Shoutout to the old me who used to overwater every single succulent I owned

Jamie Butler · 2026-06-16T16:25:11.004971+00:00

I used to drown my jade plants every week thinking they needed constant moisture, but after killing 4 in 6 months I switched to a strict once-every-3-weeks schedule and now they're thriving. Anyone else have a specific plant care habit they totally reversed after a major fail?

gibson.morgan2mo ago

Is killing a few plants really that deep though?

5

aaron_perry2mo ago

That's a fair point about the soil, but what made you decide to switch the soil first instead of just watering less? I had the opposite problem - I kept adding perlite and trying different mixes, but my problem was simply that I was watering too often regardless of the soil type. It took me a whole year of killing plants to realize that even well-draining soil cant save a plant when you're dumping water on it every week. Did you ever try just backing off on watering for a few months before going the soil route? I figure most people try the easiest fix first, which is usually to just wait longer between waterings.

4

keith_bennett2mo ago

Hold on, are you sure the watering was the issue? I used to think the same thing about my jade plants, but it turned out the soil was too dense and the pots had no drainage. Switching to a gritty mix and unglazed terracotta let me water weekly without any rot. Overwatering gets blamed for a lot, but sometimes it's really the lack of airflow or light that makes the water sit too long.

1