How to care for succulents in summer? A guide to surviving the summer safely
BGM: still alive - Taro Meringue
Thanks to the author [Nuanxi] for the original authorized sharing
Edited and compiled by: Duorou Kong
Summer is really miserable,
because - once summer begins, outdoor-grown succulents look like this
and then look at how they looked in winter
So, what comparison photos are just too hurtful to succulent growers. Here's another set,
You can see that no flower stays red for a hundred days. In the free-shipping area, just staying alive is hard enough
Comfort yourself: as long as there's life, there's hope,
and by autumn and winter, it will be a riot of brilliant colors again.
After going through two scorching summers and saying goodbye to many beloved succulents, the third summer has finally arrived. Fear and worry can't solve the problem, and quitting the hobby is hard when you're so attached to succulents, so I still have to sum up the experience and lessons.
- About watering -
The first two summers, I once watered in a circle along the edge of the pot once a week, then later extended it to once every two weeks. When temperatures were high, I also tried spraying water mist into the air. None of these managed to keep my succulents alive.
After asking fellow succulent growers in the free-shipping area again and again, this year I decided to try:
Water control in May，
From June to SeptemberExcept when a typhoon comes,
when the temperature is below 30°Cand there are three days of relatively lower temperaturesgive a small amount of water, and cut off water the rest of the time
Give a small amount of water in October, then slowly return to normal watering.
Watering principles：
1. When summer temperatures are high and humidity is high, the soil must not be kept moist
2. Don't measure watering by how often you do it, but by whether the outer one or two rings of leaves have gone soft
- About ventilation -
Summers in Jiangnan are both humid and stuffy, and succulents easily turn to mush and rot, soventilation is very important！！！
Last summer I kept a batch of Peach Eggs and White Bears on the office windowsill, enjoying the air conditioning together during work hours, with the window open at night and on weekends, and not a single one died.
The Bears and Eggs in the hallway at home were almost completely wiped out, which shows that succulents in the free-shipping area do well in air-conditioned rooms, but many people don't have that option, so for environments with less-than-ideal ventilation, a fan must run nonstop.
- About soil mix -
I used to be especially superstitious about gritty soil, but practice has proven that even gritty soil at over 90% couldn't keep the succulents alive. With too much grit, over time the succulents tend to become thin and weak, which is not good for filling out the pot and producing pups. So I think in the free-shipping areathe grit in the soil mix can be between 60% and 80%which is more suitable. If you don't like it, don't criticize; this is just my personal experience.
4. About the mix
- About pot selection -
Indeed, different materials have completely different water permeability.Terracotta pots have good breathability and are preferred,while fully glazed pots are not very suitable for succulents in the free-shipping area, especially for some varieties that are hard to grow.
- About light -
Summer is here, so shade and rain cover are a must.Shade above 30°C; when the sun is intense, you must shade, preferably with a shading rate of over 60%. In summer, high temperatures are common nationwide, and succulents can't just be sunned, because they burn easily! In sunlight it hits 40°C in minutes. Also, the free-shipping area has more rain afterward, so using both measures together ensures the succulents' safety.
In short
Plan ahead a little,
work a little harder,
and the succulents will always have one more chance to survive.
Perhaps when you least expect it, they will show up in full splendor!
This is the beauty of succulents.
- Review of last issue's wonderful featured posts -