Step 1: Prior to using the meter, be careful to clean the probes with distilled water and wipe it off with a clean towel. This will maintain the accuracy of your moisture meter, regardless of the model you are using.
Step 2: Gently press the moisture meter’s probe or pointed end into the soil of your succulent (about 3 quarters deep into the pot). Make sure to be cautious when inserting the moisture meter into the soil; otherwise, you risk damaging the tool’s probe or the tool’s roots.
Step 3: After waiting around 60 seconds, read the gauge and compare the reading to the individual succulent’s water requirements.
 
- Your potting medium is almost dry. 1 to 1.5 or 1 to 3.
- Your potting medium is slightly dry to lightly damp if the range is 2 to 3.5 or 3.5 to 7.5.
- Your potting media is very damp. 4 to 5 or 8 to 10.
After waiting for about 60 seconds, check the gauge’s reading and match it to the individual succulent’s water requirements.
Step 4: Remove the moisture meter, clean it, and store it in a secure location once you have recorded each reading.
DON’T FORGET TO COMPLETE THIS STEP, AS LEAVING THE MOISTURE METER IN THE SOIL CONSTANTLY WILL PROBABLY DAMAGE THE TOOL’S SENSOR AND COULD CAUSE IT TO FAIL, OR WORSE, NOT FUNCTION AT ALL!
Important Information: All soil meters can be used with the procedures above. However, the pH level typically appears as the first reading on a 3-way, 4-in-1, and Bluetooth-enabled meter (which is usually measured on a scale from 1 to 14, 1 being the most acidic and 14 being the most alkaline). You only need to touch the button on the meter or phone to alter or view the moisture, light, or temperature level (if you are using the Bluetooth-enabled meter).
Is dry soil ideal for cacti?
Regardless of the time of year, there is a fairly simple method for figuring out when your cactus needs water. The soil should, as a general rule, totally dry out between waterings.
- To check for moisture, stick your finger into one of the drainage holes at the bottom.
- Gently insert a stick or skewer all the way to the bottom of the potting mixture. Before removing it, give it a brief while to settle. You know to wait a little longer before watering the stick if it seems or feels damp.
- Prick the top several inches of the potting mix with your finger. You can add water if the soil seems dry all the way down. You can wait a little longer for the soil to dry out more if it is damp and sticks to your finger.
How soon should the soil in cacti dry out?
When a plant is watered, it should be able to sip water for a short while afterward, and then the soil should dry out as rapidly as possible. This is the goal of quick draining soil.
Although there is no clear definition of what constitutes fast draining, it is generally accepted that it should be completely dry in one to one and a half days. By inserting your finger an inch into the soil, you may determine whether it is dry. It ought to feel both warm AND dry. It’s probably genuinely a little damp if it’s “cooler than the air around it.
How often should I water the soil in my cacti?
The most frequent reason for cacti failure is improper watering, whether it is done too much or too little. Cacti have evolved to store water for extended periods of time and can maintain moisture through droughts because they are endemic to arid regions and dry temperatures. They have a limited capacity, which is why over-watering can result in a variety of issues.
When it comes to regularity, watering your cacti will largely depend on the season but also on the variety. Checking the soil is the easiest technique to determine whether your cactus needs water: It’s time for a drink if the top inch is dry. That entails applying the “soak and dry procedure” on cactus.
What is the soak and dry method?
The soak and dry technique is thoroughly wetting the soil until part of it begins to flow out the drainage hole, then waiting until the mixture is nearly dry before wetting it once more. If done properly, this strategy will help them endure a period of under-watering should you need to travel or leave the house because it takes use of their natural tendency to store water (or if you just get busy and watering falls to the wayside, as happens to all of us now and again).
Watering during the growing season versus the inactive season
Like with many houseplants, the season affects how frequently you need water. It becomes more crucial that you get in the habit of examining the soil to determine whether your cacti are thirsty. A healthy cactus needs watering every one to two weeks during the growing season, according to general wisdom. The frequency changes to once every three to four weeks during the off-season.
