Jade
plant doesn't need much water. For many novices, the most difficult problem is how to water. In fact, it is not recommended to water at a fixed time, but
more attention should be paid to the state of succulent plant and specific weather conditions. You can learn how to water the succulent
plant correctly from the following five aspects.
A. Weather: in hot weather or low temperature, succulent
plant will enter dormancy. In such period, watering should be reduced a little, usually once 1-2 weeks. Since the growth of succulent
plant is basically stagnant when it is in dormancy, its absorption of water and nutrients is quite slow. At the same time, it is necessary to keep the environment dry and ventilated. Frequent watering can cause succulent
plant to die due to black rot.
B. Time: in summer, it is better to water in the evening to avoid the sun at noon, because high temperature will make the newly watered soil stuffy which makes the root system prone to black rot; it does not matter in other seasons.
C. State of succulent plant: succulent
plant will show some obvious symptoms when it is lack of water. For example, healthy leaves of
Astridia velutina or
Lithops sp. will wrinkle and even curl up when they are short of water. For some succulent varieties, such as
Monilaria obconica and
Phyllobolus resurgens, their leaves will droop and slouch when they are short of water. That's the signal of water shortage sent by the succulent
plant.
D. Soil: you can also determine whether to water by observing the moisture change of the soil. For potted succulent
plants, you can weigh the pot in your hand to simply judge the amount of water left in the soil, because the weight of the soil is quite different when there's sufficient water or insufficient water. In addition, if there's a gap between the outer edge of the soil and the inner edge of the pot, or the soil surface cracks, that is also a sign of water shortage.
E. Pot: for pots with good air permeability such as red pot, which is not easy to keep water, so the watering frequency can be higher; for white porcelain pot or pot without holes, the watering frequency can be lower.
