When you move into your first apartment, it can be hard to decide what sort of plants you should keep. There are a lot of options out there, but some are more beginner-friendly than others. One plant that is fairly easy to care for is the Water a Bunny Ear cactus, which is so fittingly named because of its distinctive, bunny ear-shaped leaves.
This plant is native to South America and thrives in warm climates. It prefers dry soil, so watering it regularly will cause it to rot.
The best way to water your cactus is to wait until the top one inch (2.5 cm.) of soil has completely dried out before giving it some water. After you’ve watered it, make sure any excess moisture drains away from the pot, and don’t leave your pot sitting in a puddle of water—that’s a great way to rot the roots!
Watering a Bunny Ear cactus does best when kept outside during the summer, but don’t forget about it when you bring it inside for winter! If the temperature drops too low (below 50°F or 10°C), it may start losing its leaves.
How Do I Know If My Rabbit Ear Cactus Needs Water?
If you’re wondering whether your bunny ear cactus needs water, there’s a simple test: stick your finger in the soil to see if it feels dry. When the top inch of potting soil is dry, it’s time to water.
Cacti can be difficult to grow. It may seem like they are doing well one day and then suddenly die the next. But watering them isn’t always a cut-and-dried decision—if you water your cactus too much, it will rot and die, but if you don’t water it enough, it will shrivel up and die as well. The best way to tell if your bunny ear cactus needs water is by using the “finger test”: stick your finger in the soil to see if it’s dry, and then look at the rest of the plant for signs of stress or moisture loss. If you only use this method, you’re less likely to overwater or underwater your cactus.
If you need a more exact method of detecting moisture levels, try a moisture meter. These devices measure the amount of moisture in the soil and allow you to closely monitor how much water your bunny ear cactus is getting.
Why Is My Bunny Ear Cactus Wrinkly?
If your cactus looks like it’s had too much botox—wrinkly and saggy—and you’re wondering what happened to all that youthful plumpness and perkiness, you may have accidentally overdid it with the water.
The most common reason for a plant to start looking shriveled is if it’s been overwatered. Cacti are native to deserts, so they prefer dry soil with high drainage and don’t do well when kept constantly moist. If you’re noticing wrinkles on your cactus’ leaves, particularly towards the base of your plant, your plant is very dry and a soak-watering is in order. It may seem counterintuitive to give a cactus a large drink, but you’ll be shocked at how your cactus will absorb the water and plump back up again.
The best way to tell if you’ve been over-watering is if the area around the base of your cactus looks soft or soggy. This can happen due to excess water sitting in the pot
Why Is My Bunny Ears Cactus Turning Brown?
The first cause of browning on your Bunny Ears Cactus may be overwatering. Check the potting mix first as this is an easy way to see if watering has damaged the root system at all. If the roots are healthy, there should be excess moisture at the bottom of the pot that looks like it could use some air drying out from the top. If you can lift up the plant and feel the water on the roots, you need to let it dry out more between watering sessions. Overwatering will kill Bunny Ears Cactus plants fairly quickly so don’t let this happen to yours!
Why Is My Bunny Ear Cactus Turning Yellow?
Bunny Ears Cacti are fairly fickle when it comes to water, so if yours is showing signs of distress in this regard, it’s definitely worth checking the moisture levels around its roots. They like coarse and dry potting mix otherwise their roots will begin to rot. If the potting mix is too soggy, it can cause yellowing throughout your Bunny Ear Cactus. One way to tell whether it is too much water is if the pads are very droopy and soft. With that said, let’s assume that your soil doesn’t have too much moisture—the next thing to check for would-be pests!
How to Water Bunny Ear Cacti
All cacti prefer watering with soft water that does not contain chlorine. The soft water keeps the roots from drying out, making them retain moisture and therefore be more likely to grow. Cacti are highly sensitive to salt in the soil and chlorine in the water, and both can destroy the roots of a plant, causing it to die.
The water must be clean, i.e. do not contain any impurities or salts. Ideally, you should use rainwater or melted water, but you need to have the patience to collect it. In the meantime, you can use bottled water.
So you can use water that has been settled for at least a day or boiled.
You can also use water filtered with household water filters.
Water temperature for irrigation should always be equal to room temperature or slightly higher.
