Many people would tell me about their experiences with growing succulents and cactus. The majority admitted to not having any success and don’t really know why. When I ask about their specific experience, the majority were overwatering. They are plant parents to other types of houseplants. They water them on a weekly basis. This included their succulents and cactus. Before long, their plants developed root rot and died.
I had the same experience the first time I was gifted a grafted cactus. Being an experienced plant parent, I figured that I would have success with nurturing my new cactus. I was wrong. I watered my cactus weekly like all of my other plants. Within 2 to 3 weeks, my cactus suddenly became … mushy. It developed root rot. The rot spread to its body.
A year later, I was gifted another grafted cactus. I almost killed that plant by overwatering. I was able to quickly correct the problem before my cactus completely rotted. How did I quickly correct the problem? I quickly searched ‘cactus care’. YouTube also has a bunch of cactus care tutorials. This is when I realized plant watering is not the same for all types of plants.
Here are a few quick tips for preventing overwatering a your succulent and cactus plants:
Tip #1 – Understand the type of plant you have. Do your research on how much water to give your plant and how often.
Tip #2 – Set a separate watering schedule for your succulents and cactus. Setting a reminder for when to water helps so that you don’t loose track of when you last watered your plant and when you need to water it again.
Tip #3 – When it is time to water, water your plant liberally and deeply. Soil needs to become saturated but not hold on to water. The soil must be able to dry out within a few days.
Tip #4 – Use pots with drainage holes so that the plant’s rots don’t stay wet.
Tip #5 – Don’t water until it is time to water. Check the soil for moisture. The soil must be bone dry before watering your plant again. You can use a moisture meter to check your soil.
