What kind of water should you use to water succulents? How should you water them to keep them thriving?
The three essential elements for plant growth are sunlight, air and water. For growing succulents at home, water control is far more important than the other two. So next, let's take a look at how to water succulents.
What kind of water to use for succulents
Surface water and rootless water
Surface water is all the liquid water in rivers, lakes and seas. Theoretically, because surface water has dissolved quite a lot of surface minerals and trace elements, its hardness is relatively high, and after the H2O evaporates it deposits a large amount of precipitated inorganic salts. What we usually call limescale is exactly this.
Rootless water can be liquid water naturally condensed in the atmosphere, such as rain and snow, or water vapour existing in gaseous form, which is what we call air humidity. It is the product of surface water evaporating and then condensing again when it meets cold; because before evaporating it has already cast off a large amount of precipitated salts, it is also called soft water. Although it still contains trace impurities (water droplets need dust particles in the air as a core to condense), compared with surface water flowing everywhere, its content can be ignored.
What kind of water succulents need
The fleshy roots of succulents have very low osmotic pressure, and excessive salts will cause the root cells to dehydrate, so compared with surface water, rootless water is more suitable for watering succulents. Some high-tech people have also analysed the difference between the two from the molecular chain structure of surface water and rootless water, confirming that rootless water is more suitable for watering succulents.
Most plants need acidic water. This does not mean that plants like drinking sour water, but rather that the waste excreted by the plant roots' metabolism accumulates around the roots and affects the plant's health, and these excreta, as well as the elements in the soil that can be used by plants but must first be dissolved, all of these must be dissolved by acidic water. Watering with acidic water further promotes succulent growth. If the soil in a flowerpot is watered with alkaline water for a long time, the end result is that all of the above will cake together.
How to water succulents with tap water
In the south, tap water is generally acidic; it is just that there are a few more dissolved substances in the water. It can still be used to water flowers. Before use, leave it in a basin overnight, firstly to let the chlorine inside dissipate, and secondly to let the water temperature approach room temperature. When you have time, let the plants get some rain.