Whacky or Wise? Watering houseplants with ice cubes?

All of the reading I’ve done on orchids recommend tepid temperatures for water so as to avoid shocking the plant.

One time I dumped the ice out of my empty glass onto my basil plant, thinking it was a good idea, and Tim told me it was a very bad idea…shocking them, like syz said. I was shocked.

why were you shocked chica what happened?

@qualitycontrol: Basil plants are electrically charged and will vehemently defend themselves against ice attack.

The advice I got when I started growing my chili plant was to “ensure the water is lukewarm. The water flowing from the faucet should feel comfortable running on the inside of your wrist.”

If the ice comes in direct contact with plant tissue it can damage the plant.

QC, ah, that was a joke…one that didn’t come across very well i guess. i was trying to make a pun on the fact that i was surprised, but i used the word ‘shocked’ because the basil was shocked too.

That is the only way I have watered my orchids for some time now. I recently had two of them rebloom for me. A first!

I talked to a friend who is a landscape architect, and she said the cubes were probably not a good idea for houseplants.

I am calling this one – Whacky, not wise.

Hello all, ice cubes in houses plants work. I have a peace plant that I use to have to water almost daily or the leaves would droop. now i place 3 or 4 ices on the dirt once a week and the plant is doing great. the leaves are even greener. I did the same thing with a poinsettia. it is beautiful. i say it is wise. I would like to add that it is very hard to kill a peace plant. but it is working for me.

I can see where the ice cubes in the soil around the plant would offer a little consistency in the total moisture of the soil itself, and thus the availability of the moisture to the plant. But I would tend to agree that ice cubes directly on the plant would tend to cause shock.

I always water my houseplants with room-temperature water that has been in a watering can or pitcher for a few hours.