What Temperature Should Water Be For Succulents,Cactus & Indoorplants?

Succulents are well adaptive plants that can put up with adverse conditions. However, their roots are extremely sensitive to the water temperature and any extremities of temperature can end up seriously damaging the root health and put the succulent in stress. So,

What should be the water temperature for Succulents? The Roots of Succulents & all Houseplants prefer a water temperature of 20°C (68°F). At this optimized temperature, the water contains sufficient amounts of dissolved oxygen & the root water absorption process (pump mechanism) works vibrantly well.

Does the Temperature of the Water Affect Plant Growth?

The water temperature plays a crucial role in overall plant development. This becomes more important when the plant is young and is still developing its roots.

Water is one of the top few resources plants need for their survival. They can adapt to poor soil conditions or adverse weather conditions but the water temperature and quality directly affect their growth.

• A sudden change in the water temperature can drastically impact the growth of the succulent in multiple ways.

How does cold water affect plant growth?

As per the report in “The Southwestern Naturalist,” rice plants when grown with colder water had stunted growth of leaves and branches whereas when grown using warm water their growth was much better.

However, it must be mentioned that there is a limit of the warmness as well. The thing is to balance it out (source).

• The roots of most plants are by default programmed to absorb water at a temperature of around 20°C.
• Extreme chilly water will affect the pump mechanism of the roots and hamper its ability to absorb water and nutrients from the soil effectively.
• So if this practice of applying cold water for watering your plants is continued, the plant health will be severely affected.

Does Hot water make Succulents & Other plants grow faster?

Hot water will never make your plants grow faster & on the contrary, can end up damaging their development.

Heat stress, in the long run, can cause severe dehydration in your plants which can lead to wilting, browning of the leaves & this further can eventually lead to its death.

This is because all green plants depend heavily on photosynthesis and respiration for their survival. Both of these processes will get affected owing to heat stress (source).

• Hence you should always use water at room temperature of around 20°C-25°C.

All houseplants will grow best if you provide them with conditions that are similar to their native habitats. Succulents and cactuses by no means receive rainfall which is extremely hot or cold.

So in order to promote optimal growth just provide them with sufficiently neutral water temperature which does not feel too hot nor too cold and they will do just fine.

Is cold water good for indoor plants including succulents & cactuses?

• The plant can slowly lose its vibrancy and suffer from stunted growth. This is because it won’t be able to absorb essential nutrients from the soil properly as the root pumping mechanism has been affected.

Is it OK to water indoor potted plants with warm water?

Well, it depends on what temperature one is referring to by warm water. If it’s really cold in your place and you need to warm the water up slightly to bring it to room temperature(20-22° C) for watering your plants then yes warm water is just fine.

• However, if the temperature is anything higher than this then you are entering the territory of experimentation.

You should avoid using boiled water or water kept outside directly under the sun. Let it cool down to a temperature in which when you dip your finger in the water, you will find it to be neutral.

The heat in the water if not reduced before watering can permanently damage the plant tissues and cause shriveling of the leaves.

Anything greater than this can harm the plant roots however it also depends on the plant type and its age. However to be just safe try using water which is lower than 25°C.