Even then, it’s crucial to examine the soil. The same way that not all interior spaces and not all cacti are alike. The only way to be certain that your cactus require watering is to carefully examine the soil to determine how dry it is because there are so many different factors.
What are the signs that my cactus is too dry?
Plants that are generally simple to grow and can endure lengthy drought conditions are cacti. But just because they come from the desert doesn’t imply they can never be destroyed. Because a protracted drought can be disastrous, it’s important to recognize the symptoms of dehydration that your plants need.
How do you tell when a cactus needs water, then? You must pay close attention to your plant’s activity to determine whether it needs water. Normally, a cactus’ body may seem wrinkled and feel vaguely “soft” if it is under-watered. The modified leaves’ spines feel dry to the touch and might easily fall off. Although they don’t appear soggy and translucent like overwatered leaves, dry leaves that are caused by insufficient hydration are typically softer to the touch than when they are fully hydrated.
How long is the soil damp for cacti?
There is no set period of time during which I allow my soil to dry out; for small plants and seedlings during the summer (warm) season, it may be only a day or longer; for larger plants and during the winter months, it may even take many months. Therefore, I don’t water them “all together,” but rather separately based on the type, size, and pot of each plant.
But for someone with a collection of same soil, pot size, and density, as well as plants from one ecogroup (desert plants) kept in similar or equal growing conditions, the “once weekly or bi-weekly” approach may be working effectively.
Therefore, maintaining soil moisture for three to five days during the growing season would be optimal for the average plant, but this is not always feasible in practice.
How do I determine whether my cactus needs water?
Fair enough, it can be challenging to make the appropriate decision. Everyone will give you different recommendations because there is so much conflicting information available. Additionally, many plants have various preferences. How do you even begin?
But the story doesn’t end there. You know, a number of things might impact how frequently you should water. To name a few:
- Temperature
- Humidity
- composition of the soil
- Light intensity
- Season
- Dormancy
- Species
- Outdoors versus Indoors
There are other others, but we won’t go into them now. The most crucial thing to keep in mind is that, even though 10 days is a solid guideline, you should constantly be aware of the shifting circumstances. You should adjust your watering schedule to account for them.
For instance, it’s well known that throughout the summer, you should water your plants more frequently. It is, after all, much hotter. Water evaporates more quickly, and your plants do too!
Arizona experiences intensely hot and arid summers. Your succulents will need water as frequently as possible if they are in a climate like that. You should water them every day or every other day in those conditions, believe it or not.
The East Coast, including Virginia, can have extremely hot summers. The humidity, nevertheless, is also quite high. Evaporation proceeds far more slowly here than it would in Arizona since the air is already so heavily laden with water. In this situation, we advise watering every five to six days.
Naturally, winters are the opposite. Days get shorter, the sun shines less, and the temperature drops. Some of your plants enter a dormant state (much like a bear hibernating).
You water significantly less regularly throughout the winter (especially for outdoor plants). Depending on how often I remember, I water my indoor plants once every two to three weeks. Sedum and Sempervivum are examples of outdoor, cold-tolerant plants that may never need watering since the odd snow or sleet is more than enough.
Root Rot
The risk of root rot is the primary reason we lay such a strong focus on watering regularly.
The quiet killer that kills the majority of succulents and cacti is root rot. Because it takes place underneath the soil’s surface, you won’t even notice anything is amiss until the plant topples over due to a rotting core.
Why does root rot occur? In a nutshell, roots will begin to decay if they are left in water for an extended period of time. This is due to the fact that plants actually breathe through their roots and that air does not travel well through water.
The succulent essentially drowns. It also doesn’t need to be a lot of water. Root rot can develop only from being damp or moist for an extended period of time.
Because of this, frequency of watering is more crucial than quantity. Giving the succulent adequate time to dry out in between waterings is essential.
