When this happens to your succulents, fertilize in time, or it will be too late

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When your succulents bloom, you need to fertilize right away. Flowering and fruiting is an important life cycle for a plant, and it inevitably consumes a large amount of nutrients, so whenever this time comes, all of the plant's tissues coordinate for this important act of producing offspring. This includes: the stem thickens to prevent the plant from lodging under the weight of the flowers and fruit, the roots grip the soil more deeply to help the plant itself absorb more nutrients, and some succulent leaves will drop appropriately so as not to block insect pollination and fruit exposure to light.

Is it hard for succulents to bloom? Take the ever-popular Echeveria genus as an example: generally, most varieties already meet the conditions for blooming after being grown for one or two years. If your succulents have been growing for several years and still have never bloomed, it is mostly because you believed claims that succulents come from barren native habitats and do not need fertilizer, so you used a very meager care routine: the potting mix was only pure medium, the water was just tap water, and the nutrients were insufficient. Even if a succulent wanted to bloom, it would be in vain.

Because succulents consume a large amount of nutrients after blooming, they often become less attractive. So during the flowering period, do not stop the nutrients (monopotassium phosphate). If nutrients keep up, the succulent will not lose too much of its form. But after an old stem blooms, it may lose its form, because the roots may not necessarily be able to absorb the nutrients. If you are worried that the succulent will lose its form after blooming, or if you are not interested in succulents blooming, you can use scissors to cut off the flower stem from a position close to just below the flower stem. Do not rush to clean up the remaining flower stem; it will slowly dry up and eventually fall off on its own. If you pull it off too hastily, you may instead injure the succulent.

Succulents need more nutrients to support their own flowering and fruiting. Flowering fertilizer is mainly phosphorus fertilizer and potassium fertilizer, and it is best to apply fertilizer in liquid form for quick results. Growers who do not understand flower fertilizer can directly choose monopotassium phosphate: mix 1 gram of fertilizer with 2 kg of water. Some growers say a 1:1000 ratio is better, but that is under greenhouse or conservatory cultivation conditions where the plants are growing vigorously, so only then can this concentration be used. The absorption rate of succulents grown at home cannot compare with succulents in greenhouses and conservatories, so dilute it as much as possible.

Do not throw away the cut flower stalks. You can put them in a bottle like cut florist roses, and the buds will slowly open. So if you do not plan to pollinate, you can cut them off and put them in a bottle when the succulent flowers are still in bud. Not only can you see them bloom, but you can also avoid consuming too many nutrients. After some succulent flower stalks are inserted into soil, they can survive again and propagate small new lives, but the prerequisite is that you must cut off the flowers, otherwise the flowers will consume the vast majority of its nutrients.

When the environment is relatively suitable, succulents grow relatively quickly, especially during the growing season, when succulents will be in a state of crazy growth. If you find that your succulents do not have sufficient nutrients and are growing relatively slowly, you can appropriately supplement them with some nutrients so that the succulents can grow better.

In their native habitat, succulents generally bloom in one year, mostly concentrated in spring. However, because they have left their native habitat, after climate, water, and other environmental factors change, succulents blooming is relatively rare. But as long as the temperature and environment are relatively suitable, succulents can also grow flower stalks or bloom.

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