How to Water Succulents? The Most Complete Guide to Methods Explained

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Images: The Curator

Among the messages the Curator receives, how to water and when to water definitely rank in the top three. Some succulent lovers do not know when to water, and after a couple of days they take a few photos and ask the Curator: Should I water now? Questions like this give the Curator quite a headache too!

Different regions, different temperatures, different humidity levels, different light, different varieties, different ventilation conditions, different seasons, and different watering habits - under all these conditions, the timing and method of watering will inevitably differ. Here the Curator will just share a few small personal feelings.

First, when watering your succulents, you must first remember the time of the last watering. This is an important parameter, because the interval between waterings for succulents is very long. You cannot water two days after the last watering, then not give your succulents a single drop of water for ten days to half a month. So the time interval is very important.

Second, give priority to succulents growing vigorously. A succulent's life activities cannot do without the intervention of water, and it consumes water noticeably faster than other succulents. Once you notice that the leaves at the very bottom are starting to become thin, it means the succulent needs watering. But do not forget to check the watering interval - if you just watered not long ago, then it is probably not a matter of lack of water.

Also consider light, temperature and so on. For succulents to grow well, water alone is not enough, and the amount of water must be directly linked to temperature and ventilation. Only when a balanced state is reached will the succulents grow healthier and healthier. For instance, is a succulent's water consumption the same on a cloudy day as on a sunny day? Of course not! One week's worth of water on a sunny day is enough to sustain a succulent for nearly half a month on cloudy days. The same goes for summer and winter - temperature also affects a succulent's life activities.

Generally we know that watering in summer and winter should be considerably less. The reason is simple: in winter it is easy to freeze and damage them, and succulents in dormancy need very little water in winter. In South Korea, the Curator saw a detailed timetable noted by a top succulent grower, where the watering intervals were sometimes even more than one month.

In summer it is too hot and the roots easily become stuffy and rot, so watering must be done carefully. Avoid the highest-temperature time at noon. If your ventilation conditions are good and the temperature is only around 30 degrees, then watering can be somewhat more casual.

In spring and autumn, watering can be appropriately increased. In these two seasons succulents root very easily, and appropriate moisture is conducive to rapid rooting and growth. In spring, the Curator grows them fully outdoors, and when there was no rain for two weeks, there was a period when watering was done about once every four days, and always thoroughly. However, note that some varieties, with too much water, tend to become leggy in this season.

What the Curator can say is still mostly theory, because watering itself has no uniform standard. If someone says: water once every ten days, and ignore everything else! That is what would really be worrying! As the saying goes, "watering takes three years of skill." What the Curator can provide is reference data; the rest is for succulent lovers to sum up through experience based on their own conditions!

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