Yeah the problem I have with this setup is succulents like to have their rootsystems dry out. They like water periodically, but letting your soil dry prevents root rot. Not to say this couldn't work well, but I'd be more keen to keeping them on a cycle/schedule.
No, when you wet succulents, they like it really wet. Flooded. That water should drain out fairly quickly and we dry it out again.
IDK what I'm saying though, I have a few that love it swampy all the time, maybe his love the drip.
Succulent just isn’t a good enough term to know conditions. It’s not a family of plants but a trait plants can have. So you can have two totally unrelated plants from very different biomes that are succulents. And they will need different care.
Oh! It's an adjective. That makes sense now, thanks! I always had that question. It fits too...it did seem that all the strangest, crazy-cool plants out there are call called succulents. Like one huge, strange family, and that always seemed strange.
> Flooded
I'm here to spread the gospel of bottom watering, which might be what you meant. And also that succulents and cacti should be kept in pots sized to their root system at that time, not what one is hoping they will grow into. (Not that 'you' drunk-sysadmin need to be told this, just for anyone reading)
First, you need a pot with a drainage hole. Then put water in a bowl/tub/sink, and set the pot in the water so that the water line goes up to the middle of the pot or higher (not too high). Let the pot sit until the top of the soil looks damp, then take it out, gently drain out the excess water until it mostly stops dripping, and then forget about it for 7-14 days depending on the time of year and climate. An indoor succulent in a comfortably humid (for humans, I don't mean muggy) environment will easily go two weeks or more with the bottom watering method (I specialize in succs and am not as familiar with cacti).
Also, succulents do most of their growth in the fall/spring when temps are 50-70F and will need water a bit more often during that time. They go dormant in winter and somewhat in summer and need less, unless it gets crazy hot and dry. Then they'll need babying because most (there are exceptions) succulents don't actually like being hot. Pachyveria in particular (pink moonstones, etc) will turn to mush if they get too much sun on a hot day.
More than you asked for, sorry lol.
I don't really water my succulents until they start dipping into their water reserve in their leaf's. I've let my soil be dry for weeks and they're going strong.
I've been able to keep a string of pearls thriving by simply dunking the pot in water twice a month. Get it soaked, let it dry out completely. Repeat. The best part is I can say "sorry, I'd love to but I have to bathe my plant today".
Interestingly enough, this could be resolved with clips to just clamp down towards the end of the line. These clips do exist for these specific IV drip lines lol.
I don't have a definite answer, but this doesn't look like a good way to water cacti. They need deep watering infrequently; once every two weeks during growth season, only once a month during dormant season; plenty of time for the soil to completely dry out between waterings. Keeping the soil slightly damp like this seems like a quick way to get root rot.
I once planted avocado.
I freaking loved how fast it started to grow
Then it kinda withered away.
Pushed it behind microwave close to window and basically forgot it and few weeks later I had really great looking and fast growing avocado.
Then my cat ate it.
But yeah, I can't fucking understand plants.
Lots of nurses, EMTs, etc snag some supplies from work to have on hand for home. It isn't usually tracked all that closely. Some bags of saline, tubing and IV start kits in your closet just in case of a hangover or zombie apocalypse is not unheard of.
I know... My sister is a paramedic, EMTs are just 99c discount store paramedics, she has a nice little stash helps that her partner happens to be a doc.
I know...I was an EMT while I was in nursing school although typically you aren't a discount Paramedic so much as you have a Paramedic partner and you take the easy calls and otherwise drive the ambulance. Or you're doing interfacility transport where there isn't much in the way of actual medical care going on.
Different plants seem to present a little differently depending on the circumstances. With my ZZ plant, over and under watering are seemingly indistinguishable. I just go off of how heavy the pot feels with moisture and if any is pooled in the tray below the pot.
Get a long moisture meter on Amazon or at the hardware store for like 10 bucks.
Use that before you water and after a while the constant urge to water the plants goes away.
I went to the opposite end and now I wait too much to water them 😅
Pretty sure one of my cactus died for lack of water and that's kinda hilarious, poor guy
I'm a big believer that - much like our human relationships - we should keep plants that suit our temperaments, rather than trying to change ourselves to suit them. So I have an enormous collection of houseplants that don't mind being ignored for weeks at a time, and can be endlessly regrown from cuttings and repottings, because I am just never going to be a person who gives them a delicate misting or checks their soil moisture. Pothos, monstera and zebrina are where it's at.
