This archive report was first published on 13 July 2020.
Overwatering is a common issue that can cause house plants to wilt and turn brown, leading to root rot.
However, a woman from Canberra, Australia, has shared a surprising hack for preventing overwatering: using tampons.
Empress Eyrie, a burlesque dancer, shared her discovery on Facebook, explaining that she had tried the hack after overwatering her hoyas.
She wrote: "I saw this tip in the comments of another group and decided to try it myself. I don't use tampons but had them in the back of the cupboard and half the packets were damaged and were rubbish anyway so thought I would give it a go and it bloody worked."
According to Empress, the tampon absorbs excess moisture from the soil, helping to prevent root rot.
She continued: "So much moisture drawn out of the soil in only a few hours, so if you accidentally over water your water sensitive plants plug a tampon in it. They have doubled in size."
People online loved the tampon trick, with one person branding it "bloody genius".
Following the success of her post, Empress has made a YouTube channel to share plant tips on - including this one.
