This research article focused mostly on hydroponic water using “watering from below”. If you water your houseplants or containers by setting the pot in a saucer and then filling the saucer, it’s the same thing.
Turns out the water only goes up about 80% of the way in the container and the top 20% will remain too dry.
I have done this with my seed starting trays. I water them from the bottom so I don’t disturb the soil or the tender seedlings. But I have noticed I do have to heavily mist the tops to keep them moist.
Now I know why and I’ll go back to watering up top.
(In the nursery, I had misting systems that kept the tops constantly damp so there wasn’t an issue but on the home scale, I learned something this week) 🙂
Bottom line: water from the top of the container.
The original research report is no longer available. Feb/19