A 5-second comment from a plant shop owner fixed my watering habit

I was killing succulents left and right for like 2 years. Thought I was under-watering them so I'd pour more in every weekend. Then this lady at a nursery in Portland said 'you're drowning them, water once every 3 weeks and only when the soil is bone dry.' I set a reminder on my phone and now my jade plant has doubled in size since last April. Has anyone else gotten simple advice that totally flipped what they thought they knew?

3 comments

3 Comments

nathan9011mo ago

Wait but isn't there a chance that rule is too strict? I water my succulents every 10-14 days and they're totally fine, never had root rot or anything. Soil type and pot drainage have to matter way more than some blanket rule, right?

piper_kim1mo ago

oh man, @nathan901 you're making me think of my friend jenna. she had this huge collection of echeverias and followed that strict 10-14 day rule like gospel, but she kept them in this fancy glazed pot with no drainage holes. everything rotted out in like three months. soil matters so much, i've seen people water once a month in terracotta and their plants are thriving. so yeah, i think your point about drainage and soil type is way more important than a fixed schedule.

the_taylor1mo ago

Wait wait wait - fancy glazed pot with NO drainage holes? And she was watering every 10-14 days? That's wild. I killed a whole batch of lithops that way, put them in this cute ceramic mug I found at Goodwill because I thought it looked cool. No drainage. They were basically soup within a month. Drainage holes are non-negotiable for succulents, doesn't matter how careful you are with the watering schedule.