Stephen Wolstenholme wrote:
On Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:43:07 +0100, mt006b1198
wrote:

I was wondering if anybody could please help me.

I am thinking of trying to grow cactus plants, I grew them once b4 but
I made the mistake of overwatering them and they went all floppy.

I was just wondering if anybody could advise me on how often I should
water them?


Mine get watered about once every three or four weeks in summer if I
remember. No water at all in winter. They flower in summer and they
are about 40 years old so I must be doing something right!

It is a lot easier to kill a cactus by overwatering than underwatering.
They really do not like wet feet.

But in midsummer they can be watered once a week or even more often if
you use a fast draining compost and no tray underneath. A general rule
is that the soil should be allowed to almost dry out between waterings.

In winter you might need to water them if you keep them in a centrally
heated house. Kept at 5-10C they probably won't need any water til
spring. And few succulent plants like lithops can wait until June for
their first watering - otherwise you get atypical growth.

Regards,
Martin Brown
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