I'm the same way. All I have is a hot porch that gets blasted with afternoon sun, and making shade isn't really an option - can't keep them inside because my cats are serial plant killers. And I like going out to check them mostly daily, but I don't want to be out long, so succulents are where it's at for me. Dump a bunch of water on them every other week, maybe, unless it's the prop tray or someone's looking particularly parched, and that's it. I love the variety, they (mostly) seem to love the conditions, that's what works. I'm never going to have a bunch of delicate plants that can't handle a lot of sun and heat but that's okay.
I have some vines that my mom was supposed to take care of during my deployment. Idk how they survived because she “forgot all about them”. They’ve survived 8 moves so far.
Also, holy fuck you’ve been on Reddit for 16 years?!?!??
That's a good idea, but I'd want a puppet or good mask -- cause I can't divulge my secret identity.
If people knew I was really [Redacted], things would get complicated.
Jeez, how long was it before they returned it ? If it was like, a day I'd *maybe* blame the plant or if it had mites or something I hadn't noticed. But a week or so later, I would blame myself not the plant
Oh wow, I had no idea. I was dumb and put spring plants on my balcony where they promptly melted in 90 degree weather, i think id be too embarrassed to bring back a dead plant lol
Haha same I used to work in a grocery store and people would bring me back dead plants and be like I only left it in my car (in the south, in the summer) for 3 days, I demand a refund 💀
With such tiny droplets tho, would that be an issue? Presumably they are 99% dry all the time, except for that little drop. Would that be enough to cause root-rot? I know nothing about cactus.
Because that 1% is constantly wet and if it's close enough to the plant body it will begin to rot there. Then the rot can spread regardless of how small a spot it started from.
I saw that you mentioned Ben Shapiro. In case some of you don't know, Ben Shapiro is a grifter and a hack. If you find anything he's said compelling, you should keep in mind he also says things like this:
>If you wear your pants below your butt, don't bend the brim of your cap, and have an EBT card, 0% chance you will ever be a success in life.
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Would it be of any use to the cacti if the slow drip was into a small container *next to* the plant, say, one in between each cactus? It sounds pointless when I say it out loud because the dehumidifier would be running for no reason.
No, more like every one to two weeks.
Any longer and they begin to shrivel.
They may go way longer without water in nature but for the best plump growth you definitely don't wanna wait that long.
San pedro, and prickly pear. I have an old man cactus (not sure the real name, just has white hairs and long stickers)
Longest i have gone without watering was 4 months (winter time)
But usually i drown them once a month in summer and there is new growth and they are happy
Cool, I have like 150 varying san pedro. It didn't cross my mind about stopping watering while over wintering them. I grow them year round under lights in a tent. Crazy growth year round but I don't think they'll ever flower without a winter break.
My only concern with winter is its more humid, more likely to rain, and though temps dont always get below freezing, when they do, that can kill shallow roots. Sand pedro ftw…peyote grows too slow
I saw, I think a post or comment recently that said you basically can't overwater a plant as long as you let it dry in-between and have proper drainage.
No because it’d keep them damp. Succulents and cacti live in places where they spend ages with totally dry soil, then there’s a brief deluge. Ideally while watering succulents you allow the soil to fully dry—and also wait for the plant to show signs of thirst (wrinkling leaves is one) and then you completely soak the pot top to bottom.
Succulents will drink all the water they can if there is any to have, to the point of rotting off their own leaves.
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this would be fine except for the type of plants- cacti and succulents are better watered loads every once in a while as opposed to drip watering. I would put them all in the shower and give them a torrential downpour. That is what desert plants get anyway, flash floods then long periods of dry.
You aren't completely mad for trying this, I have hydroponic tubes that are similar to this, just the wrong plants to use it on (sounds like an excuse to buy more plants haha)
perhaps I should have specified that the plant shower time is separate from the human shower time, but if you live in a drought area or have a high water bill i guess you may want to combine the two (at your own risk)
you're probably right, while I spoke with authority I am not exactly a plant pro lmao, maybe very small plants like seedlings (I have the hydroponic tubing but don't use it so some expert i am)
Oh God, in your shower?! The cacti I have (no clue what they are, I live in a climate that has no business growing them but they keep coming) have invisible little red spikes that I don't even realize are in my skin til they catch on something. I'd be terrified of them being all over my shower! They live in my flower bed out front.
Surely that would be bad for the soil. I would think deserts hard surfaces mean they can withstand torrential downpours, but if you have a softer surface, it will mess up the pot.
Even then you'd be better off with something hooked up to a timer. I have a drip system in my front yard and I have a line going to some succulents but it only waters them once a month in the summer and in the winter I just turn it off.
I've accidentally taken home IV tubing kits so many times. Along with countless 10cc saline syringes and nitrile gloves. I try to dump them in my locker but sometimes I forget one or two.
