Why Is My Succulent Soft And Droopy

There could be a few causes for the drooping of your succulent plant. Discover the causes of your succulents’ drooping, the reasons why succulent leaves droop, why a succulent droops after repotting, and how to fix it in this article.

Overwatering, freezing weather, underwatering, and rotting are the main causes of a succulent’s drooping. Succulents can also droop due to pests, illnesses, and abrupt weather changes.

Typical succulents ought to be firm, plump, and not etiolated. Additionally, succulent leaves must be full and not wilted or discolored.

What’s making my succulent wilt?

Both too much and too little water can cause succulents to wilt under water stress. Although succulents can withstand droughts and store water in their leaves and stems, like most plants, they will wilt, drop off, and eventually die if they receive insufficient water. Before wilting, a succulent plant that isn’t getting enough water will generally have indentations in its leaves as well as a dull tint.

Another factor in succulent plants wilting is overwatering. When the plant receives too much water, the leaves start to seem limp, shriveled, and feeble. Allowing the soil to completely dry out in between waterings is the best strategy to keep succulent plants from becoming overwatered. This usually translates to watering your plant no more frequently than once per month. Give your succulent plant well-draining soil, like sand or a loamy mixture, to guarantee appropriate drainage. Make sure the pot has drainage holes on the bottom when growing a plant in a container.

What does a succulent look like when it is overwatered?

How can you tell if your succulent is getting too much water? You can usually determine if a succulent is being overwatered or underwatered by looking for telltale indications. A plant that has received too much water will have soft, mushy leaves.

The leaves would either turn translucent in color or appear lighter than they would on a healthy plant. A succulent that had received too much water would frequently lose leaves readily, even when only lightly handled. Usually, the lowest leaves are the ones to suffer first.

The plant will look to be unhealthy overall. When this occurs, the plant is either being overwatered, sitting in the incorrect soil that does not dry out quickly enough, or both.

Your plants are being overwatered if you have been giving them regular waterings or if you have been following a watering schedule regardless of how the plant appears.

On the other hand, a succulent that has been submerged will have withered, wrinkled, and deflated-looking leaves. The leaves will appear thin and flat. The entire plant will appear withered and dry.

The leaves of a good succulent plant should be thick and solid, not mushy or desiccated.

To learn more about this subject, visit my post titled “How To Tell If Your Succulent is Over or Under Watered,” in which I go into great length about how you may determine whether your succulent plant is being over or under watered.

This String of Pearls ‘Senecio Rowleyanus’ plant leaf is one that has been overwatered. If a succulent’s water storage capacity has been exceeded, it may physically burst from overwatering.

Are succulents sun-loving creatures?

Succulents enjoy direct sunlight, but if yours is always in the same position, only one side is probably receiving enough of it. Langton and Ray advise often rotating the plant. Rotating succulents will help them stand up straight because they like to slant toward the sun. (Leaning might also indicate that they need to move to a more sunny area.)

What does a succulent that isn’t healthy look like?

On its leaves, a sick succulent will display the following indicators: leaves that are turning brown, orange, or yellow. leaves with dead leaf patches along the border. perforations in the leaves.

How does a succulent look as it ages?

The leaves on your succulent may appear yellow, translucent, or wet. Your succulent is starting to die as a result of overwatering. A more serious condition is indicated by leaves that are brown or black and appear to be rotting. Therefore, you must begin saving your withering succulents!

Can succulents endure direct sunlight?

Due to their drought tolerance and water-storing properties, which enable them to tolerate high heat and very harsh sun exposure, succulents have become well-known. This is true for the majority of succulent plants, however some cannot survive direct sunlight without protection, and if exposed to excessive heat, they may suffer sun damage. &nbsp

The best 10 succulents and cacti that will thrive in full sun are listed below. Some of these plants can withstand full sun exposure better than others.

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How frequently should succulents be watered indoors?

Indoor succulent plants probably need to be watered once a week. They require ample time for the soil to dry out in between waterings so that the water may be stored in the leaves. Use the following methods and advice while watering succulent plants inside.

  • Use an irrigation system with a little pour spout.
  • Fill the succulent plant’s center with water until it is completely submerged.
  • Allow water to completely drain out of the pot through the perforations. Make careful to empty any water that seeps through the soil if there is a saucer underneath the plant.
  • Since there won’t be enough heat and fresh airflow for the leaves to dry when planted indoors, avoid soaking the leaves to prevent rot from the top down.
  • Dry the soil completely in between waterings.

How do you tell whether a succulent needs to be watered?

There is a ton of information on the internet regarding watering succulents, specifically about overwatering them. You already know that overwatering is one of the seven deadly sins of succulents and will almost certainly result in your succulent being less than perfect. However, succulents do require watering, so how can you tell when it is necessary to water them or if you are just going to let them wither away in a pool of water?

A succulent with enough watering would have thick, sturdy leaves. There should not be much give when you squeeze them between your fingers. They probably require watering if they are soft. Wrinkled leaves are another telltale clue; when plants are thirsty, they pucker and wrinkle their leaves.

“Only water when the earth is fully dry,” is a common phrase. This is true, but sometimes it can be challenging to detect when the soil is dry if your plant occupies most of the pot or if you have a topdressing. Keep in mind that you want to ensure that the soil is dry throughout the entire pot, not just on the top.

Picking up the pot is my tried-and-true, highly scientific method of determining whether my plants require water. Learn about your plants; eventually, you’ll be able to discern if the soil is dry or not by the weight of the pot. It goes without saying that a pot with dry soil will weigh far less than a container with moist dirt. Therefore, pick up your pots after watering them and feel their weight. Then, pick them up once they are dry and feel their weight once more. After some practice, it will come naturally to you to know when your plant needs to be watered.

