Lessons learned after a year of killing succulents
Gus and I have been killing succulent plants for the past year. He's sitting beside me right now, asking me to mention that it was only "a couple" of succulents, and that maybe it's been "barely a year." I'm replying back to him that the succulent police isn't going to break down our door to search for the withered remains of our past succulent failures.
One thing I have to say about us - we don't give up easy. Each trip to Home Depot, Gus couldn't help himself, longingly holding up a tiny succulent pot, asking if we could give it another go.
Now, after a year, I think we finally got the hang of it. The succulents in the picture above have been healthy for a few months now, even sprouting new baby leaves. We're not only keeping our succulent plants alive, but we're growing new ones from scratch. As a result, Gus has gone succulents-crazy. There's a pot on the dining table, on the coffee table, in the bathroom, and even in the guest bedroom.
So, here are the biggest lessons we learned from our past year of succulent fails:
1. Get the right succulent soil.
With our first plants, we used the same potting soil that we used on our outdoor plants. That was our first big mistake. Choose an organic potting soil made specifically for succulents and cactus. We bought our succulent soil on Amazon, but you can get it at any home improvement store. What a big difference this soil makes! It's literally made for optimal drainage (not holding and retaining moisture like common potting soil) and it's pH balanced for desert plants.
2. Don't over-water.
This is easier said than done. Gus is the type of person that likes to nurture and actively care for things. When the soil was super dry, he had the urge to water it and keep it moist. But succulents actually like having dry soil. We had to learn to let go.
Water succulents once every few months (depending on temperature), and when you do so, give it a good soak. We imagine that this is what it's used to in the wild. In the desert, rain likely wouldn't come for months at a time. And when it did, I can imagine the succulents eagerly soaking up the water and saving it away into its thick, leafy reservoirs. Make sure you never water directly on top of the succulent (and potentially cause any rotting). You want to water the soil directly.
If the leaves of your succulents ever turn clear, that means you've watered it too much.
We have decided to fertilize our succulents once a year, in one of the winter months (to give them a little extra boost). Here's the organic succulent plant food we got.
3. It's all about Drainage.
Getting the right soil is the first step, but make sure you put pebbles at the bottom of your succulent planter. There should be a little hole for any excess water to escape too.
The first succulent planter we got was beautiful. It was from Target, but it didn't have anywhere for the water to go. We didn't have any pebbles in the planter, so the poor succulent drowned.
More recently, we've started harvesting a few leaves from each succulent plant (carefully pinching one or two from the bottom of the stalk). We placed each leaf onto a paper towel for 3 days without any sunlight. After those 3 days, we placed the leaves on top of a pot filled with soil, facing bright but indirect sunlight. Then, we left it completely alone for about a month or so. Be patient. It takes a long time. But you'll see some of the leaves sprout new shoots! It's so lovely to behold!
Some leaves didn't sprout, and that's okay. But about half made it! We applied a gentle water spray now to these babies once or twice per month.
Gus and I both hope you learned from our mistakes and enjoy growing your own succulents year-round! Something about succulents make the whole house feel so much happier :)
One thing I have to say about us - we don't give up easy. Each trip to Home Depot, Gus couldn't help himself, longingly holding up a tiny succulent pot, asking if we could give it another go.
Now, after a year, I think we finally got the hang of it. The succulents in the picture above have been healthy for a few months now, even sprouting new baby leaves. We're not only keeping our succulent plants alive, but we're growing new ones from scratch. As a result, Gus has gone succulents-crazy. There's a pot on the dining table, on the coffee table, in the bathroom, and even in the guest bedroom.
So, here are the biggest lessons we learned from our past year of succulent fails:
1. Get the right succulent soil.
With our first plants, we used the same potting soil that we used on our outdoor plants. That was our first big mistake. Choose an organic potting soil made specifically for succulents and cactus. We bought our succulent soil on Amazon, but you can get it at any home improvement store. What a big difference this soil makes! It's literally made for optimal drainage (not holding and retaining moisture like common potting soil) and it's pH balanced for desert plants.
2. Don't over-water.
This is easier said than done. Gus is the type of person that likes to nurture and actively care for things. When the soil was super dry, he had the urge to water it and keep it moist. But succulents actually like having dry soil. We had to learn to let go.
Water succulents once every few months (depending on temperature), and when you do so, give it a good soak. We imagine that this is what it's used to in the wild. In the desert, rain likely wouldn't come for months at a time. And when it did, I can imagine the succulents eagerly soaking up the water and saving it away into its thick, leafy reservoirs. Make sure you never water directly on top of the succulent (and potentially cause any rotting). You want to water the soil directly.
If the leaves of your succulents ever turn clear, that means you've watered it too much.
We have decided to fertilize our succulents once a year, in one of the winter months (to give them a little extra boost). Here's the organic succulent plant food we got.
3. It's all about Drainage.
Getting the right soil is the first step, but make sure you put pebbles at the bottom of your succulent planter. There should be a little hole for any excess water to escape too.
The first succulent planter we got was beautiful. It was from Target, but it didn't have anywhere for the water to go. We didn't have any pebbles in the planter, so the poor succulent drowned.
Some leaves didn't sprout, and that's okay. But about half made it! We applied a gentle water spray now to these babies once or twice per month.
Gus and I both hope you learned from our mistakes and enjoy growing your own succulents year-round! Something about succulents make the whole house feel so much happier :)
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