I get it. You buy a succulent, you lovingly water it, and then three days later it has died… What went wrong?! Then you discover the ugly truth. You’ve been over watering your succulents! Don’t worry. We’ve all been there. But how exactly do you stop? And how do you keep your little guys alive?! Keep reading, cause I’ll show you exactly how to stop over watering your succulents!
There are a couple of different reasons why your succulent is being over watered. First, it could be because you are simply adding too much water to its pot.
Reason #1: Using Too Much Water
To fix this, only add small amounts of water each time you are watering.
Sounds simple, right?!
Well, it can actually be super difficult if you’re using a regular watering can to water those tiny little pots.
This is why it’s BEST to water your succulents with one of these!
These succulent watering bottles are designed to give you the ultimate control over how much your succulent is watered. It also has a small nozzle, which positions the water stream to exactly where you want it! No more wet succulent leaves, and no more wet plant shelves!
Reason #2: Not Enough Drainage
The next thing to consider with over watering succulents is how fast your water is draining out of its pot.
In a succulent’s native habitat, water will move quickly into, then out of a plant’s reach. This is done either through the water quickly sinking down through the sandy or rocky soil, or water will escape through evaporation due to the sun’s heat. Either way, the soil does not stay wet for long.
Which means… succulents are not accustomed to having their roots constantly wet. In fact, they’re used to having moderately dry roots.
Because of this, we need to allow the water in our own pots to move down and out of the soil.
To do this, we will need:
- Soil that drains well
- Pots that drain well
Well-Draining Soil
For well-draining soil, either amend regular soil with sand and perlite (at a rate of 1/3 soil, 1/3 sand, and 1/3 perlite), or consider purchasing a pre-mixed soil, such as this cactus and succulent soil!
Well-Draining Pots
To have well-draining pots, first make sure that your pot’s soil-to-root ratio is correct. (A.k.a., don’t use a large pot for a small succulent). This is extremely important!!!
If your succulent is small, use a small pot.
Also, look for shallow pots. Don’t purchase anything too deep.
Then, make sure that your pots have drainage holes!!!
I can’t stress this enough! Succulents NEED pots with drainage holes!
If you want to group your succulents together, get a pot that is specifically made for grouping succulents. These will be shallow, wide, and have drainage holes. Check out these pots for succulent groupings.
And for pot ideas, check out my post on Indoor Plant Pots. Just make sure you pick out pots that are proportionate to the size of your succulents!!!
So remember, add less water, and improve drainage of your soil and your pots! If you do all of these above steps, you will never over water your succulents again! Let me know if you have any more succulent-related questions in the comments below! And for more succulent tips, check out my post on Succulent Care, or my post, How Often should I Water my Succulent?!
Happy Digging!