Loving and Killing Succulents

How we adore those succulents! All those pudgy shapes and desert shades of silvers and greens, suggesting everlasting sunny blue skies. How many times have I heard, “I am terrible with plants. I even kill cactus!”. Botanically speaking, cactI are a subcategory of succulents but today we will be addressing today the more popular varieties that tempt you every time you go into a big box store and walk by those endearing little collections of aloes, echeverias and agaves. 

To avoid slowing draining the life out of those living cuties, here is some things to NOT do:

·        Don’t plant or buy collections in glass bowls. They need to be able to breathe and have drainage and therefore do best in a porous shallow container that breathes or at least has pebbles in the bottom. The classic terrarium with glass curling up around the plants, forming a miniature biosphere, is designed for woodland plants that want moisture surrounding them at all times. Succulents don’t want or need that!

·        Don’t place anywhere that gets less than 6 hours of bright light. They love to be in a south or east facing window.

·        Don’t give them an eensty bit of water every few days. They want all their roots to get watered to the bottom of their growing tips and then left alone until they are dry again. Tricky, eh? You don’t want water to be pooling much at all in the bottom of that container. If you can’t see if it has pooled up (you didn’t get that glass bowl, right?), you can stick in something like a chopstick to the bottom to test for dryness. Or learn the relative weight of the plants and their container of when it is dry compared to when it still has water in the soil. 

·        Don’t fertilize for at least 6 months after getting it. The growers have probably left slow release fertilizer in the potting mix and you don’t need for them to get all stringy and stretched out. If you do finally fertilize them, use ¼ to ½ of the recommended concentrate.

·        Don’t mist! They like dry air!

Plants a la carte loves to see people foster their personal plants while we nurture their company plants. We will give advice any time and celebrate with you when they thrive and mourn with you when they collapse. Succulents are so appealing but are a little particular about their care and it is no wonder that some people fail to keep them for long. Hopefully these pointers will help you avoid the common pitfalls and you can enjoy those miniature desert landscapes that you covet!