
Hi, so I recently got a string of pearls succulent 3 days ago and the other day my dad informed me that he went to water it for me (which I have told him multiple times not to do and have signs on my plants that say do not water) and he dumped out one of my water bottles on it, which did not have water in it. It happened to have green tea in it. He then proceeded to drench my succulent in water until it ran out the bottom to try and clean out the green tea? I'm really scared my $30 plan is about to die. Any advice on how I can keep it alive? The plant sits indoors in a window, facing south.
by Best-University-1309

16 Comments
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I don’t have a straight answer for you, but my coworker used to pour the remainder of her tea in her plants at work and they were doing fine. You might be ok đđ€
Edit because spelling is hard.
Make sure itâs in a proper gritty mix. If itâs straight peat change it immediately.
I think overwatering once wonât really kill it. Just let it go back to its routine, plants are sturdy.
It’ll be fine. When you water succulents, you want to fully drench the soil anyway. And green tea won’t hurt it unless it’s still hot. I routinely water my plants with old tea. Just make sure the pot has good drainage and it’s not sitting in water in the cache pot. Also, make sure it’s getting a lot of light. The window where it’s sitting doesn’t look like it’s providing much light and it really needs as much light as it can get.
Iâve learned a trick to help with this! These will have what they call a âwindowâ itâs like a translucent strip in the pearl that is a slightly different color. That window closes when it needs water.
Also if itâs overwatered you can stick a rag or paper towels under it and it will help absorb the excess water!!
tea is great for plants. this will not kill it. Just don’t make a habit of overwatering! open those curtains!
Overwatering does not occur because a plant gets a lot of water at a single point in time. It’s a compounding issue with the amount of water, how often it’s water, soil moisture retention and root uptake. Leave the succulent alone and wait for the soil to dry out completely. It’s in a South window so getting lots of sun. The soil should begin to dry out and be fine. There’s not much you can do except maybe repot it, but I don’t think that’s worth it for a single incident of unplanned watering.
Once dry pay attention to the look of the leaves. Just because the soil is dry does not mean the succulent needs to be watered yet. The leaves will start to wrinkle and then you should throughly water the plant. Not a thimble full or a cup. Drown that sucker. Again it’s not the amount of water, but staying continuously wet that’s an issue. With a properly draining soil it’s not an issue.
You can also try putting the succulent outside (not in direct sunlight) but it should help to dry it out quicker. The air circulation outside will speed it up. Also omg your dad, so classicâthe man needs to take a min to read, that sticky note is as big as the plant lol!
Open the curtains. Your plant wants light. And it will help more quickly dry out the plant as well.Â
I live dangerously with my string of pearls in a hanging planter without drainage. Itâs over 4â long and thriving on lots of sun and neglect. I probably should water it more than I do (there are some deflated pearls) but itâs about 5 years old and Iâve had to trim it down multiple times due to it getting too long.Â
It will probably be fine. Just donât water it for a while. People think drenching a succulent is overwatering, but thatâs actually the proper way to water as long as the plant has drainage. Itâs really just how often the plant is being watered and whether it is allowed to dry out between waterings.
Make sure it drained well and leave it in a sunny window to dry out, youâll be golden.
Put him under sun and make it beg for water. Trust me it will thrive.
Plants exist in nature. Pretend it rained. Now give it a little bit of wind to continue stimulating weather. Donât point it at the plant. Just give the room more airflow than normal. Report back in a week if itâs looking sickly. Someone will have to give you different advice than whatâs in this thread.
Solution, donât let your father come by to water ! Jokes aside, itâs still looking super healthy (assuming this is post watering photo). Like most have said it will be fine especially with proper drainage. One watering isnât going to kill it
Dang $30 for that little guy seems like a lot haha – bought this for $11 a few weeks ago
https://preview.redd.it/vanu89skilih1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=29678f4064c5f1643c8965715faaa40e41cf86f4