Ah, the holidays. A time when families can get together and share the thanksgiving, the love, the comraderie. . . and strange conversations that come from mixing such an eclectic group of people.
Such as this one which I knew was Doper material the minute I stumbled upon my dad and grandmother arguing over it:
Does tossing an icecube into the houseplant as a sort of “time release watering pill” harm the said botanical citizen?
My father claims he is laying the frozen water on dirt - not roots, while his mother-in-law protests that doing so will surely murder the fragile plant.
Who can be correct?
Will the plant demand to be fed by a buxom lad named “Seymour”??
I’ve done it myself with no ill effects. It won’t hurt unless the plant is extraordinarily sensitive to cold. I wouldn’t try it with most orchids, for example.
The worst that could happen is you slow root metabolism down a bit while the soil is still cold. It won’t harm your plant. Unless you stick it in the freezer and let it freeze solid.
I have seen it recommended for really dried out plants. You know, so dry that when you try to water them, the water just runs off. You’re supposed to throw on an icecube or two, which will melt more slowly and moisten the soil enough that it accepts more water, from a watering can.
I don’t think they would have recommended that if it would cause harm to the plant.
I’ve never heard of using it as a ‘timed delivery device’. Does it really work? I would have thought that the ice would melt in about half an hour or so. Hardly worthwile if you’re going away for a week.
I’ve seen icecubes recommended as the way to water potted cacti.
Why?
As desert plants they’re very susceptible to overwatering. A smidgen a month is plenty. An icecube provides an easily repeatable dose. Give somebody a watering can, even a baby-sized indoor one and they’ll dump 12 oz’s on the plant and kill it.
But tell them to feed it one ice cube per month and they’ll get the dosage right.
As others have said, on the timescale involved, the “time release” due to melting is immaterial. In the life of a plant, a day is but a moment.