Succulents watered on a schedule actually grow more slowly? Time to change your watering habits

Some plant lovers always water their succulents on a fixed schedule. Right after a succulent is repotted, it is enough to keep the soil slightly moist; there is no need to water at a fixed time every day. The watering frequency should be determined by air humidity, weather, soil conditions, and so on. Never ignore these factors, or the plants will easily suffer root rot or become short of water with soft leaves. To master the watering technique for succulents, you must first understand the dormancy habits of each species. Watering during the dormant period easily causes the plant to rot. For example, if Lithops, which are dormant in summer, are watered in summer, the plants will rot immediately; for cactus species that are dormant in winter, watering in winter will cause root rot or make them prone to freezing. Although they may not rot in winter, they will rot as soon as spring arrives.

Some people assume a plant is short of water as soon as they see reddened leaves, or dry tips and old leaves. In fact, this phenomenon can also appear when the light is too strong, when the potting soil has been dry for a long time, when the root system has been damaged, when the root crown has rotted, or when the root crown has been bitten by insects and then healed over with a scar, causing poor water transport. Therefore, being familiar with the plant's growth condition is very helpful for mastering watering technique. Generally, plants that are growing especially vigorously and plants in the flowering and bud-bearing stage have higher water requirements, and they should be watered as promptly as possible; whereas some old large bulbs whose growth has basically stalled should be watered less often.

To master the principles of watering succulents: the watering frequency should be low, water as little as possible, do not water if the soil is not dry, and when you do water, water thoroughly; many beginners who grow succulents do not lose them to drought but to waterlogging, simply because they water too often. In spring and autumn, when watering, start with a gentle watering; on the other hand, it depends on the soil and the pot. Terracotta pots need more watering, ceramic pots less; gritty mixes need more watering, non-gritty mixes less. In short, in spring and autumn you should keep the succulent's soil moist so that the succulent can grow well. In summer, water less; too much water easily causes black rot in succulents, while watering a little less is actually fine. So in summer, as long as you do not let the succulent's root hairs dry out, it is fine.

In fact, to sum up, the principles of watering are all very simple. For a newly planted succulent, do not water and do not expose it to the sun; let it settle for ten days to two weeks, then water. The reason is also very simple: watering is meant to replenish the water the plant uses up. A newly planted succulent has almost paused its growth because its root system is damaged, so during this period, apart from the water evaporating from the leaf surface, very little is lost. The root system's ability to absorb water is limited, so if you water in a hurry, supply exceeds demand, which naturally leads to root rot. Therefore, the best approach is to wait until the root system has resumed growth before starting to water.

In addition, in the process of absorbing nutrients, the root system also continuously excretes acidic metabolites, which acidify the soil. This is very unfavorable to plant growth, so once a plant has grown to a certain stage, it must be repotted and the soil changed. Depending on the variety and the size of the plant, repot once every 1 to 2 years or every 3 years (for some varieties, small seedlings can even be transplanted several times a year, the so-called "move it a bit, it grows a bit"). For most varieties, repotting is generally done in mid-to-late March, and division propagation is carried out together with repotting.

For caring for hydroponic succulents, the water level and the position of the root system are very critical, and this also needs to be classified according to the succulent variety. For the 2-roll type and Haworthia cooperi types, whose root systems are relatively well developed, you can add more water to the container and let the root system be completely submerged in the water. But for Crassulaceae Echeveria types, the root system itself is very small and they do not need much water either, so it is enough for the root system to just touch the water; leave some space so that the root system can reach down on its own to absorb water. Moreover, a glass bottle will evaporate water in sunlight, which also waters the plant indirectly.

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