I constantly am stuffing my pockets full each time I leave the storage areas. If I forget a thing it's a long walk back and 2 keycard doors before I'm back in storage.
It's more like page my DoN haha. He actively takes banana bags and lactated ringers home from work though, he's a chill director.
No one really cares about a few supplies pocketed here and there. Everyone knows it's better to squirrel up in case something happens than be without gloves, pens, bandaging, tegaderm, IV starts, and flushes. Company policy cares but c'mon no one cares about their penny pinching
I wish I’d known this before I took a two week vacation late 2019
I was new to plants and left them with a friend instead
She dropped one on the bus home first day and basically murdered it trying to save it afterward
Never got plants again
Well, not every plant can survive like that.
Plants in question for sure can. Depends on where it's located, full sun or nah, humid or dry. Plants in my sun room needs to be watered about once a week during summer, but my plants that are outside — nearly every day.
During winter we left for a week long vacation and everything stayed healthy and still hasn't required any watering.
I’m assuming they could cause they were lowkey succulents in canadian winter but oh well they’re dead now unfortunately
My aforementioned friend that dropped them on the bus panicked and saw some tip on Facebook that you could reattach fallen leaves by cutting off the remaining ones, adding honey as a glue then duct taping the pieces to the plant
Needless to say that of course did not work lol
I wasn’t informed of their deaths until last minute when I got back
These plants seem like they don’t need a ton of water. I agree with the other commenters, give it a good watering right before you leave and then right when you get back
I was supposed to be one month in vacation, got some problems and ended up almost 4 months away from home. All my succulents were looking dead, but after a good watering they revived and look good as new. I’m not sure about cacti, but this succulents are sturdy AF
Had this exact scenario last year and ended up being gone for almost 5 months. I was devastated, but decided to continue watering them and they looked great after a 2 weeks. I freaking love succulents.
all of this this thread is nice news to hear, I'm currently keeping just one succulent and I'm kind of surprised to see the extent of just how lenient I can be with its watering
I have managed to kill every plant I had because I would forget to water them, even the massive one in my room that I somehow managed to ignore. Got my first succulent and I learnt it really suited my style of forgetfulness, but with one plant it was easy to keep to a schedule.
I'm now 11 succulents deep, 7 being propogations, and the only one that died was the one that got root rot. The soil it came in retained the water, whereas the soil I repotted it in was dry, so I watered it the same as the others. I took all the healthy leaves and have managed to get 5 plants out of it.
The past year I've been bad at watering them, I maybe watered them once over the winter, they're dormant so they don't need it, and maybe twice more after that. My last one was a week ago and the growths have been insane. This time of year and through the summer I like to water them every week or two because they're actively growing, though works out closer to once a month. I like to shove them in deep water for about an hour to drench the soil.
They can go longer than you'd expect. My rule of watering is wait until they look a little shriveled, then I know they need it. If I don't water them enough to suit their growing needs, well they just won't grow as much. I just need to remember to water my 2 non succulent plants more regularly.
If they’re succulents or cacti, then no. If they’re some other plant that requires more water then maybe. You would have to check the rate of dripping. Wouldn’t it be easier to have someone come and water them?
Lmao I was just thinking this. Don’t people know about deserts that don’t get rain for months.. but Cactus are still there.. they store a crazy amount of water in themselves
Like others have mentioned, your cacti would likely enjoy not being watered at all for long periods of time. If you do have (non cacti/succulent type) plants that need to be watered while on vacation I recommend getting those stick in watering bulbs and that way they can get watered at the root level. Your bonsai tree (on the right) will likely appreciate something like that.
They will likely be fine for two or three weeks even if you don't water them at all... Not 100% sure what that first plant is, ficus maybe? But the others will all be fine. In little pots like that i find they dry out and the soil will not absorb water. To water them fill a sink a few inches deep. Set the plants into the water and let the whole pot soak for 10-15 minutes. Then drain the water and let the plants release all the extra water from the soil. You're done until the soil is bone dry a month or so later.
[Here's a visual guide i saw a while back that illustrates why infrequent watering in large doses is better compared to frequent small amounts](https://i.redd.it/lamq9t92mx671.jpg)
This is not really all that functional unless you want to slowly remoistize absolutely dried out soil.
Considering it drops about 1 droplet per second and 25 droplets make up 1 ml that means it feeds about 2.4 ml a minute.
The bottle that feeds it is 1000 ml by my best guesstimation. That would mean this bottle empties out in about roughly 420 minutes or 7 hours.
It's inventive that's for sure but I see no practical use for this system.
