A Detailed Guide to Succulent Care in Summer: Learn to Get Through Summer with Ease

Many people overlook the role of temperature difference. All plants need a certain temperature difference to store energy and nutrients. And temperature difference is even more important for succulents. This is because a large proportion of succulents only carry out active nutrient synthesis at night, which is the famous Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) pathway. After enduring the scorching day, night is when succulents, represented by the Crassulaceae family, are at their most active, so a sufficient temperature difference is needed to remind these little sprites that night has arrived.

Some people who grow succulents deliberately move them to the office, so that during the day it is only around 20 degrees, and at night after everyone leaves and the air conditioning is turned off, the temperature rises to 30 degrees. You can imagine what a torment this inverted temperature difference is for succulents. Of course, succulents can also carry out normal daytime photosynthesis, it is just that the night temperature is not low enough, so the plant cannot store the nutrients produced during the day, and instead consumes even more. It is unavoidable that the plant becomes increasingly weak. A temperature difference of around 10 degrees is ideal. If it is around 35 degrees during the day, try to keep it below 25 degrees at night, which will greatly help the plant.

The dry period refers to the interval between two waterings during which the potting soil completely dries out. During the growing season, a dry period of 1 to 2 days is more suitable, and during the dormant season, 3 to 5 days is best. Why is a dry period necessary? Succulents have a characteristic, and I wonder if everyone has noticed it. That is, after completely drying out, a sudden watering will trigger explosive growth in an instant. Whether it is from mature plants, small seedlings, or even seeds, this kind of situation will occur. When, after completely drying out, the plant feels thirsty, a sudden thorough watering will cause the roots to burst out with a large number of new roots, and all of them will carry a very thick white fuzz, so that the plant can absorb enough water at the first opportunity.

These are all abilities that these desert sprites evolved over the long term in the desert. Because the rainy season in desert regions is very short, when a heavy rain arrives, if they cannot react instantly, then before they have even woken up, the water has all evaporated. Then they really can only wash up and go back to sleep. This mechanism has also become an excellent technique when sowing Lithops. That is to sow using very dry potting soil. After sowing the seeds, do not water immediately. Instead, continue to keep them dry for about 1 week, then choose one evening and suddenly give them a thorough watering. What awaits you is a gratifying and astonishingly consistent germination rate. Between two waterings, please leave a sufficient dry period for your succulent treasures.

Generally, choose the evening, as mentioned above, because at night the plant is more active and can cope with the sudden increase in water. In the hot summer, if you throw your sleeping self into a swimming pool, you might drown. When awake, it is refreshingly cool. The same goes for plants, and they sleep even more soundly during the day. The heat-retaining property of water is much higher than that of potting soil, so watering during the day, under the sun, can easily cause the potting soil to overheat and directly cook the plant. This produces disastrous consequences.

So watering in the evening is best. There is a secret to watering, and that is to water thoroughly. Water until it comes gushing out from the bottom of the pot. The purpose of doing this is to bring enough fresh air to the roots. This is very important. Fresh air at the roots can help the roots breathe, and the weak electric currents produced by metabolism help the roots absorb nutrient ions from the medium. Fresh air is as crucial as water!

Today's media are relatively mature, and there are some ready-made prepared planting mixes online. Here I will add a few points.

Drainage: If, when watering, water is poured in at the top while leaking out at the bottom, that proves this is a good medium. If, when watering, water pools on the surface of the pot and then slowly seeps in, then that is no good.

Fast drying: If using peat, you must use peat with very coarse fibers, with enough gaps left inside for air, so that it can dry faster. The standard for fast drying is that after the final watering, after one night, it can be moist but not soggy, and dry out completely in about 2 days. In short, all ratios and planting methods need to revolve around the central idea of fast drying. For this reason, besides the choice of planting medium, we also have many other ways to compensate.

For example, choosing ceramic pots instead of plastic pots, using shallow pots instead of deep pots, or placing more drainage material at the bottom of the pot, and so on, a whole series of methods, all of which require everyone to use their brains more!