5 rules for growing succulents and succulents

Succulents and succulents are often the first approach many people have when approaching greenery. They are par excellence easy to care for and suitable for those who don’t have much practice with plantsyet it is easy to fall into some mistakes. These plants are characterized by very fleshy tissues which are capable of storing good quantities of water as a reserve and, in their natural habitat, they are subject to very hot and arid climates. Today, therefore, we give you 5 rules for growing succulents and succulents and taking the best care of them!

Succulent and succulent plants in most cases live in very sunny areas where they receive a large amount of light.

I am therefore able to adapts very well to the outsidewith direct sun. However, if you have kept the plant inside all winter and decide to take it outside for the summer we recommend making the transition gradually to avoid problems with the plant.

It is possible to keep them indoors even if you don’t have direct sunlight available, maybe it’s better avoid the darkest spots but partial shade areas will be fine.

The wettings are there by far the most delicate part when we talk about succulent or succulent plants, in fact we often get too carried away and end up drowning them.

Dosing the watering well is therefore essential. Succulents have some really long water reserves which in their natural habitats allow plants to survive even entire months of drought.

It is good practice with this type of plant to answer «NO” most of the times when we were in doubt about whether to wet it or not.

My general rule is water the succulents when the earth is not simply dry, but rather dry. The soil is dry when the substrate becomes very light and the clod contracts, leaving a gap between the soil and the edge of the plastic pot.

Let’s dispel a myth about succulents and succulents: they should not be watered a little. It’s quite the opposite! Simply they do not get wet frequently.

When you water this type of plant you do it abundantly, wetting them a little we will always have a part of damp soil and the lower part which will never get wet well (we keep in mind that it is precisely in the lower part that the succulent plant has its roots). Furthermore, by insisting on light watering that only wets the first millimeters or centimeters of soil, we will tend to always cause the humidity to stagnate in the collar area, a very dangerous area that could lead to rot.

Therefore wetting must be done deeply, which is why the advice is to use the immersion technique.

What is the best fertilizer for succulents?

Wetting the plant is also the moment in which we feed it using gods specific fertilizersI use, from vegetative growth onwards, this fertilizer which is really excellent as it is balanced at NPK level and contains many useful microelements for this type of plants (boron, copper, manganese, zinc, etc.). It is a valid fertilizer not only for succulents but also for cacti, crassulae, agaves and many other plants!

The fertilizer must be diluted following the doses on the label in the irrigation water and must be inserted in each wetting cycle (which, as usual, will be more frequent during the hot seasons).

Here is another of the fundamental precautions to avoid killing a succulent plant: a specific substrate.

Succulents are native to areas where the soil is very loose and sandy, does not retain water drying quickly, this situation must therefore be replicated as faithfully as possible, choosing mixtures specifically designed for this type of plant.

They are mixtures which, in addition to a peat base, contain silica sand, pumice stone or small caliber volcanic lapillus.

This plants they don’t like to be repotted too often not having very extensive root systems, therefore large quantities of soil will not be needed, but it is necessary to pay attention that the substrate is correct, especially to ensure excellent drainage for the plant. Poor drainage then leads to rotting, which manifests itself with blackening and a soft consistency, leading the plant inevitably to death.

It is often thought that succulents are only houseplants, but this is not true. There are areas of the planet with a desert climate where we find some of these plants where very strong temperature variations occur, as it is really cold at night. It is therefore important to keep in mind that they are not plants that require temperatures starting from 10-15°C, on the contrary during the winter we can easily keep them outside toobut shielding them from the frost.

It usually gives to succulent and succulent plants high humidity in the air is more annoying rather than high temperatures.

These plants have a great enemy: cochineal.

Be careful to observe the plant carefully before becoming alarmed, sometimes there are masses of white fuzz but they are natural formations which grow especially on cacti near the thorns.

Clumps of scale insects usually have more irregular shapes than natural formations and by taking tweezers you can extract the insect making it easily identifiable.

To try to avoid attacks by cochineal it is necessary:

• keep the plants healthy, in this way they will be less susceptible;
• monitor them constantly, especially during the summer season or in stagnant air conditions.

To eliminate cochineal you can proceed manually or using delicate jets of compressed air. Then there are useful compounds such as white oil which is very useful in these cases. Likewise, linseed oil and soybean oil are also useful. Very effective is soft soap, a potassium soap that blocks the openings that insects use to breathe.

An excellent mix of emergency services is:

How to get succulents through the transition to winter?

In the article “Protect succulents from the cold!” I’ve already given you lots of advice on how to take care of succulents and succulents during the winter, but I still have some useful tips to take care to the next level 😉

There are many types of succulent plants, thorny and non-thorny, which have very different needs. However, the factor that unites them is the need to keep the temperature controlled during the cold monthsas we know they can easily reach close to zero, but not freeze. However, in winter it is not always correct to treat these plants as indoor plants (with some exceptions such as Euphorbias, which like to stay above 10/15°C even in winter).

Furthermore, to accompany the plants during this transition is essential use the right products. Being a period marked by many climate changes, especially thermal but also in terms of light exposure, I recommend using Algatron, a natural and organic biostimulant which aims to fortify the plant (fatty and otherwise), increasing the level of stress that the plant can withstand. Algatron can be administered in 2 ways: by diluting it in the wetting water, then giving it through irrigation, or diluted in a nebulizer and then sprayed directly over the entire hair (but being careful not to excessively increase the humidity level).

One of the most frequent problems we can run into when we manage our succulents and succulent plants during the winter is humidity, a problem that can be prevented by promoting air circulation.

Always very important: respect the plant’s rest period! Keywords: dry plant, no fertilization and low temperatures.