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Does anyone know how often and how much I should be watering my… | The Cactus & Succulent Circle 🇺🇸 | Planta-community

Raven

Does anyone know how often and how much I should be watering my succulents? I have a baby ghost plant that I’ve had for about a month and two new plants (elephant bush and echeveria). I’m a bit worried about root rot and overwatering, especially for the ghost plant. The app tells me to water it until water runs out the drain every 8-12 days cuz it’s June and I guess it’s warmer but I feel like it’s just way too much and they’re inside. My soil was holding on to a lot of water too so I decided to buy a different kind and replaced it today. I put the ittiest bit of water in the new soil since they were just watered yesterday but yeah just pretty worried I’m overwatering my succulents. (These pics are from yesterday after watering them and before replacing soil today. Tried to drain and get it to dry out but the ghost was especially bad.) :(

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6 gillningar 13 kommentarer

13 kommentarer

  1. Bee

    I think it’s about every week or when the soil is completely dried all the way through and don’t water the leaves

    1 gilla
  2. ElizabethF

    You’ll certainly want to change out the soil if it’s holding on to water too long. Also touching the soil and making sure it’s completely dry before watering is better than relying on the app. If it’s not dry, snooze the app and it’ll remind you in two days. If you’re not sure, you can also get a moisture meter.

    3 gillningar
    • Succulent❤️Mama

      Remember that the soil being dry is a starting point. Even once it’s dry, you have to wait until the lower leaves show signs of needing water. That could be every day if you have a very small plant outside in a hot dry climate. Or every few weeks inside with a bigger plant. Always check the bottom leaves since this is where they store water. The dirt is supposed to stay dry between waterings.

      1 gilla
  3. Shila

    I always keep my succulents in a nursery pot to avoid water sitting at the bottom of the soil and I’d recommend bottom watering! Bottom watering for ~30 minutes will allow your plant to drink what it needs

    2 gillningar
    • Succulent❤️Mama

      This is a great suggestion if these beautiful pots don’t have drainage.😊

      0 gillningar
  4. Succulent❤️Mama

    I totally get your concern.😊 The thing with succulents is that you can’t water too much at once. Overwatering is about how often you water and how long the dirt stays dry. You don’t just water when the dirt is dry, you wait for the plant to show you it needs water. It’s actually really important to water thoroughly, so until the water drips out the bottom. You want to make sure all the roots got wet so they don’t dry rot and die. I actually recommend you do it a couple times in a row (in a few minute span) to make sure all the dirt got wet. When it has sat dry for a bit, the water can just run right off the dirt sometimes. That’s why Shila doing bottom watering for 30 minutes doesn’t hurt anything. They need to be in a pot that the roots can reach the bottom of. That way it can absorb all the water added and dry out the soil. If the dirt doesn’t dry out within a day it absolutely can cause root rot. Not right away, but over time. If it’s not drying quick, it could be the wrong type of soil, too big of a pot, you watered too soon, or lack of air flow. If all those conditions are correct, it will dry out quick enough. Succulents absolutely need a well draining soil. Cactus soil is great for them. Plants temporarily escaping down pouring rain (lake effect) in my garage have a fan blowing on them. Since it doesn’t have airflow like a normal room or outside. Succulents are supposed to sit in dry dirt most of the time since they store water in their leaves. They use the water in their bottom leaves first, so you look at those for signs of when to water. All 3 of your plants will show it in the same way. Gently squeeze the bottom leaf to see when it doesn’t feel as firm. Not mushy, just less firm. Then you soak them, let them dry out again, and wait to water until needed. Succulents can go a while without water. In fact, if you are still concerned, I would unpot them and lay the naked plants on a table for a couple days to let the roots dry out. At worst, they’ll get a little wilty looking but will perk up after you water them. For the ghost plant, I would just use the bottom leaf as the sacrificial leaf to check. The farina will get wiped off eventually but one leaf is worth the whole plant. You can mitigate how much farina is wiped off by squeezing it from the sides of the leaf instead of top and bottom. So to summarize: succulents need a good amount of water like every living thing, but shouldn’t be watered often. A couple questions. What kind of soil are you using? And do these pots have drainage ?

    1 gilla
    • Raven

      Yeah I made sure to get pots with drainage. I replaced the soil to a seed starter potting soil and made sure to pack it pretty loosely so it dries out easier. It was in top soil before. 😬 Ghosty boi is looking a bit happier today with drier soil tho!

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      1 gilla
    • Succulent❤️Mama

      Yay! I’m so glad they’re looking happier! And yes, always get pots with drainage! You are ahead of a lot of people on that one! That will save a lot of plants.❤️ I’ve never used a seed starting mix, but my understanding is that it’s finer so the seeds can get through easily. I always just start my seeds in the soil they will be in when they are bigger and filter out any big chunks. I don’t know how well it drains so please keep an eye on how long it takes to dry up when you do water them. I usually advise you water everything when you plant it. But in this case, since they are well hydrated, have had over watering issues, and they are a succulent so they can go a while without water.. I would say, just leave them dry in that dirt until they show signs of needing water in the lower leaves. Then water really well until the water runs out of the bottom. Depending on a lot of conditions, it could take two weeks for them to show they need water or three days. Remember, that overwatering will kill them so much faster than under watering. When in doubt, wait to water.😊

      0 gillningar
  5. (Classified)

    I would say something, but it seems as though everyone’s got the point down

    0 gillningar
    • (Classified)

      I’m a tad bit late to the party

      0 gillningar
    • Raven

      Ur all good I appreciate any advice. I’m trying to redeem myself from killing my cactus when I was 14 lmao

      0 gillningar
    • Succulent❤️Mama

      You can always add anything you think is important or that we missed.😊

      0 gillningar
    • Succulent❤️Mama

      Raven, you are all good.❤️ It took me eventually killing two different hibiscus prematurely to finally figure out what they needed in my climate. Now I grow one every year! I am upping the challenge now by trying to grow next year’s hibiscus from a cutting from this year’s hibiscus. I already killed the first one I tried this past winter due to lack of watering for a week or two when I was sick.🤪 Every plant success usually follows a plant fail. It’s like pancakes, the first one is always crap!😄 You got this!❤️

      1 gilla