70 Tips for Succulent Plant Care, Summarized by an Expert to Make You Half a Pro

I believe everyone who grows succulents must have started as a tiny beginner, then ended up growing more and more, and better and better.

Of course, good succulent-growing experience is all summed up from failure. We have all been through frustration, been through parting, but I believe,in the end, your succulents will definitely give you the best reward!

Getting Started

1: Getting started is a relatively gradual process from simple to complex. A high starting point, many varieties, and expensive prices are not recommended for a generous plunge into the hobby.

2: Any hobby requires learning.

3: Get out and look around you more; perhaps in an unexpected moment, some corner will hold a surprise. Even if it is just on your early morning commute, or a stroll after a meal.

Preparation

4: If you just want to try growing a few first, you can choose from many succulents that are easy to start with and affordable (such as Graptoveria 'Titubans', Aeonium 'Sunburst', Aeonium arboreum, etc.).

5: If you want to experience the beauty of a pot bursting with growth, you can choose succulents that fill a pot in a relatively short time (such as Sedum lydium, Sedum pachyphyllum 'Little Beauty', Sedum lineare, etc.).

6: If you want to arrange your balcony sensibly, you can choose succulents that show layers in space and a three-dimensional beauty, such as (Senecio rowleyanus, Ceropegia woodii, Senecio citriformis, etc.).

7: If you want to sit back and wait for a beautiful surprise, you can choose varieties that can endure summer heat outdoors (such as Sempervivum, Aeonium, etc.).

8: If you are ready to plunge into the hobby, then look at the right season. Do not jump in headlong in summer. Spring and autumn are excellent seasons.

9: You must prepare in advance for extreme weather. Doing the corresponding preparatory work is essential. For example: typhoons. Hail.

10: There are many ways to shop online. Comparing three shops before buying is definitely the right move.

11: If group members organize a visit to a greenhouse, then go along, see the world, and bring a little less money.

Containers

12: If you buy a large number of high-end pots right from the start, in all shapes and kinds, then it is really unnecessary.

13: You must prepare a few hanging pots; that waterfall-style bursting growth feels really great.

14: Coarse ceramic, orchid pots, and clay pots are very good. The key is that they are cheap. Clay pots are actually rarely seen now.

15: The containers for planting succulents are really abundant. Use the things around you and discover them to your heart's content. There is only what you have not thought of, nothing unsuitable.

16: You should also prepare a few seedling trays and plug trays. Leaf-cutting seedlings are neat and uniform, a must-have for Virgos.

Growing Medium

17: The materials that can be used as succulent growing medium are likewise very many. Using local materials and saving costs is very necessary and also the most convenient.

18: The simplest soil mix is peat + perlite. (But peat needs some processing, which is inconvenient.)

19: Buying ready-made soil is simple, but the price is really quite expensive, and once the quantity increases it becomes a considerable expense.

20: Do not believe in all kinds of fancy, miraculous soils.

21: Even if it is only for the sake of appearance, top dressing is still a must. Akadama, kanuma soil, etc.

22: Odd and strange things can be used, but using "coffee beans, tea dregs, okara, distillers' grains" as top dressing - do not make a joke of it.

23: Lining the bottom of the pot is also needed. LECA is good and comes in many sizes. But by comparison, isn't the limestone and stone seen everywhere on construction sites even cheaper?

24: After lining the bottom, remember to add a layer of fiber cloth. To prevent soil and water loss, it is really very useful.

Potting

25: When the plants are bought back, you must trim the roots. How to trim: (1) Clean off the soil originally attached to the roots. (2) Observe whether there are signs of pests; if there are pests, soak in Huahuashen. (3) Remove shriveled and overly long roots. (4) Trim to about 2-3 cm of root length and that is enough.

26: As for potting in "dry soil" or "wet soil". In my view it does not matter, anyway I always water thoroughly when potting.

27: I absolutely believe in the saying about "settling water". Even though succulents differ from other plants. At least in my attempts I have not found anything improper. For more about the saying of "settling water" you can look it up on Baidu.

28: After trimming the roots, do not rush to pot the succulents; you can leave them in a cool place to rest for a period. One night feels long. One or two hours can always be waited, right?

29: As for whether they can be put in the sun immediately after potting. Better to take it slow. There is no rush for those one or two days before putting them out to be toughened.

Adjusting to the Pot

30: After potting, for a period the leaves at the bottom of the succulent will wither. If the withering is gradual, then it is an intuitive sign of adjusting to the pot. When the leaves spread out and the growth point regains vitality, the succulent has adapted.

31: The process of adjusting to the pot is the process of the succulent taking root and growing.

32: As for repotting. Spring and autumn are both very suitable. In winter I definitely do not touch them. Summer even less so.

33: If after potting you find the plant leaning, you can completely support it with bamboo skewers from a barbecue stall. Or it means the succulent was buried too shallowly. Please redo it. Because I once had an accident where it fell from a height in the wind.

Care

34: There are 1000 kinds of succulents, but there are not 1000 ways of caring for them.

35: You must not be obsessed with varieties. It is the appearance and quality that need to be pursued. With a good foundation, then it will certainly not go wrong.

36: I absolutely believe in the saying that oranges grown south of the Huai River are sweet and north of it are bitter; the same kind of succulent, in different places and different environments, will definitely have a different state. Even when it colors up, it will differ.

37: Growing succulents, you must not be impatient. Adjusting to the pot is a process. Transformation is a process. Flowering is a process. Pollination is a process. You must never try to pull up seedlings to help them grow.