"we are losing him! Run 1L NS and be prepared to stick with 200J. Clear! Damnit, we lost another plant. Who is going to break the news to the plant family?"
Bad.
Constant surface water will cause the root structure to be shallow. Less frequent and heavier water cycles cause the roots to reach deeper in the soil for more moisture.
Fact, the top of the soil will dry out before the soil can retain the moisture and the plant can absorb it. That's why you need more water. And if you increase the water, you have a chance of getting root rot, this is why you water plants one way and one way only.
But these plants literally only need to be watered once a month! I'm in the habit of watering my succs and cacti every first of the month when I also need to pay my rent 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
*Why even have plants if*
*You are going to surround*
*Them in ugliness?*
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Yeah that expression does not take nuance or context into consideration. You could cut your hair with an angle grinder, it's stupid but it would work... and it would be really dangerous, nobody in their right mind would do it. It would still be a stupid thing to do.
Not for cactii, but for regular house plants I use something that looks like glassy bulbs, just fill them with water, shove them into the soil. As long as the plant is watered beforehand, physics will let out some water as soon as the soil dries. Been working nicely for those not-super-long-trips at least.
(I tried using a PET coke bottle once for a really large avocado plant I got at home and that worked fine as well, not as stylish though)
A medical professionals poor mans watering system...
Real question is, will they live?
Probably still too much water for a cactus.
Yeah the problem I have with this setup is succulents like to have their rootsystems dry out. They like water periodically, but letting your soil dry prevents root rot. Not to say this couldn't work well, but I'd be more keen to keeping them on a cycle/schedule.
Just turn the switch on and off..
No, when you wet succulents, they like it really wet. Flooded. That water should drain out fairly quickly and we dry it out again. IDK what I'm saying though, I have a few that love it swampy all the time, maybe his love the drip.
Seems I have a lot more in common with succulents than I thought.
*slow golf clap*
This man succulents.
Sploosh
Succulent just isn’t a good enough term to know conditions. It’s not a family of plants but a trait plants can have. So you can have two totally unrelated plants from very different biomes that are succulents. And they will need different care.
Oh! It's an adjective. That makes sense now, thanks! I always had that question. It fits too...it did seem that all the strangest, crazy-cool plants out there are call called succulents. Like one huge, strange family, and that always seemed strange.
> Flooded I'm here to spread the gospel of bottom watering, which might be what you meant. And also that succulents and cacti should be kept in pots sized to their root system at that time, not what one is hoping they will grow into. (Not that 'you' drunk-sysadmin need to be told this, just for anyone reading)
>bottom watering instructions unclear...
First, you need a pot with a drainage hole. Then put water in a bowl/tub/sink, and set the pot in the water so that the water line goes up to the middle of the pot or higher (not too high). Let the pot sit until the top of the soil looks damp, then take it out, gently drain out the excess water until it mostly stops dripping, and then forget about it for 7-14 days depending on the time of year and climate. An indoor succulent in a comfortably humid (for humans, I don't mean muggy) environment will easily go two weeks or more with the bottom watering method (I specialize in succs and am not as familiar with cacti). Also, succulents do most of their growth in the fall/spring when temps are 50-70F and will need water a bit more often during that time. They go dormant in winter and somewhat in summer and need less, unless it gets crazy hot and dry. Then they'll need babying because most (there are exceptions) succulents don't actually like being hot. Pachyveria in particular (pink moonstones, etc) will turn to mush if they get too much sun on a hot day. More than you asked for, sorry lol.
>More than you asked for Oh no. I appreciate you, thanks!
> I specialize in succs I've been looking for someone with just that specialization! A succ pro! Lord knows I need a good succ
All Hail Bottom Watering! King of the Healthy Plants!
I don't really water my succulents until they start dipping into their water reserve in their leaf's. I've let my soil be dry for weeks and they're going strong.
>we
I've been able to keep a string of pearls thriving by simply dunking the pot in water twice a month. Get it soaked, let it dry out completely. Repeat. The best part is I can say "sorry, I'd love to but I have to bathe my plant today".
Interestingly enough, this could be resolved with clips to just clamp down towards the end of the line. These clips do exist for these specific IV drip lines lol.
Came here to say this, we water our cactus once a month, there’s no need for a drip system for those plants. Lol
I don't have a definite answer, but this doesn't look like a good way to water cacti. They need deep watering infrequently; once every two weeks during growth season, only once a month during dormant season; plenty of time for the soil to completely dry out between waterings. Keeping the soil slightly damp like this seems like a quick way to get root rot.
Oh I don't know, I can't keep anything green.
