5 common ways beginners kill succulents - how many have you used?

Growing succulents well and getting them into their best condition is the goal of every succulent lover. Watching all the succulent experts constantly show off their beautiful photos to each other, beginners like Little Exquisite Life are truly envious and jealous, and are determined to grow beautiful succulents of their own. But the results are not always so wonderful. Watching your own succulents become leggy, turn into cabbage, or even die, your confidence dwindles bit by bit, and you feel like you have become the executioner of your succulents. So where exactly is the problem? Below, Little Exquisite Life will look for the reasons together with everyone.

1. Improper watering

Watering succulents is an eternal topic. The mistake beginners who have just fallen into the hobby are most likely to make is probably "watering too often." Succulents do not need as much water as other ordinary plants, because most succulents are native to arid regions with little water and harsh environments. To adapt to the environment, succulents developed stems and leaves that can store water, so watering too frequently goes against the growth habits of succulents. Knowing the above, some beginners then choose not to water their succulents for a long time, resulting in the succulents drying out and dying from lack of water.

So how exactly should succulents be watered? In fact, the timing of watering cannot be judged by a specific time point. Here is a little trick: when you observe two rings of leaves on the succulent becoming soft and wrinkled from bottom to top, that is the time to water, and the watering period should preferably be on a clear, windy evening. Never water at noon when the sun is at its harshest. The principle of watering is: if you water, water thoroughly.

2. Improper lighting

Some people like to keep succulents in the office or next to a computer, and as a result the succulents become leggy from not seeing the sun, stretching out like bean sprouts beyond the sky. Succulents need plenty of light. Only with sufficient light can they grow healthily and then develop their best condition. But some people also put them directly under the sun to bake in the scorching summer, resulting in the succulents getting sunburned and dying.

Sunlight is actually a double-edged sword for succulents. Plenty of sunlight can make succulents very healthy, but excessive exposure will only kill them. Therefore, in the scorching summer, succulents need appropriate shading. In addition, newly born seedlings and succulents that have just been potted need to be cared for in a diffused-light environment for a period of time, then gradually allowed to receive more light until normal.

3. Poor ventilation

A well-ventilated environment is one of the key factors for succulent growth. A small number of succulent lovers, for the sake of beauty, cover their succulents with glass domes, and as a result the succulents die before long. If the growing environment for succulents is not ventilated, not only will the moisture in the potting soil after watering be unable to evaporate and transpire in time, causing the succulents to rot at the roots, but the stuffy, humid environment is also a paradise for pests and pathogens. So if you want your succulents to live healthily, you must find every way to ventilate. In the stuffy, hot summer, it may even be necessary to use an electric fan.

4. Pests and diseases

As mentioned above, poor ventilation can cause succulents to suffer from pests and diseases. Here, pests and diseases are two concepts: diseases and insect pests.

The main cause of succulent diseases is fungal infection. Especially in the stuffy, humid, scorching summer, which is the season when fungi are most active, this is also one of the reasons succulents have difficulty getting through summer. To prevent diseases, you can mix some carbendazim into the potting soil when potting, and after a period of time use carbendazim diluted with water to drench the roots of the succulents. If a fungal infection appears, first promptly isolate the affected succulents to avoid infecting more succulents, then decisively remove the affected parts completely and re-root and repot them.

The main insect pest of succulents is scale insects. To prevent scale insects, it is also recommended to mix some Huahuashen into the potting soil when potting. If there is a small infection of scale insects, you can try piercing them one by one with a needle. If there are many, use Huahuashen diluted with water to drench the roots and spray both the front and back of the leaves.

5. Excessive beheading and leaf plucking

Beheading and leaf propagation are common ways to propagate succulents. Some succulent lovers, in order to propagate succulents or pursue the effect of multiple heads or old stumps, excessively behead their succulents and pluck leaves. If this is done in summer, such operations will leave wounds on the succulents, and pathogens will happen to invade the succulents through these wounds. Even if they do not die, they will still lose a layer of skin.

The above are the 5 most common reasons succulents cannot be kept alive. I hope succulent lovers can all pay attention, adjust their mindset, accumulate experience, and sooner or later even a beginner can become an expert!

Compiled and published by Little Exquisite Life, hoping it is helpful to you.