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Arizona Gardening

can my succs survive my vac?

12 years ago

So we're leaving town for two weeks in the middle of November. I have someone watching the house, but I'd rather not give them watering duty as well. My shrubs and new perennials are on a drip but I'm thinking I can get away with giving my outdoor succulents and smaller cacti one big watering before we go and just let them sit until we return. I don't have anything too exotic, mostly mams, gymnos, a couple of euphorbia and an array of agave. I guess I'm mostly concerned about the smaller ones in pots. . . and my two adenium

thoughts?

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Comments (2)

orrin_h
12 years ago
With the cooler weather I don't think two weeks is a big deal (my potted cacti are lucky if they get biweekly water even in the heat of summer and they do fine).

If you have something particularly fussy you might isolate those and have the housesitter water once midway through the vacation time-probably not asking too much assuming you don't have lots of picky things (most cacti/succs aren't).

-O-
grant_in_arizona
12 years ago
Hiya Zzini and all,

Enjoy your vacation! I agree with Orrin that you cacti and succulents will be totally fine. Like you suggested, I'd just give them a drink right before you leave. The adeniums might, just might, shed a few leaves, but they will be fine. I wouldn't worry at all.

I always triple check my automatic irrigation system before heading out of town, even when I have a house sitter, just to make sure everyone is getting the drinks I think they are, especially newer plants.

Let us know how it goes! Safe travels, Grant.
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It will generate and be healthier. One thing for future reference (and you didn't do anything wrong) but it is OK to remove part of the fine haired root system when repotting. Sometimes, you may even have to cut/chop/slice the stem or root right off of the plant in order to repot and when done correctly - can be very beneficial for the plant. If you have a lot of soil in the root system next time, it is ok to pull that apart, shake the dirt from the system or even cut the system down. There are some fabulous video trainings of repotting and cutting violets down to size online. This is just the beginning for you and great things/plants/experiences are sure to come....lots of learning and growing too :) Dora PS..keep track and we'd love to see pics in about 2 weeks.
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I am sorry chuckerfly .. I somehow missed your comment.. For watering.. for my cacti I give a little amount because I can see that the soil is not so dry (the soil looks dark and have little moisture).. but for my other plants outside I water them until the water fall from the edge of the pot (it will take a lot of water to come out of the drainage holes because the pot is kinda big and the soil is so dry and I have a lot of plants to water and so little time to do so) and the soil will dry completely after 2 days and the leaves will wilt in the 3rd day ... And for my opuntia I took the pups to plant them elsewhere. And I finally fount fishtank gravel (quartz/silica) and I will be repitting all of me cacti soon ... Thank you all for your help .. I will post some pictures in a week or so to update ..
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