The Thought of using ice cubes for watering purposes of indoor grown plants came up several years ago. However when we compare it with succulents, it is advised to not to water the succulents with ice cubes, because the roots won’t tolerate the cold temperature.If we utilize ice cubes to water them, it will not be possible for them to absorb water as much as they want.
At the same time, if we expose them to an ice cold weather condition at once.plant will get shocked and consequently it will start to stress. If you still insist yourself to practice this on your plants constantly, you can do it at your own risk and you will see the repercussions of it soon.
How do you know when a succulent needs water?
Consider that your succulent is well watered and healthy then, you will spot the leaves more like firm, plump, thick etc. It will be the opposite if it is running short of water. In fact, then you will notice the leaves will bend easily.
Further when you touch them you will feel like they are rubbery. Additionally, when you see your plants leaves are in a shriveled or in a wrinkled formation, that depicts it is lacking water.
Other than these, chances are that they will start to form aerial roots as well. Those aerial roots will be grown out of the stem above the soil surface.
They form these aerial roots to gain some water, especially if it is in a humid area. Having said that, if a certain succulent has formed aerial roots and if it has not shown any features of being under watered, you could ignore them.
Is ice cube watering good for plants?
Once we grow any plant as a house plant, the best thing to do is to supply them with the conditions similar like their natural habitat. That will help them to grow well.
You know that many succulents are native to warm countries and they are adapted to dry weather as well as for high temperatures. There could be sometimes rain falls as well. Having said that, they will never get rainfall at freezing temperatures though.
Thus, if we use ice cubes in watering the succulents, it literally means we are exposing them for a temperature of below 0 degree Celsius. This is a dangerous activity to try on your succulents. If you do so, you will be able to spot the side effects as the time pass by.
If we elaborate more on the reasons as to why we should refrain in watering the succulents with ice cubes, they are as follows.
Succulents usually prefer a faster drenching. Succulents get random rainfall whilst they are in their natural habitat which are adapted to warm conditions.
Once that rain fall comes, it could drench all. Hence, you should follow the same process. As such, if you wish to use ice cubes, it cannot drench the soil, instead it will be kept at moist.
Further succulents do not wish to be in damp soil too. You know that succulents roots system are pron to root rot if they are exposed to too much moisture. That will cause for the plant to deteriorate too.
Ice cubes melting could take some time based on the weather conditions it is in. Consequently, it will keep the soil wet for days. By doing this, we are inviting the fungus, bugs, pests to invade the plant since they love the wet conditions. Wet atmospheres are the natural habitat of them. Then, root rot could be spotted.
Succulents generally are plants which require easy maintenance and little care. Applying ice cubes method came up as a consoling measure to overcome the problems arises with overwatering.
Having said that, they would require watering to be done once a week only. Thus, you may realize caring for the succulents is hassle free compared to others plants in general.
There are no exceptional good results even though we implement this method. Chances are that, it could show side effects if it gets affected by this.
If we let them expose for colder temperature regularly, they will start to look stressful. They will not look as vibrant as they get grown with conditions of the water at the room temperature. It will start to lose its beauty.
The best example for this scenario is, the relocation of succulents to a shady place indoor when it is the winter time as the temperature cold get colder . They cannot withstand the cold temperature.
Once we expose them to colder conditions, a major change would not be visible. They simply try to adjust to the conditions as they have adaptive plans.
Additionally, soil water could also take some time to decrease the colder temperature and to get back to the room temperature. This means, it will not finish damaging the plant faster.
In case, you practice this for several months, succulents will start indicate that it is in stress. It is a pointless thing to water them with ice cubes .
we are literally putting them in an icy cold temperature for which they are not naturally adjusted neither they are prepared to.Leaves will also start to get dropped prematurely if they get exposed to icy cold temperature.
Further you could see branches also turned in to various colors.
What is the better choice: normal water or ice cubes?
It is advised to not to water the succulents with ice cubes, because the roots won’t tolerate the cold temperature. They are very sensitive towards the cold temperature.
If we utilize ice cubes to water them, it will not be possible for them to absorb water as much as they want. At the same time, if we expose them for an unexpected ice old weather condition, plant will get shocked and consequently it will start to stress.
On the other hand, if we water the succulents with normal water at the room temperature, it will not be a shock for the plant.
Succulents are anyway adapted to warmer conditions and water on room temperature will be better option than the ice water which has a much cooler temperature.
You simply have to follow the general practice regarding the watering process to not to have any over water related issues.
Guide to water your succulent with ice cube?