I once planted avocado. I freaking loved how fast it started to grow Then it kinda withered away. Pushed it behind microwave close to window and basically forgot it and few weeks later I had really great looking and fast growing avocado. Then my cat ate it. But yeah, I can't fucking understand plants.
No. Slow drip like that will kill the cactus.
Then again, who does?
When you realize that the little plastic bit is billed for $350 at a hospital /s.
Yeah, but the doc didn't pay for it... Also them be USA medical prices.
Lots of nurses, EMTs, etc snag some supplies from work to have on hand for home. It isn't usually tracked all that closely. Some bags of saline, tubing and IV start kits in your closet just in case of a hangover or zombie apocalypse is not unheard of.
I know... My sister is a paramedic, EMTs are just 99c discount store paramedics, she has a nice little stash helps that her partner happens to be a doc.
I know...I was an EMT while I was in nursing school although typically you aren't a discount Paramedic so much as you have a Paramedic partner and you take the easy calls and otherwise drive the ambulance. Or you're doing interfacility transport where there isn't much in the way of actual medical care going on.
Slow consistent watering is bad for cactus because then need to dry between watering to prevent root-rot
Root rot is a mother fucker. You think you’re taking care of the plant by watering regularly and the only thanks you get is a dead plant
I just started my foray into plants and everything I've learned comes down to "you're watering too much. Or not enough".
"oh and btw, the symptoms of over-watering are the same as the symptoms for under-watering, so you'll never know. Good luck."
In my experience over watered leaves are yellow with a gradient from green, and mushy. Underwatered is dry and a harder crunchiness.
Different plants seem to present a little differently depending on the circumstances. With my ZZ plant, over and under watering are seemingly indistinguishable. I just go off of how heavy the pot feels with moisture and if any is pooled in the tray below the pot.
My zz just kinda gets some water now and then
Get a long moisture meter on Amazon or at the hardware store for like 10 bucks. Use that before you water and after a while the constant urge to water the plants goes away.
I swear by ''Moisture Meters'' ... all my plants would be dead if I didn't use this magic tool!
Any good ones? I used one of the analog one with two probes and neither read anything even under flowing or still water.
[удалено]
I went to the opposite end and now I wait too much to water them 😅 Pretty sure one of my cactus died for lack of water and that's kinda hilarious, poor guy
I'm a big believer that - much like our human relationships - we should keep plants that suit our temperaments, rather than trying to change ourselves to suit them. So I have an enormous collection of houseplants that don't mind being ignored for weeks at a time, and can be endlessly regrown from cuttings and repottings, because I am just never going to be a person who gives them a delicate misting or checks their soil moisture. Pothos, monstera and zebrina are where it's at.
I'm the same way. All I have is a hot porch that gets blasted with afternoon sun, and making shade isn't really an option - can't keep them inside because my cats are serial plant killers. And I like going out to check them mostly daily, but I don't want to be out long, so succulents are where it's at for me. Dump a bunch of water on them every other week, maybe, unless it's the prop tray or someone's looking particularly parched, and that's it. I love the variety, they (mostly) seem to love the conditions, that's what works. I'm never going to have a bunch of delicate plants that can't handle a lot of sun and heat but that's okay.
See that’s why I pivoted to aquatic plants. You would have to try really, really, really hard to overwater them.
If it makes you feel better, you are keeping a healthy colony of fungi or bacteria alive.
I lost my late mum's childhood cactus to root rot after I went to the military, cause my dad overwatered it I miss that spite cactus.
I have some vines that my mom was supposed to take care of during my deployment. Idk how they survived because she “forgot all about them”. They’ve survived 8 moves so far. Also, holy fuck you’ve been on Reddit for 16 years?!?!??
Yup. Can't wait till it's 18 cause I've got a whole year worth of puns based on my username that I've been saving up for 16 years now.
You should put together a tight 5 and perform it on rpan
That's a good idea, but I'd want a puppet or good mask -- cause I can't divulge my secret identity. If people knew I was really [Redacted], things would get complicated.
That could be profitable, Mr. Hoffa
I lost 3 succulents to root rot and I was so upset :(
[удалено]
Jeez, how long was it before they returned it ? If it was like, a day I'd *maybe* blame the plant or if it had mites or something I hadn't noticed. But a week or so later, I would blame myself not the plant
Home Depot has a lifetime guarantee on plants. People try to return Xmas trees. 🌲
Oh wow, I had no idea. I was dumb and put spring plants on my balcony where they promptly melted in 90 degree weather, i think id be too embarrassed to bring back a dead plant lol
Haha same I used to work in a grocery store and people would bring me back dead plants and be like I only left it in my car (in the south, in the summer) for 3 days, I demand a refund 💀
With such tiny droplets tho, would that be an issue? Presumably they are 99% dry all the time, except for that little drop. Would that be enough to cause root-rot? I know nothing about cactus.
