This is a topic I need to cover. So many people including myself kill succulents year after year. You see a cute succulent plant or succulent arrangement and you buy it before anyone else can. But what happens when you get home? You put it in a dark corner or on a table with low light and a few weeks or even months later it looks like crap. Leggy shriveled crap. Why is this happening? You water it, you give it light and still it looks horrible. It wasn’t easy figuring out how to keep these babies happy. It takes trial and error but you’ll get it. Below are easy to follow tips to keep your succulent plants happy.
Something that may come as a surprise is that succulents don’t need a lot of water. They have juicy leaves that store water. Now I’m not saying no water but you can probably go a month and they will be fine. Watering is tricky with succulents.
Succulents require a sharp draining soil. That means that the water does not linger. The soil needs to be able to dry up in a few days. There are many varieties of succulent soil that you can find at your local big box store or garden centers. How do you know if they need water? One way to tell is if they visually look wrinkly or the soil is bone dry. I always do the pull test, where I pull the plant and if it all comes out the pot and it’s bone dry then I water!
If your pot doesn’t have a drainage hole you can kiss your succulent goodbye. Chances are if you’re reading this you have killed many plants/ succulents and you are looking for help. The worst thing you can do for any plant is to not provide a drainage hole for the excess water run out. If you purchase a plant and it doesn’t have a drain hole, repot that plant as soon as you get home. You’ll have the peace of mind that water isn’t sitting at the bottom of your pot causing root rot.
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Last but not least succulents need tons of bright direct/ indirect light. Direct light is where sun rays are actually touching the foliage and indirect it’s not but still very bright. The minimum hours I’d give for a succulent is 6-8 hours of light. If you cannot provide this type of light you can buy grow lights. There are lots of nice nice ones on the market. South facing windows are great for succulents.
If your just in it for the short term novelty then none of this matters. Use them as a cute display and toss them when your done, no biggie. If you want to keep them around for a while these tips will help you keep your succulent babies alive.
Happy Planting!
Ciearra
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