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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  2. Repulsive-Tie1981

    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 đŸ˜ŠđŸ€ž

    Edit because spelling is hard.

  3. reesa447

    Make sure it’s in a proper gritty mix. If it’s straight peat change it immediately.

  4. I think overwatering once won’t really kill it. Just let it go back to its routine, plants are sturdy.

  5. rosiestark

    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.

  6. I’ve learned a trick to help with this! These will have what they call a “window” it’s like a translucent strip in the pearl that is a slightly different color. That window closes when it needs water.

  7. Also if it’s overwatered you can stick a rag or paper towels under it and it will help absorb the excess water!!

  8. DCpurpleTart33

    tea is great for plants. this will not kill it. Just don’t make a habit of overwatering! open those curtains!

  9. rmorrill995

    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.

  10. External_Opposite_48

    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 classic—the man needs to take a min to read, that sticky note is as big as the plant lol!

  11. Dexterdacerealkilla

    Open the curtains. Your plant wants light. And it will help more quickly dry out the plant as well. 

    I live dangerously with my string of pearls in a hanging planter without drainage. It’s over 4’ long and thriving on lots of sun and neglect. I probably should water it more than I do (there are some deflated pearls) but it’s about 5 years old and I’ve had to trim it down multiple times due to it getting too long. 

  12. ClancyIsDead_

    It will probably be fine. Just don’t water it for a while. People think drenching a succulent is overwatering, but that’s actually the proper way to water as long as the plant has drainage. It’s 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, you’ll be golden.

  13. Put him under sun and make it beg for water. Trust me it will thrive.

  14. MysticMintyMushroom

    Plants exist in nature. Pretend it rained. Now give it a little bit of wind to continue stimulating weather. Don’t point it at the plant. Just give the room more airflow than normal. Report back in a week if it’s looking sickly. Someone will have to give you different advice than what’s in this thread.

  15. Solution, don’t let your father come by to water ! Jokes aside, it’s still looking super healthy (assuming this is post watering photo). Like most have said it will be fine especially with proper drainage. One watering isn’t going to kill it

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