38: One sun, two water, three ventilation - these are the three key elements for growing good succulents.

39: In winter, full-day sun with no shading. The succulents perform quite well. The colors they should show can fully come out. This can continue all the way to spring. When the late spring cold snaps, the colors remain bright and beautiful.

40: In summer, it is necessary to avoid the afternoon sun. So for Sedum, summer shading is absolutely necessary. This way I recommend using a three-pin shade net, and that is enough. This continues into autumn, and even the autumn tiger heat is nothing to fear.

41: If your home lacks a sunny spot, you should still grow something else.

42: Watering takes ten years of skill? Is it really that formidable? Actually it is not. The simplest thing is to water thoroughly when dry - can everyone do that? At least I can.

43: In deep winter, outdoor growing has a rain shelter, so watering still needs to follow the principle of watering thoroughly when dry. After the coldest days of winter. Occasionally being a little lazy and letting them get rainwater seems fine too. This can last all the way to spring. Watering can save a lot of worry.

44: In deep summer there is actually no need for anything special; I also have not stopped watering. Cutting off water during the dog days is truly necessary. Occasionally finding a slightly cool evening to water once is enough. This continues until the autumn growing season. Watering then gradually resumes.

45: Let's talk about rainwater again. It is absolutely a good thing, natural acidic water. In the afternoon, get a bucket and leave it there; it will not take up space, right?

46: Tap water is convenient enough. Choose a sunny day. Fill a bucket in the morning and put it in the sun to bask, then let it sit until the afternoon, and the water quality for watering is completely achieved.

47: Ventilation is a very important and absolutely necessary condition for growing succulents, bar none.

48: Several ventilation conditions: an outdoor flower rack is an excellent level. Opening windows within the balcony is a good level. Bay windows (because high-floor windows cannot be fully opened, can everyone understand?) are a fair level. So if you have a big enough flower rack, then just put all the succulents outside.

49: During the plum rain season, ventilation must be strengthened. For example, add two electric fans.

50: After spring passes and summer arrives, the succulents will definitely become leggy; in autumn, pluck the leaves to form old stems, and they will also sprout side shoots, so if they get leggy in summer, just let them.

51: After summer passes and autumn comes, it is a great time to fertilize, in order to prepare for winter.

52: After autumn passes and winter comes, the people who have made it this far basically all have succulents worth showing off and worth photographing. Take photos as a memento and look at the changes over the past half year; you will be moved and cry at the beauty.

53: After winter passes and spring comes, all things grow. Full of vitality, a new round of leaf-plucking work must be put on the agenda.

54: As for fertilizing, generally when potting I will scatter a few grains of slow-release fertilizer. As for the specific brand, I truly have not researched it. But you must buy products from legitimate manufacturers.

55: When mixing the growing medium I will also add some things like bone meal and monopotassium phosphate. Of course, mostly just casually. Huahuashen and carbendazim will also be casually stirred in this way. I will not first judge whether it is useful or not; at least I have not found any problems.

Leaf Cuttings

56: As for leaf cuttings, plucking leaves in spring and autumn goes without saying. It is not that you cannot pluck in summer and winter. It is just not suitable and not recommended.

57: How to take the leaves - do you know how to eat an Oreo? Twist it (twist left and right) and it comes off. If the leaf is soft, it means lack of water; water thoroughly, and taking leaves the next day will be much smoother.

58: For leaf cuttings, you must choose healthy, plump leaves. Deformed and inferior ones should be ended ahead of time.

59: As for whether leaf cuttings should be laid flat, or inserted at a slant shallowly into the soil? I lay them flat; most of what I have seen in greenhouses is inserted at a slant.

60: What growing medium to use for the leaf-cutting seedbed? I use the same for all. And it also saves on top dressing.

61: Plants all have their own character, and the same goes for each individual leaf. Some put out roots first and then grow shoots. Some grow shoots first and then put out roots. No need to worry, just wait.

62: A few special situations. (1) It only puts out roots, and really for a very, very long time there are only roots. (2) The growth end of the leaf cutting only grows a lump and then there is no reaction. So for the former I cut off the roots, and for the latter I cut off the lump.

63: After the leaf-cutting seedling enters its active growth period. The mother leaf will wither, shrivel, and fall off. At this time the leaf-cutting seedling is independent. Those in the collective dormitory can also be given their own rooms.

64: Secondary leaf cuttings are completely feasible. When the leaf-cutting seedling has grown larger and the mother leaf is still plump and healthy. You can completely remove the leaf-cutting seedling. The leaf continues to rest for leaf cutting.

Beheading

65: Beheading very easily creates surprises. After the late spring cold and the autumn tiger heat, it is a good time for beheading.

66: For beheading, after reasonably choosing the position to cut, break off a ring of leaves. It is convenient for cutting. The action should be careful and steady.

67: After beheading, the mother plant should be kept in a cool, ventilated place, so the wound will dry and heal quickly; the cut-off seedling also needs to rest to heal the wound. Only after the wound has healed can it be potted to root.

Rooting

68: After the wound has healed, placing it on the growing medium will naturally produce roots within a period. The cell division speed of the wound is very fast for a healthy plant.

69: Air rooting is relatively intuitive. You can observe the entire rooting process.

70: As for the environment needed for rooting, it only needs to be placed in a bright, indirectly lit, ventilated environment. As for what a bright, indirectly lit environment is: under dappled tree shadows, at a desk under venetian blinds.