Choose the plant to water –
First of all, you need to select the correct plant as some plants could be sensitive to icy cold temperatures. It could be harmful if we do that on those plants. Instead you could try this option on cold hardy succulents.
Size of the ice cube –
You could use only 2-3 ice cubes for watering purpose weekly.
Create ice cube –
You could simply buy ice cubes from stores. If not ideally, you could just fill your ice cube water tray with clean water and then leave it in the freezer. Use them once they are completely frozen.
Plan the frequency of watering –
Frequency of watering will depend on light, humidity and warmth. As those factors could cause for water evaporation. Depending on those circumstance, you should adjust watering frequency accordingly.
How to place ice cubes –
Split the ice cubes from the tray and deposit three ice cubes in the soil. Then, they will start melting. While this happening it will start slowly watering the plant too. You can use a pair of tongs to move ice so that you can get protected from pathogens.
Will ice water hurt plants?
1.To their roots
Further succulents do not wish to be in damp soil too. You know that succulents’ roots system are pron to root rot if they are exposed to too much moisture.
That will cause for the plant to deteriorate too. Ice cubes melting could take some time based on the weather conditions it is in. Consequently, it will keep the soil wet for days.
By doing this so, we are inviting the fungus, bugs, pests to invade the plant since they love the wet conditions. Wet atmospheres are the natural habitat of them. As a result of this root rot will occur.
2.To their leaves
It is not recommended to water the succulents with ice water, as they would all love room temperature. They are not used to cold temperature and it will be a shock to the succulent as well as for its leaves.
What are the succulents we can water using ice cubes?
Money tree plant is a succulent which we can try watering with ice cubes.
Benefits of using ice cubes to water succulents
If we go through the benefits of using ice cubes for watering succulents, they are as follows.
First and foremost it helps to avoid the overwatering issue. Everybody knows, the succulents biggest problem is overwatering related and it could factor for the succulents to be killed too. Once we use proponents of ice cubes , the ice which is melting slowly allows the plant to absorb water at their own pace.
They can do it whilst taking time and way better than with regular water. Having said that, it is important to note that overwatering is not literally the quantity of water we give to a plant during one watering session. It could be sometimes , how frequently we water them.
It is convenient to water them while using ice cubes rather than sticking to the traditional watering plan. Having said that, you need to spend some time to make ice cubes also before you water the plants with them.
It will not be as messy as watering the traditional way though. There wont be no water pooling in the pot and we would not require to empty the saucer too.
It avoids the leakage, specially when we talk about the hanging containers, this option comes handy.
Downside of using ice cube to water succulents
Once we expose them to colder conditions, a major change would not be visible. They simply try to adjust to the conditions as they have adaptive plans.
Additionally, soil water could also take some time to decrease the colder temperature and to get back to the room temperature. This means, it will not finish damaging the plant faster.
In case, you practice this for several months, succulents will start indicate that it is in stress. It is a pointless thing to water them with ice cubes . we are literally putting them in an icy cold temperature for which they are not naturally adjusted neither they are prepared to. .
Leaves will also start to get dropped prematurely if they get exposed to icy cold temperature. Further you could see branches also turned in to various colors.
You know that succulents roots system are pron to root rot if they are exposed to too much moisture. That will cause for the plant to deteriorate too. Ice cubes melting could take some time based on the weather conditions it is in.
Consequently, it will keep the soil wet for days. By doing this so, we are inviting the fungus, ( Fungal gnats ) bugs, pests to invade the plant since they love the wet conditions. Wet atmospheres are the natural habitat of
Should I water money trees with ice cubes?
Money trees in general do not require an excessive amount of water. If we consider a five inch money tree, best is to water it with 2 ice cubes. Instead you could use three tablespoons of water also.
They should be done only once a week. That will be adequate for the money trees to get their water requirement fulfilled. Further, ensure that it is not dry out between watering sessions.
Six to eight ounces of water per every three weeks will be sufficient for money tree plants.
Can I water my snake plant with ice cubes?
This is one succulent where we should be extra careful with watering as it could easily rot once it given too much water. Watering should be done ideally once a month for this.
in case you have watered your snake plant with ice cubes, there could be brown tips which could be a repercussion of cold shock. This plant will not tolerate cold temperatures.
Hence, if you wish to have a healthy snake plant refrain in watering them with ice cubes which could be catastrophic for the plant.
Can I use an ice cube to water newly planted succulent?
You could use ice cubes to not to over water and that will let the water disperse itself as required. Best is to use two ice cubes for mini plants. On the other hand, a cup of ice cubes would be sufficient for larger plants.
Read How Fast Do Succulents Grow? | Succulent Growth Rate?
