How do succulents adapt after repotting? After reading this article, succulent lovers will no longer worry

The issue of adapting after repotting has always been a frequent question for beginner flower enthusiasts. But I have always been working hard to answer this question.

Because a succulent's adaptation after repotting is indeed a rather puzzling process - sometimes it is leaf consumption, and sometimes the entire succulent will soften. Sometimes the succulent's leaves will be plump for a few days, and then develop a shriveled condition again.

I had never found a vivid and intuitive example to explain the principle of a succulent adapting after repotting, until a few days ago when that classic math problem finally appeared in my child's workbook, and then it suddenly became clear to me.

The problem is as follows：

"There is a swimming pool. Turn on the faucet and it can be filled in 4 hours; open the plug of the drain and the water can be emptied in 6 hours. Question: If you turn on the faucet and at the same time pull out the plug of the drain, how many hours will it take to fill the pool with water?"

Today when we mention this math problem, it has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of saving water. What I want to say is that the internal principle of a succulent's reaction to adapting after repotting is very similar to a swimming pool that is simultaneously being filled and drained. This is exactly the most vivid and intuitive example I have been looking for to explain the issue of a succulent adapting after repotting.

The water stored in the swimming pool is like the water reserve in a succulent's body. The faucet is the succulent's root system, which can replenish water for the succulent. And the drain is equivalent to the succulent's water consumption, which includes water consumed by transpiration as well as water used during photosynthesis.

When the stored water in the swimming pool becomes greater and greater, the succulent will look fuller and healthier. If the stored water becomes less and less, the succulent will look thinner and more shriveled day by day.

And whether it is plump and healthy or thin and shriveled depends on the water intake from the faucet and the drainage from the drain. If intake exceeds output, the succulent is plump and healthy; if output exceeds intake, the succulent is thin and shriveled.

Therefore, wanting to help a succulent adapt after repotting is actually a matter of increasing sources and reducing expenditure. Either increase the source, that is, turn up the water intake of the swimming pool's faucet. Or reduce expenditure, that is, find a way to let less water flow away from the swimming pool's drain. Of course, the best is to increase sources and reduce expenditure at the same time.

Increasing sources can be achieved throughroot cultivation、watering、sun exposurethese three approaches.

Reducing expenditure can be achieved throughshadingandcoolingthese two methods.

Attentive flower enthusiasts may have already noticed that if you want to increase the source, you need sun exposure. If you want to reduce expenditure, you need shading. So is it sun exposure or shading? Isn't this deliberately teasing me?

It really is not. Let us first talk about why sun exposure can bring more water to a succulent. Everyone has bought fresh flowers, and everyone knows that some clean water must be put in the vase holding fresh flowers to keep the flowers fresh. Everyone knows that fresh flowers have no roots, and some do not even have a single leaf, so how do fresh flowers absorb water?

The answer is that they absorb water through transpiration. That is to say, when the fresh flowers' water evaporates, it instead forms a kind of suction force within their bodies, and it is this suction force that draws water up from the vase.

The situation of a newly potted succulent is similar to that of fresh flowers. Because it basically has no root hairs, even if the root system is not bad, the succulent has little water-absorbing ability. At this time, water absorption must rely on the lifting force formed by transpiration. Therefore, giving a newly potted succulent sun exposure is very necessary, as this can help a succulent whose root system has not yet recovered to absorb water.

But if the sunlight is too strong, causing the succulent to lose water too quickly through evaporation, then the water the succulent evaporates and loses will exceed the water the succulent absorbs, and the loss will outweigh the gain.

Thus, we have obtained 3 basic principles for caring for succulents during the repotting adaptation period:

1. Succulents during the repotting adaptation period need sun exposure, but before giving succulents during the repotting adaptation period sun exposure, you must ensure there is a certain degree of moisture in the potting soil.

2. Succulents during the repotting adaptation period should avoid scorching sun. If you find that the succulent's leaves have become soft or wrinkled, you can consider appropriately reducing sunlight.

3. Do not wait until the potting soil is completely dry before watering. Water when the soil at the depth where the succulent's root system is located is about to dry out.

A succulent that is working hard to adapt after repotting also has another particularly prominent characteristic: the leaves will rapidly wither in a very short time, finally becoming a dry and brittle dead leaf. We often call this phenomenon normal consumption.

Overall, the withering and consumption of leaves during the repotting adaptation period can be said to be a good thing, at least much better than having been planted for a long time with neither growth nor consumption.

As a relatively slow-growing plant, the worst state for a succulent during the repotting adaptation period is dormancy. Although consumption in the dormant state is very slow, there is also no means of replenishing nutrients. A dormant succulent is in a highly expenditure-reducing state, but in terms of increasing sources it is at zero. Although consumption is not much, small steps add up to a thousand miles, and dripping water wears through stone; there will always be a day when the nutrients are used up.

