Allow soil to completely dry out between watering. When the soil has been dry for at least a few days, thoroughly water the soil, enough to allow water to run through the pot. Make sure your cacti is in a pot with fast-draining cactus/succulent soil and has good drainage. In winter, water only when leaves start to shrivel.

The following are popular cacti care techniques that we do NOT recommended: 

• Potting your cacti in a bowl/dish/pot that doesn't have drainage holes. Rocks on the bottom do not work adequately enough to separate the roots from any water that will accumulate. Cacti need lots of water but don't like to be watered often. That means you should focus on giving your roots a good drenching (with drainage) and allow them to dry out before watering again. This is impossible to do when you don't have drainage as the water will just sit there and your succulents will rot.
• Spraying the plant instead of thoroughly watering. See above for why.
• Placing cacti somewhere they will look cute. Hey, we all love a good plant shelfie but if you want your cacti to stay cute, you need to give this plant as much light as possible. That should be the number one consideration when selecting its location. If that also happens to be in a location it looks cute, win-win!
• Placing cacti in a room or location where you will not see it every day. Why is this important to avoid? Cacti don't need a lot of attention, you water and then give them plenty of time to dry out. Its very easy to forget about these plants if you don't see them every day. Cacti will start to give you cues as to when they need something and you won't see those cues if they are out of sight, out of mind.

Can cacti stay alive using any of the above tips to avoid? Sure! We know lots of people who do it that way. Will they thrive? Likely not. We want to set you up for as much success as possible, especially if you are new to cacti. Armed with the proper knowledge, cacti can be easy!

Non-toxic