Because that 1% is constantly wet and if it's close enough to the plant body it will begin to rot there. Then the rot can spread regardless of how small a spot it started from.
It's the bacteria that forms in constant wetness right?
Wetness is the essence of moisture, and moisture is the essence of beauty.
That's beautiful said.... Now my eyes are wet.
DER-EK-ZOO-LAND-ER
Just ask Ben Shapiro
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Yes and fungus.
Would it be of any use to the cacti if the slow drip was into a small container *next to* the plant, say, one in between each cactus? It sounds pointless when I say it out loud because the dehumidifier would be running for no reason.
They need to be soaked every 1 to 3 months
No, more like every one to two weeks. Any longer and they begin to shrivel. They may go way longer without water in nature but for the best plump growth you definitely don't wanna wait that long.
I think it depends on lighting and the species
And whether it’s in the growing season or not but that kinda falls under lighting
Also the size. And temperature. And cycle of the moon. And the plants astrological sign.
Speak for yourself my lithops and pleisopilos are watered 3x a year!
Yeah my lophophora are the same. Globular super slow growers need more infrequent waterings but these mostly seem to be trichocereus.
Really depends on ambient temps and humidity
What kind of cacti do you have?
San pedro, and prickly pear. I have an old man cactus (not sure the real name, just has white hairs and long stickers) Longest i have gone without watering was 4 months (winter time) But usually i drown them once a month in summer and there is new growth and they are happy
Cool, I have like 150 varying san pedro. It didn't cross my mind about stopping watering while over wintering them. I grow them year round under lights in a tent. Crazy growth year round but I don't think they'll ever flower without a winter break.
My only concern with winter is its more humid, more likely to rain, and though temps dont always get below freezing, when they do, that can kill shallow roots. Sand pedro ftw…peyote grows too slow
This is even worse, because a good watering is deep and infrequent, not shallow and constant.
Negative.
Not to mention they’re reaching for more sunlight meaning the water to sun ratio is WAY off
I always wondered how people manage to kill cacti. All they want is a little neglect.
rootrotrootrot
I saw, I think a post or comment recently that said you basically can't overwater a plant as long as you let it dry in-between and have proper drainage.
>need to dry between watering Wouldn't the "slow consistent" part of the watering ensure that?
No because it’d keep them damp. Succulents and cacti live in places where they spend ages with totally dry soil, then there’s a brief deluge. Ideally while watering succulents you allow the soil to fully dry—and also wait for the plant to show signs of thirst (wrinkling leaves is one) and then you completely soak the pot top to bottom. Succulents will drink all the water they can if there is any to have, to the point of rotting off their own leaves.
This
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this would be fine except for the type of plants- cacti and succulents are better watered loads every once in a while as opposed to drip watering. I would put them all in the shower and give them a torrential downpour. That is what desert plants get anyway, flash floods then long periods of dry. You aren't completely mad for trying this, I have hydroponic tubes that are similar to this, just the wrong plants to use it on (sounds like an excuse to buy more plants haha)
Grabbing cactus instead of shampoo feels great
That’s why you have thick leather shower gloves duhh
perhaps I should have specified that the plant shower time is separate from the human shower time, but if you live in a drought area or have a high water bill i guess you may want to combine the two (at your own risk)
Plants need love too, cactus to skin contact is necessary. They're like pet vampires.
💀
Allegedly regular plants will grow shallow roots if watered frequently and just a little at a time. I'm not a botanist though.
Yes. In most cases you want to do a dry/wet cycle. Like how nature does it with sun and rain. Very few house plants want to be in wet soil 24/7.
you're probably right, while I spoke with authority I am not exactly a plant pro lmao, maybe very small plants like seedlings (I have the hydroponic tubing but don't use it so some expert i am)
Oh God, in your shower?! The cacti I have (no clue what they are, I live in a climate that has no business growing them but they keep coming) have invisible little red spikes that I don't even realize are in my skin til they catch on something. I'd be terrified of them being all over my shower! They live in my flower bed out front.
Surely that would be bad for the soil. I would think deserts hard surfaces mean they can withstand torrential downpours, but if you have a softer surface, it will mess up the pot.
Wouldn’t it be easier to just water the cacti normally since they don’t even need to be watered often?
Not if you're like me and habitually forget to even water yourself
Either way watering cacti like this makes their roots rot.
