Serious question about watering succulents - who's actually right?

I keep seeing people online say you should water succulents once a week, but my grandma has been growing hers for 30 years and she waters maybe once every 3 weeks. She lives in Phoenix and her jade plant is massive. I tried the once a week thing and my echeveria rotted in like 2 months. Is the internet just wrong about this or is there a trick I'm missing? Has anyone else had better luck with a specific watering schedule?

2 comments

2 Comments

spencerm465d ago

Yeah, I gotta push back on the "once a week" thing. That's just bad advice for most people in most places. Your grandma in Phoenix is watering every 3 weeks because her soil dries out in like a day in that heat, plus jade plants are tougher than echeverias. The trick you're missing is that watering schedules are dumb, you gotta water based on the soil being bone dry (like, stick a chopstick in there) and the leaves looking a little wrinkly. I killed a bunch of haworthias following that weekly schedule before I realized my apartment stays humid and they were basically sitting in wet dirt. Different plants, different climates, different pots all change the timing. So yeah, the internet is wrong for acting like there's one magic number.

thomas2755d ago

The real trick is watering from the bottom - roots grow down seeking moisture, mimics their natural soil.