Regarding the method of watering cacti – from above or through a pan, sometimes there is a lot of controversy among cactus growers. Apparently, this is due to the fact that in cacti, the main part of the water-absorbing roots is located in the lower part of the root system. Undoubtedly, each method has its own advantages:
Watering from above is convenient and familiar, you can see how much water is consumed, the whole earthen ball is wetted with water, but after a while, with this method of watering, nutrients are washed out from the upper layers of the soil. In order not to wet the cactus stem, it is convenient to make a watering can from a usually plastic bottle: take a piece of a flexible tube (for example, from a dropper) or a juice tube, use a drill or awl to make a hole of a suitable diameter in the lid and insert the tube.
Watering through the pan is convenient because the soil in the pot is not washed out, the nutrients of the soil are washed out much longer than when watering from above, however, with this method of watering, it is difficult to know how much water the plant needs, i.e. this method is more suitable for an experienced cactus. For some reason, the question of the method of the watering can be very exciting for cactus owners, although in fact, this is not fundamentally important, but rather a matter of taste and experience.
Watering Rules
- water should not be allowed to fall on the stem of the cactus during irrigation, and pour onto the soil from the edges of the pot. If you accidentally pour too much water onto the stem, take a paper towel and pat down the stem so that most of the excess water drains off.
- Water is the lifeblood of a cactus, and its leaves will wither and die if they are not properly hydrated. When you water your cactus, you are providing it with life, but water should not be allowed to stagnate in a pot, for this each cactus must be provided with good drainage, and when watering from a pallet, after a while (after the roots absorb water), the remaining water is drained.
- Any cactus can endure a certain time in completely dry soil, even during the period of growth and flowering, but excess water can be detrimental to it. Even though cacti are adapted to extremely arid habitats, their roots are highly sensitive to the presence of water, and excess moisture can lead to problems like root rot.
- the amount and frequency of watering directly depend on the temperature and humidity of the surrounding air, the lower the temperature and the higher the humidity, the slower the evaporation of water from the substrate, and the less often you need to water.
In addition, the rate of absorption of water from the soil by the roots is affected by temperature. Cold water is practically not absorbed by the roots. But pay attention, if for us cold water is 18-19 ° C, then for cacti, it is still warm, and cold water is from 12 and below. - The amount of water a cactus needs on any given day depends on the temperature and humidity outside. The cooler the ambient temperature, the less moisture the cactus needs. When there are hot, dry days in summer, cacti are watered every day, on a cool and even more rainy day, it is better not to water the cactus; just leave it alone and let it take care of itself until the weather gets hotter again.
- Some people believe that you should water cacti in the summer in the evening, and at other times of the year in the morning, but this is of no fundamental importance. In fact, a number of people have been led to believe that watering cacti only in the summer months will keep them healthy, vibrant, and strong. In reality, however, many cacti need to be watered at any time of day or night. The truth is that there are many different kinds of cacti, and each gets its own kind of care. What one needs for optimal growth may not be what another requires for its own vigor.
When to water cacti more or less
Almost all cacti prefer a cold (or at least cool) winter, but not every owner can provide this and then the cacti hibernate at normal room temperature, which can be 18-25 ° C. With such a warm winter, cacti are watered less often than in summer (at the same temperature), the earth should have time to dry well.
| Watered more | Water less |
| 1. Cacti in the growth period. | 1. Cacti at rest. |
| 2. Cacti with a well-developed large root system. | 2. Cacti with weak or damaged roots. |
| 3. Cacti grow in a porous container, such as a clay pot. | 3. Cacti growing in non-porous, such as plastic containers. |
| 4. Cacti grow in loose soil with a large proportion of sand and brick chips. | 4. Cacti grow in denser clay soil. |
| 5. Cacti in a room with a high temperature. | 5. Cacti in a room with a low temperature. |
| 6. Cacti in a dry room, especially with central heating. | 6. When indoor humidity is low, such as when a cactus stands by an open window on a rainy day. |
Air humidity
It is known that all cacti tolerate dry air well and are therefore considered hardy plants, but in nature, most of them are refreshed by dew or fog in the morning and evening. Cacti are very responsive to daily spraying during their natural hours, but in order not to harm the plants, it is necessary to spray only from a very small – dust-like sprayer, so that water jets do not descend along the cactus trunk.
“The temperature of the water for spraying should be slightly above room temperature, i.e. warm (30-40°C).”
On sunny days, spraying is carried out only when the sun’s rays already or do not yet fall on the plant. With the onset of autumn rainy days, it is better to stop spraying, but in winter you can spray cacti at the end of a sunny day. Cacti with leaves can not only be sprayed, but also given a shower to wash off the dust and prevent the appearance of spider mites.