save time, we’re game. So when we learned how putting coffee filters in your flower pots can help in many ways, we just had to share.
How Coffee Filters Improve Water Drainage
Keeping a plant healthy often comes down to a few things: water, sunlight and drainage. Typically when potting a plant, you’ll start by layering the bottom of your pot with rocks, followed by soil and the plant. This setup allows water to drain through the holes at the bottom of the pot and prevent root rot. Unfortunately, dirt can also pass through the rocks, clogging the drainage holes and creating a water-log. However, placing a coffee filter at the bottom of your pot can help the dirt stay put while the water drains out easily. Bonus: This method lets roots spread out as much as possible to absorb water and nutrients.
You can use a brand-new coffee filter straight out of the box, or you can snag a used one after you’ve disposed of the coffee grounds (a few grounds won’t hurt the plant though; in fact, they can be beneficial to plants).
Highly absorbent coffee filters will retain moisture from watering without the downside of potentially causing root rot. Filters allow for more even water distribution, which may also mean fewer waterings. Another bonus? Repotting your plants just got a lot easier. All you need to do with the filter is pick it up by its edges and drop it into the new pot. Just make sure your new pot already has a new filter placed inside first, as they do degrade over time.
Be sure to use this coffee filter hack the next time you bring a plant baby home, or decide to repot a flourishing houseplant.
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Check out Simplemost for additional stories.
