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syz's avatar

Succulent specialists, can you help with my cacti?

Asked by syz (35943points) June 9th, 2011

I’ve never had luck with cacti – I tend to get anxious and over water. I have three small planters in my office that seem to be doing ok 6 months in, with assorted small (unlabeled) succulents from Home Depot. I have some that look similar to this that are growing taller, but dropping their lower leaves, so they look like they’re growing on the top of a bare stalk. Is that too much water? Too little? How do I stop the leaf loss?

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3 Answers

creative1's avatar

Too much water will kill a succulent… A succulent require less water, I hope this link helps. Dropping leaves sound like a case of overwatering.

creative1 (12066points)“Great Answer” (1points) Flag as…
squirbel's avatar

I water my cacti twice a month, and not very liberally. They look pretty happy to me…

squirbel (4297points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…
Blueroses's avatar

You can think of your flat leaf succulent like testing a tomato in the market. Run the pad of your thumb across the leaf with fairly firm pressure. If it feels mushy, like your thumb could press through or leave a dent, it’s holding too much water. Let it dry out for a couple weeks.

If the outer skin bunches up like tissue paper, it’s too dry. Give it a little water.

Blueroses (18256points)“Great Answer” (0points) Flag as…

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