All gardeners are being urged to check their potted plants, as one common watering mistake could be "killing" them.

Having flowers in plant pots can help add a touch of colour to patios and other outdoor spaces where planting directly in the ground isn't possible. However, taking care of potted plants comes with its own set of challenges that those with flowerbeds might not face - including one very common issue with watering.

We all know that plants need watering regularly to stay alive, but according to one gardening expert, you're probably not giving your potted plants enough water to drench the roots sufficiently.

When watering a flowerbed, making sure the top layer of soil is damp is usually fine. The water will trickle through the soil and reach the roots of your plant quickly.

But when it comes to flower pots, a different approach needs to be used - or you could risk having a bone-dry plant that isn't getting any of the water it needs to survive.

Adam Kirtland took to TikTok to share a video in which he said that when you water a potted plant, the liquid enters through the top layer of soil but then travels down the side of the container before collecting at the bottom. This means it almost never penetrates the middle of the pot, which is where your plants' roots are.

He said: "I can guarantee one thing for certain - you're not watering [your pots] nearly enough. Thankfully, I'm going to show you how to do it. We all know that plants in pots stay much dier than those in the ground, but I'm going to show you exactly how dry."

Adam demonstrated how dry the soil can be by using a pot that he had accidentally dropped on the floor, meaning it had cracked open and the plant inside now needed to be repotted.

He added: "When you water a pot, what normally happens is it runs across the top and down the sides, which means it rarely gets right into the middle where the roots are. Just to prove my point, I'm going to take the plant out of its pot and cut it in half to show you the centre."

After cutting the plant and soil in half, Adam showed that the soil was damp all around the outsides of where he had cut, but the centre of the soil, and the roots contained inside, were all still bone-dry and in desperate need of water.

To fix the issue, Adam simply recommends adding more water to your potted plants. He claims that he uses an entire watering can per pot to ensure that the water saturates every part of the soil.

He said: "This is all about filling your pot up with water. Get it right to the base of the plant, never at the top and never across the foliage. It really is as simple as that. Remember my advice - one pot, one can."

In the comments, Adam also said he waters his potted plants every day when the weather is particularly hot.