TIL my peperomia roots were rotting because I was watering on a schedule, not by touch

I killed three peperomias in two years following the classic 'water every 7 days' advice. I finally stuck my finger two inches into the soil of my fourth one before watering and realized it was still damp. Switched to checking moisture with a cheap wooden chopstick, only watering when it comes out almost clean. It's been 5 months and the plant pushed out six new leaves, which never happened before. I think routine watering ignores how light and humidity change week to week in the same room. Has anyone else ditched their calendar and gone purely by soil feel?

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mila_sullivan18d ago

...and here I was thinking my brown thumbs were just a genetic flaw. Turns out my plants were holding a weekly meeting about how I kept drowning them for no reason. The chopstick trick is genius, I've been using an old wooden skewer from last summer's barbecue and now my calathea actually looks like it wants to live instead of giving me that crispy, dramatic death stare.