Another simple approach is to poke a wooden skewer into the ground; if it emerges clean and dry, your soil is probably dry and your succulent needs watering. Your succulent will be alright for the time being even if it comes out dusty and moist.

Water meters are available in garden centers and on Amazon if you wish to use a real scientific method. These ought to make it clear to you if your plant requires watering or not.

Always keep in mind that succulents require a full soak; water them until the drainage pores are completely filled. Not even a spritz will do.

You now know how to determine whether your succulent needs watering. Do you have a favorite way to determine whether your plants need water? If you do, please tell me about it! You can leave a comment below, or you can find me uploading photos of my plants on several social media platforms; the links are on the sidebar.

How are cacti stressed?

Placing your succulents in the dark is one of the simplest ways to stress them out. For four or five days, cover your succulents in darkness to replicate the conditions they would encounter when being transported in a dark box (one of the reasons why store-bought succulents are so colorful at first).

For the colors to truly stand out, you can continue doing this for up to fourteen days. Low-light indoor succulents including jade plants, air plants, gasteria, and haworthia work well for this.

Stressing Succulents With Grow Lights

On the other hand, by giving your succulents more sunlight, you might be able to encourage them to exhibit vibrant hues. Consider beginning the plants outside, where they can receive up to a week’s worth of bright shade (note – only do this if you live in a warm enough climate to grow succulents outdoors, or you may kill them with too much cold),

Give the plants another week or so to adjust before moving them to an area with partial sunlight. Bring the plants inside, where you should place them in a full-sun area or beneath grow lights.

When exposed to more sunshine, certain sun-loving succulents, such as cacti and sedum, will reveal more lovely colours of red, pink, and purple because their pigments will grow more bright.

Pay close attention to your succulents if you plan to light stress them. You’ll be able to recognize sunburn symptoms early. Succulents can typically bounce back from the majority of light-related issues in just a week or two if you gradually introduce them to the proper circumstances.

How to Cold Stress Succulents

Start with a robust collection of plants. You should pick succulent kinds like aloes, kalanchoes, euphorbias, sedums, sempervivums, aeoniums, and echeveria because not all succulents will change color when stressed. Normally, agave doesn’t change color under stress.

Cold stress has the same positive effects on succulents’ color as light stress does. While keeping temperatures above freezing, you could leave the plant outside in the cold. Similar to mild stress, this shock may cause pigments to flush.

But this procedure is a little more delicate. To ensure that your succulent plants aren’t stressed to the point of death by spending an excessive amount of time below their cold hardiness thresholds, you’ll want to keep a close check on them.

How to Stress Your Succulents With Moisture

You may stress your succulent plants with water just like you can with light and cold stress. Succulents are known for their capacity to tolerate extended droughts, therefore doing this can be challenging.

However, you can frequently stress your plant out enough to flush pigments by cutting out water (the precise amount you should cut out will vary depending on what kind of succulent you’re growing and how much water you are giving it now; consult your planting instructions for more information on this).

Where should indoor succulents be kept?

Succulents thrive in hot, arid conditions and don’t mind a little neglect due to their unique capacity to store water. They are therefore ideally suited to growing indoors and are the perfect choice for anyone looking for low-maintenance houseplants. Follow these instructions for successful plant care if you’re choosing succulents for the first time.

Select a succulent that will thrive in your indoor environment.

The majority of succulents need direct sunshine, however if your home only has a shady area, choose low light-tolerant plants like mother-in-tongue. law’s A trailing variety, like string of bananas, is an excellent option if you intend to grow your succulent in a hanging planter. To learn about your succulents’ requirements for sunlight, size, and spread, always read the plant labels.

Give the plants a good draining potting material.

You should repot your succulent as soon as you get it home since nurseries always plant their succulents in soil that is overly rich and holds too much moisture. A coarse potting mix with sufficient drainage and aeration is a good place to start. You can use an African violet mix or unique cactus and succulent mixtures that you can purchase at the nursery. Add perlite or pumice to the cactus or African violet mix (up to 50% of the total potting mix, depending on your particular succulent’s moisture requirements) to further increase drainage and prevent compaction. To make sure the mixture is moist throughout, always moisten it before using.

Decide on a container.

When repotting, use a container that is at least 1 to 2 inches bigger than the nursery container and has a drainage hole. Avoid using glass containers (such mason jars or terrariums) for long-term potting since they prevent roots from breathing and over time may result in root rot. Place your plant inside the container and backfill with extra pre-moistened potting mix after filling the bottom one-third of the container with pre-moistened potting mix.

Put the succulent plant in a pot somewhere sunny.

Try to arrange your succulents close to a south or east-facing window because most succulents need at least six hours of sun each day. Insufficient sunlight may cause your succulents to become spindly or to extend toward the light.

Between waterings, allow the potting mix to dry out.

Overwatering succulents is the most common error people make with them. Watering more deeply but less frequently is preferable. Before the next watering, completely saturate the potting mix (while making sure the water drains out of the drainage hole properly). The plant can finally perish if the potting soil is left moist every day.

Succulents should be fertilized at least once a year.

Fertilizer works best for plants in the spring (when the days lengthen and new growth starts) and again in the late summer. Use a water-soluble, balanced fertilizer (such as 8-8-8 or 10-10-10) that has been diluted to half the strength indicated on the container. Since succulents are semi-dormant in the winter, there is no need to nourish them. Because they are not actively growing, they do not require the nutrient boost.