In our opinion, water therapy is the most helpful and beneficial trick you can use with succulents. Surprisingly, even though succulents can’t spend extended periods of time in wet potting mix, their roots can be suspended in water to quickly address a multitude of issues that can impact succulents.
What’s Water Therapy?
Water therapy is the practice of allowing a succulent’s bare roots to remain submerged in water. Think of watering your succulent normally as drinking a glass of water, and think of water therapy as your succulent taking shots of water. Water therapy is the fastest way to rehydrate succulents (especially after shipping) and quickly develop roots.
It’s important to make sure only the bottom of the roots and/or stem are submerged and that any recently trimmed cuttings callous over before water therapy.
The most common way to create a vessel for water therapy is to fill a cup or shot glass (depending on the size of the succulent) with water so that the roots of the plants are submerged slightly.