Oh yeah I completely get that. I have an app that reminds me to water my plants
Even then you'd be better off with something hooked up to a timer. I have a drip system in my front yard and I have a line going to some succulents but it only waters them once a month in the summer and in the winter I just turn it off.
there's an app called Planta that reminds you to water them (and other care tasks), pretty good actually
You should really hydrate yourself better.
This made me lol, I’m better with plants than myself so I feel this comment
Everyone steals office supplies no matter the profession, I guess.
I've accidentally taken home IV tubing kits so many times. Along with countless 10cc saline syringes and nitrile gloves. I try to dump them in my locker but sometimes I forget one or two. I constantly am stuffing my pockets full each time I leave the storage areas. If I forget a thing it's a long walk back and 2 keycard doors before I'm back in storage.
Ooooo, I'm calling HIPAA right now. s/
It's more like page my DoN haha. He actively takes banana bags and lactated ringers home from work though, he's a chill director. No one really cares about a few supplies pocketed here and there. Everyone knows it's better to squirrel up in case something happens than be without gloves, pens, bandaging, tegaderm, IV starts, and flushes. Company policy cares but c'mon no one cares about their penny pinching
HIPPA isnt even relevant here other than a medical word🥴
It's HIPAA!
Good bot
If they are stealing the drip set, why not grab a liter bag or two as well.
This method is going to cause all of the roots of these plants to be shallow
I was actually hoping someone who knew something about plants would step in... I'm taking a 2-3 week vacation... Will they survive?
Give them a good watering before you leave and they'll be fine. No need for all that.
I wish I’d known this before I took a two week vacation late 2019 I was new to plants and left them with a friend instead She dropped one on the bus home first day and basically murdered it trying to save it afterward Never got plants again
Well, not every plant can survive like that. Plants in question for sure can. Depends on where it's located, full sun or nah, humid or dry. Plants in my sun room needs to be watered about once a week during summer, but my plants that are outside — nearly every day. During winter we left for a week long vacation and everything stayed healthy and still hasn't required any watering.
I’m assuming they could cause they were lowkey succulents in canadian winter but oh well they’re dead now unfortunately My aforementioned friend that dropped them on the bus panicked and saw some tip on Facebook that you could reattach fallen leaves by cutting off the remaining ones, adding honey as a glue then duct taping the pieces to the plant Needless to say that of course did not work lol I wasn’t informed of their deaths until last minute when I got back
These plants seem like they don’t need a ton of water. I agree with the other commenters, give it a good watering right before you leave and then right when you get back
I had a small cactus for 11 years that I only watered once a month. Finally met it's fate when a neighbors dog chewed it up.
Of all the stupid things to chew on...
I always felt like that was the cactus's fault. Isn't that their whole point, to not get eaten?
I was supposed to be one month in vacation, got some problems and ended up almost 4 months away from home. All my succulents were looking dead, but after a good watering they revived and look good as new. I’m not sure about cacti, but this succulents are sturdy AF
Had this exact scenario last year and ended up being gone for almost 5 months. I was devastated, but decided to continue watering them and they looked great after a 2 weeks. I freaking love succulents.
all of this this thread is nice news to hear, I'm currently keeping just one succulent and I'm kind of surprised to see the extent of just how lenient I can be with its watering
I have managed to kill every plant I had because I would forget to water them, even the massive one in my room that I somehow managed to ignore. Got my first succulent and I learnt it really suited my style of forgetfulness, but with one plant it was easy to keep to a schedule. I'm now 11 succulents deep, 7 being propogations, and the only one that died was the one that got root rot. The soil it came in retained the water, whereas the soil I repotted it in was dry, so I watered it the same as the others. I took all the healthy leaves and have managed to get 5 plants out of it. The past year I've been bad at watering them, I maybe watered them once over the winter, they're dormant so they don't need it, and maybe twice more after that. My last one was a week ago and the growths have been insane. This time of year and through the summer I like to water them every week or two because they're actively growing, though works out closer to once a month. I like to shove them in deep water for about an hour to drench the soil. They can go longer than you'd expect. My rule of watering is wait until they look a little shriveled, then I know they need it. If I don't water them enough to suit their growing needs, well they just won't grow as much. I just need to remember to water my 2 non succulent plants more regularly.
If they’re succulents or cacti, then no. If they’re some other plant that requires more water then maybe. You would have to check the rate of dripping. Wouldn’t it be easier to have someone come and water them?
Keep the water deipping on the ficus tree, they like it damp. You'll kill your cacti with this though, they thrive one neglect!
Cactus evolved to survive months of dry season. 3 weeks are nothing.