When a succulent's leaves show rapid consumption, one of the greatest possibilities is that the succulent has already awakened, and it is using the nutrients in the leaves for rooting and adapting after repotting. This is absolutely a good phenomenon.

Although it is said to be a good thing, many flower enthusiasts still cannot help feeling distressed when they see a succulent's leaves rapidly withering.

So how can the consumption of leaves be reduced? Here are a few little tips to tell everyone.

1. Do not pull off withered leaves too early.

As long as the leaf has not yet become hard and brittle, there are nutrients inside that the succulent can absorb. Pulling off dead leaves too early may cause another leaf to wither rapidly.

2. Do not overdo root stimulation.

Root stimulation is a very advanced topic. It roughly means attracting the root system to grow deeper into the soil by creating humidity at the bottom of the flowerpot. This is a good way to cultivate a succulent's root system.

But if the succulent itself does not have much reserve, for example a small seedling of Peach Egg, which may itself have only 6 leaves or fewer, then if you induce it to grow very long roots to seek water, it may continuously consume several leaves.

In the most serious case, it may even be dragged to death by its newly grown long root system. To successfully grow this kind of succulent that cannot afford such consumption, do not overdo root stimulation. Instead, first ensure that there is moisture where the succulent's root system is located for it to use. In this way, the consumption needed for rooting can be reduced, a water balance of income and expenditure can first be established, and the foundation for adapting after repotting can be laid well.

3. Moist soil is better than wet soil.

Wet soil will put the succulent's root system in a state where it cannot breathe, which will force the succulent to breathe through its leaves, thereby wastefully consuming more water. Moist soil, however, can satisfy the succulent's wish to breathe while drinking water. So if there is still moisture in the potting soil, even if consumption occurs, do not rush to water. Making the potting soil very wet often intensifies consumption and may even cause the leaves to turn to water.

4. Do not grow in shade

Some flower enthusiasts, afraid that the succulent will consume leaves, place the succulent in a relatively shady place to grow, only to find that the leaves are consumed even more severely. This is because the succulent's photosynthesis will synthesize the organic matter necessary for rooting. If light is insufficient, all of this organic matter has to be extracted from the succulent's leaves, which naturally accelerates the consumption of the succulent's leaves.

The correct approach is to give appropriate sun exposure. Only by letting the succulent synthesize enough organic matter itself will the succulent not need to draw on the reserves in its leaves.

Pay attention to the above 4 points, and the leaves consumed by the succulent can be reduced as much as possible.

Some flower enthusiasts will ask again, if the succulent is cared for according to the points above,how long does it take to get through the repotting adaptation period?

Hehe, good question. This is the most, most, most important topic in today's article: how exactly is a succulent considered to have adapted after repotting?

We often habitually call this period of time when a succulent is adapting after repotting therepotting adaptation period, as if from being planted to adapting after repotting is a fixed time stage for a succulent, and if it gets through this stage it is called adapted after repotting.

In fact, the truth is not as you imagine. We have already said earlier that a succulent is like a swimming pool that is being filled while being drained, and sunlight, soil moisture, temperature, and the condition of the succulent's root system are all adjustment valves of the swimming pool.

When the succulent has just been planted, the water in the swimming pool is in a continuously decreasing state. As the succulent's root system grows, and with our extra care for the succulent, the succulent's water-absorbing ability gradually strengthens, and the water level in the swimming pool also begins to gradually rise again.

At this time, we can generally observe that the succulent's leaves that had become soft gradually recover their firmness, or that there are obvious signs of growth in the leaf center and side buds.

We often define observing such signs as the end of the repotting adaptation period, but this is actually not the case. If you take the succulent at this stage out into blazing sun, it is very likely that its leaves will once again become soft and wilted.

In fact, the adaptation after repotting that we see is merely that, in an environment of mild sunlight and sufficient moisture, the nutrient income and expenditure within the succulent's body have reached a balance point. If they are placed under blazing sun, or the watering cycle is lengthened, the balance they have just established will be broken again, and the water level in the swimming pool will drop once more.

Therefore,adapting after repotting is not a fixed cycle, and once adapted after repotting, everything is fine and done. Adapting after repotting is more of a balanced state. If the succulent's growing environment becomes harsh, this balance will be broken again, and the succulent will once again show a reaction to adapting after repotting.

Only after the succulent's root system has been allowed to fully grow and be exercised, and the swimming pool's faucet has become much stronger than the drain, can the succulent show tenacious vitality in all kinds of harsh environments.

The above are all the points to note regarding adapting after repotting.

These points to note are not only effective for succulents that are currently adapting after repotting, but are also applicable to all succulents whose root systems are not good enough.

If you find that a succulent you have grown for a long time wilts when exposed to too much sun, and watering does not help either. Or that a succulent is always consuming leaves, and recently has actually become smaller and smaller. Then you can use the knowledge learned today to deal with them.