Everyone knows that succulents are too easy to take care of; so, it is somewhat embarrassing when yours dies on you. It might be because of some misconceptions many people believe about succulents. One of the most common questions new succulent mommies and daddies have is how often to water succulents.
Sooo… How Often Should I Water My Succulents?
A good rule of thumb on succulent watering is to only water when its container is bone dry. Please note that watering your succulents when the soil is not completely dry is not a healthy practice. If you don’t see crumby, dirt dry soil, don’t water it.
See, don’t confuse succulents with other house plants. Most house plants need their soil moist at all times. However, succulents come from a different habitat. They don’t need you to water them every day. If you keep the soil of your succulent moist all the time, its roots will rot, which means a dead succulent.
4 Factors That Affect How Often You Should Water Your Succulents
There are four main factors that affect how often to water succulents. Let’s have a look at each of them.
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Seasons
The season is one of the most important factors to determine how often to water your succulents. These types of plants grow like crazy in summer and spring. Therefore, during these seasons, you need to water them more often. As they are making new stems, leaves, blooms, and roots, they absorb water at a remarkable rate. Depending on conditions like temperature and light, you may need to water them at least three times a week.
However, in winter, succulents go dormant and they stop growing. This is why you only need to water once or twice the entire season, again, depending on the weather intensity. One of the easiest ways to kill your succulent is to water it too much in winter. So, stop watering your plant in winter and let it sleep peacefully.
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Container Size of the Plant
Another factor that affects how often to water succulents is container size. If your plant is in a larger pot, water frequency will be lower as it has more soil that can hold water for days. However, if you are using a shallow or smaller container, you need to water the plant more frequently as the soil dries out quickly.
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Humidity
If you live in a region with high humidity and cooler temperature, your succulent will need more water as compared to succulents in a hot and dry climate. Have you placed your succulent outdoor in full sun in a hotter region? Most probably, you need to water it daily. However, if the same plane is placed outdoors in a comparatively cooler region, watering once a week is enough.
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Amount of Light Succulents Receive
Light is an important growth factor for succulents and the amount of light they are receiving helps in determining how often to water succulents. These plants when placed in full sun and receive light there for 10 or more hours will need more water as compared to those that do not receive this amount of light.
Similarly, indoor succulents need water less frequently as compared to outdoor succulents.
How Much Water Do Succulents Need?
Now, when we have discussed different scenarios understanding how often to water succulents, at this point, we will discuss how much water they need.
To figure this out, we would have to go a little back to desserts from where they originally belong. Contrary to what many people believe, it does rain desserts. However, it doesn’t happen more than a couple of times a year. Moreover, when it rains in desserts, it rains too much. It seems that the sky is dumping buckets of water.
This is the same way, succulents want to be watered, in fact, a little more than that. Therefore, eyedroppers and spray bottles are useless for watering succulents. You can water these plants until it starts coming out of the drain hole present at the bottom of the pot. This way, you know that you have watered the soil enough.
This part is important. You need to know that all of the soil is completely wetted. If you water your succulents carefully with little water, it wouldn’t penetrate more than the topsoil. This will force your succulents to grow their roots upwards instead of growing them the way they should be - downwards. Upward roots lead to poor stability, weak roots, and ineffective anchor. It could be a disaster.
Conclusion
How often to water succulents is a crucial question. As watering too much or too frequently can kill your baby like succulents, too little water is also dangerous. Therefore, it is important to know the right amount of water your plants need at the right frequency if you want to see them grow happy and healthy.