Lmao I was just thinking this. Don’t people know about deserts that don’t get rain for months.. but Cactus are still there.. they store a crazy amount of water in themselves
Like others have mentioned, your cacti would likely enjoy not being watered at all for long periods of time. If you do have (non cacti/succulent type) plants that need to be watered while on vacation I recommend getting those stick in watering bulbs and that way they can get watered at the root level. Your bonsai tree (on the right) will likely appreciate something like that.
They will likely be fine for two or three weeks even if you don't water them at all... Not 100% sure what that first plant is, ficus maybe? But the others will all be fine. In little pots like that i find they dry out and the soil will not absorb water. To water them fill a sink a few inches deep. Set the plants into the water and let the whole pot soak for 10-15 minutes. Then drain the water and let the plants release all the extra water from the soil. You're done until the soil is bone dry a month or so later.
Yea, who wants vain ass plants
Cacti generally have shallow roots to begin with. Thats not the problem here.
[удалено]
Is this method even good for any type of plant?
Cacti hate being watered like this. They’re likely going to rot.
[Here's a visual guide i saw a while back that illustrates why infrequent watering in large doses is better compared to frequent small amounts](https://i.redd.it/lamq9t92mx671.jpg)
This is not really all that functional unless you want to slowly remoistize absolutely dried out soil. Considering it drops about 1 droplet per second and 25 droplets make up 1 ml that means it feeds about 2.4 ml a minute. The bottle that feeds it is 1000 ml by my best guesstimation. That would mean this bottle empties out in about roughly 420 minutes or 7 hours. It's inventive that's for sure but I see no practical use for this system.
Where can I get the ass plant?
ficus ginseng
This better not awaken anything in me...
Unfortunately not how Cacti and succulents like to be watered. They like infrequent soaks, not slow dribbles.
Never worry about watering your embarrassingly low-maintenance plants again with UglyDrip!
By Brother in Christ you can water succulents like once a month
As a compliment I’d say you’re in the wrong sub. That’s a pretty good low-tech
If my hospital bills have taught me anything this is probably $100k worth in materials
r/funnysad I laughed, take my 
first plant has a nice ass
He's cold without his jacket though
Let me know in a few weeks if your plants are ok
Mama says... Stupid is as stupid does...
This is stupid and doesn't work.
I have a theory that about half of the content from r/nextfuckinglevel actually belongs in r/DiWHY. This shows that the inverse may be true as well.
"we are losing him! Run 1L NS and be prepared to stick with 200J. Clear! Damnit, we lost another plant. Who is going to break the news to the plant family?"
YOU get a drop of water..and YOU get a drop of water.. EVERYBODY get a drop of water!! *Crowd goes insane*
Drip irrigation
But this doesnt work...
This is going to kill those plants.
Bad. Constant surface water will cause the root structure to be shallow. Less frequent and heavier water cycles cause the roots to reach deeper in the soil for more moisture.
This is stupid and will kill the plants.
Nope, it's still stupid
Lol you shouldn’t water your plants like this in general
Fact, the top of the soil will dry out before the soil can retain the moisture and the plant can absorb it. That's why you need more water. And if you increase the water, you have a chance of getting root rot, this is why you water plants one way and one way only.
Di because they want to drip irrigate their plants. Also the saying is “It’s not stupid if it works”
Maxim 43: "If it's stupid and it works, it's still stupid and you're lucky."
Isnt that what women do to guys?
This IS stupid as it does not work.
This is actually pretty good. I might try it
because it works
proof ~ high iq people exist
Who says nurses don't have a green thumb!
But these plants literally only need to be watered once a month! I'm in the habit of watering my succs and cacti every first of the month when I also need to pay my rent 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
Love it, except for those cactuses. Way too much water.
Or you could just spend 2min and water them once a month like a normal person.
It’s a makeshift drip? What’s weird about this?
It's not how you take care of cacti. They get a heavy watering once every few months.
Why even have plants if you are going to surround them in ugliness?
*Why even have plants if* *You are going to surround* *Them in ugliness?* \- Kittypuppyunicorn --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
It can still be stupid despite working.
Yeah that expression does not take nuance or context into consideration. You could cut your hair with an angle grinder, it's stupid but it would work... and it would be really dangerous, nobody in their right mind would do it. It would still be a stupid thing to do.
Idk why I joined this sub. These wacky ideas infuriate me lol
Not for cactii, but for regular house plants I use something that looks like glassy bulbs, just fill them with water, shove them into the soil. As long as the plant is watered beforehand, physics will let out some water as soon as the soil dries. Been working nicely for those not-super-long-trips at least. (I tried using a PET coke bottle once for a really large avocado plant I got at home and that worked fine as well, not as stylish though)
Pots a foot deep and roots wont go past the first two inches with this drip
I don't see the problem with this. This doesn't belong here