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Cacti & Succulents

what does a cactus or succulent look like when it needs water?

17 years ago

what does a cactus or succulent look like when it needs water?

I am not good with these, so any help would be great!

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Comments (2)

best_botanist
17 years ago
is they have leaves, they start to get shriveled. if it is a cactus then it will start to shirnk sorta
murmanator
17 years ago
Its a tough question because of (1) the wide variety of plants in the succulent family, and (2) the signs of underwatering can be strangely similiar to those of overwatering at first. Ive made mistakes both ways and lost plants, but I will say that by far, I have lost more to overwatering than to under. So if in doubt, do not water would be my advice (and watch the plant carefully).

What BB was saying is right... its called desication. Generally, if a cactus is water stressed, it is using a lot of its water reserves and therefore will shrink somewhat. This can best be observed on species with deep ribbing, the plants ribs will close down like an accordion. WIth proper water, the ribs will open up and the plant will get fatter.

Hope that helps a little.
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