How to Know if the Soil is Dry
The first step in keeping your plant dry is to have a fast-draining soil that is primarily formed of inorganic components. Step two involves watering only when the plant has completely dried.
It is simple to determine whether the soil is dry. The simplest method is to just insert your finger into the saucepan. A minimum depth of two inches is required since sometimes the surface may be dry but the ground beneath may not be. Don’t water if it feels damp, wet, or even a touch colder than the surface. Allow a few days.
To check, you can also use a soil moisture meter. These tools are extremely helpful for inspecting numerous plants, however the less expensive models can be somewhat incorrect.
Finally, just watch for your succulent or cacti’s leaves to wrinkle. Though it seems frightening, the plant is not actually damaged. Instead of erring on the side of wet, choose dry.
Pay attention to your plants
The best advice for general plant maintenance is to give your plants regular attention! One of the main factors contributing to poor plant health is improper irrigation, which frequently results from neglect. It can be simple for us to forget to check on our plants due to our hectic lifestyles. How many times have we thought, “I should water that later,” only to forget to do it? most likely quite a few.
If you check on your plants once every two days or so, you can spot tiny changes like withering leaves. Being alert to such changes will enable you to take preemptive action if your plant is drying out, which is significantly more efficient than following a set watering schedule.
Research your plant’s needs.
You should research the individual plant care needs of any new plant you intend to grow, whether it be an edible or indoor houseplant. Numerous articles on how to care for different houseplants and food plants are available. For each plant species, you can create brief notes that you can immediately refer to.
For instance, a quick Google search for “Prayer Plant plant care” revealed that they appreciate moist but not saturated soil that drains well. For my Prayer Plant, I only let the top inch of soil to dry out between waterings; this often takes a week, though it can dry out sooner when the weather is warmer.
One excellent approach to stay on top of your watering schedule is to understand which plants will dry up more quickly than others. Keep in mind that plants in warm, dry rooms and those in hanging baskets should be checked frequently because they dry up very rapidly. Most plants won’t require as much water when they are dormant, so you can cut back on your watering frequency as autumn approaches.
Check the surface of the soil
You can determine if the dirt on the surface of your pot is dry at a look. Since dry soil is nearly always lighter in color than moist soil, lighter brown soil implies surface dryness.
Although this method provides a general indicator of plant dryness, it works best with plants like umbrella palms and Boston ferns that can be maintained permanently moist.
For drought-tolerant plants like cacti, succulents, and Ficus species, it is less helpful because watering them when only the top layer of soil is dry will certainly result in overwatering. To determine whether these plants require watering, you need to dig a little deeper.
Poke your finger into the soil
Sticking your finger into the dirt is one of the simplest ways to determine whether your plant needs watering. Compared to just looking at the surface, this provides a clearer idea of the moisture content of the soil. You can feel how moist or dry the soil is by extending your hand 2-3 inches into it. Due to its restricted reach, this method works best with smaller potted plants. When using this technique, take care not to harm the roots; if you feel roots, try another section of the pot.
Lift your pots to determine their weight
Lifting the pots of your plants to check their weight is another approach to evaluate whether they need watering. When watering, nurseries frequently do this.
The plant will be lighter than usual if it is dry because water contributes to its weight. If you have a lot of potted plants, this rapid method is suggested! Try tilting larger pots to determine their weight.
The more times you use this strategy, the better you’ll get at it. You may determine which potted plants need watering by routinely picking them up. Lift the pot once you have finished watering it to determine its heaviest weight. This makes comparing its weight a few days later simpler. It probably needs watering if it seems much lighter.
Use a moisture sensor
You will undoubtedly be in a good position to determine when to water your plants if you put all the methods listed above into practice. However, given that you can typically find them for less than $10, there is no need to disregard a smart technological solution.
By inserting the probe of a moisture sensor approximately 3/4 of the way into the potting medium, you can utilize it. On a dial, moisture levels will be displayed and occasionally color-coded as follows: red (dry soil), green (excellent moisture level), blue (soil is too wet).