Brown thumb? Still want to have beautiful plants indoors and out to add color and life? Succulents are your thing! They are easy to care for, require minimum soil and water, thrive in the heat, and come in a stunning array of colors, shapes, and textures. They are equally pretty with a single plant in a sunny kitchen window behind the sink, or a patch full of a variety of plants. They also make amazing gifts in small planters, mason jars, or even tea cups. If you have been intimidated and think succulents are hard to grow take a look at the tips here and pick up a couple to try out.
Succulents 101: Containers, Care, and Propagating Tips
Containers
•Pots, wheelbarrows, old bird baths, discarded toy dump trucks, and buckets are all perfect containers for succulents.
•Be sure your container has plenty of drainage.
•While they do well in containers – they are more sensitive to heat and cold in them and will need a little extra help from you.
•Try to find potting soil that is specifically for succulents, most larger garden centers carry all sorts of varieties.
•Use small, smooth pebbles as your mulch on top of soil in pots.
Garden
•Do not plant at the bottom of a slope ,succulents hate to be soaking wet.
•Mix some sand into your soil before planting.
•Give them plenty of sun, although they will do well in filtered sunlight as well.
•Plant in the warmer months
Daily Care
•Watering – Succulents prefer to be under watered rather than over watered. It is better to let the soil go completely, or nearly, dry before watering again.
•Fertilizing – Sprinkle soil lightly with a granule fertilizer in spring and summer.
•Pinch off and discard diseased and dead leaves
Propagating
•Succulents are so easy to start new plants from. Once you have a few varieties, you can start enough to share and still have full gardens and pots.
•Carefully break off leaf.
•Lay leaf flat to dry and allow end to heal for 2-3 days.
•Dip in root hormone and lay on top of soil until roots begin to form.
•Some prefer to create a special covered greenhouse for them, but I have excellent luck doing mine in the same container that it is growing in or even in a garden that is protected a bit.
•Some varieties will begin to propagate themselves like a popular one called hens and chicks. The large “hen/mother” plant will grow and drop smaller “chicks” on the ground where they will root and grow new plants.
Really good read! I am currently growing a indoor/ outdoor garden in containers, on good sunny days i bring the garden outside on the patio and on the rainy days i bring it inside. I love it and i am surprised on how successful i am with this, I really enjoyed reading this article.
Succulents have leaves that hold their water since they originate in desert climates. That’s why they don’t like lots of watering.
These are great tips and I do love succulents. I am going to try and make a container garden.
i love this!! i always end up over watering succulents since i have so many other plants…. i have to be better about that since they’re so pretty!
I’ve been wanting to try succulents for a while now. I just love the look of them. This post gives me much more confidence that I can actually keep them alive! Maybe I’ll plant some this weekend!
I have been wanting to try planting succulents. Thanks for the information on growing them.
Donna Given says
This is very interesting.
Thanks. I’m thinking about starting to grow soon. This will help.
Thank you for the wonderful ideas, especially how to propagate.
Thanks for the tips, I love plants, especially succulents!
I plan on getting some succulents this weekend. I’m glad I found this post. You’ve been a big help. I get tired of googling everything. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this information on these plants. I love growing them and even my neighbor is doing it since we are in a drought they are tough plants.
Thanks for the great tips