How often do you water your cacti and succulents? House plant thread!

[BullChick]

In the summer months greenhouse succulents are watered about once a week, but indoor plants and winter plants are watered every 2-4 weeks. I always check about 1" below the soil surface to check that the soil is dry. It is better to under water than over water.

What succulents do you have?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

What succulents do you have?

Three varieties of aloe, two of the plants are ~4 years old, and a jade that is ~6 years old, and multiple sets of a type of snake plant that has been handed down in the family for over forty years, and was acquired from another family who had kept the plants an unknown amount of time. I also have two citrus trees which I've managed to keep alive in zone 6.

 

[BullChick]

It’s funny how zones are relative to the nursery you are buying from. I’m 5A most of the time, but at least one site (I think it is The Succulent Box) says 6.

 

[Mtnboomer]

Well my boys may have finally killed one of my last remaining plants from college. My cutleaf philodendron monstera just turned 20 yrs old and has suffered the wrath of 5 moves (about 1k mi), 2 cats, 4 dogs, and 2 children.

My youngest son knocked the pot over last night breaking all main stems and cracking the root ball. It has been pruned back and repotted to begin its long road to recovery, but such injuries often result in infections that lead to its ultimate demise.

 

[BullChick]

My mother’s snake plant is at 14 moves, seven children, 5 dogs, and 5 cats. I believe your plant will make it just because it’s stubborn.

 

[rookbeak]

I don't have a set water schedule because my plants all have different needs. My rule of thumb is waiting until the soil is bone dry and the leaves start to wrinkle before I water. The consistency of the soil is also pretty important, soil that holds onto too much moisture after watering can be deadly if you're not paying attention. Though your plants can be pretty forgiving of overwatering here and there so long as it's only once in a few months.

For the leaf props, I like to drop some water on their roots every other day to stimulate growth. My thirstiest plant is my aloe. It's not as tolerant of being completely neglected like my other plants; if it gets too thirsty the leaves will be permanently damaged. It's just like how my other plants will re-absorb and drop their leaves when they get too thirsty, but my aloe is like 90% leaf so the damage is a lot bigger in proportion to its body.

Crassula hobbit, gollum, and money jades are impossible to kill as long as you don't overwater them. I wait until a lot of the leaves are pretty wrinkly before watering and that's kept them alive for many years. The jades also tend to be one of the more tolerant to being overwatered. When was just starting with testing soil consistency there was a few times their soil was pretty moldy from being too moist, but the jades tanked it so long as I let it thoroughly dry out in-between waterings.

I don't think I've ever seen my sedum coppertone's leaves wrinkle, it's content with being completely ignored for literal months at a time. That guy also needs the most light, I struggle to get his beautiful orange/red stress colors to show with my lighting setup.

I think I've gone a whole year without watering my ladyfingers cactus lol. I probably could've watered it a bit more than that, I'm just not used to cacti and I know to err on the side of dehydration with desert plants.