Growing Succulents Through Summer: I Worry More About the Air Conditioner Drain Pipe Than the Heat

Compared to getting succulents through the summer, what actually worries me more is the air conditioner's drain pipe. Tomorrow we enter the second fu period, and many succulent growers will let their guard down, but the ultraviolet rays of early autumn are still very strong. If succulents are grown on a windowsill, the longer hours of sun exposure will lead to casualties among the plants.

Therefore, in early autumn you must be even more careful to avoid direct sunlight at midday, gradually extending the succulents' sun exposure time and giving them a process of gradual adaptation, so you can avoid plants that survived the summer dying in autumn.

Secondly, autumn is also a season with a high incidence of pests and diseases for succulents. I have a lot of experience with this: several Echeveria 'Rosima' I used to grow all came down with sooty mold in early autumn at the same time, and in the end they died. The same goes for Echeveria 'Ivory', which is prone to root mealybugs, so pest prevention for succulents in autumn is very important!

Growing succulents requires plenty of patience, because for many plants the process of going from ugly to beautiful is very long. Once they have adapted to their existing growing environment, they will slowly become beautiful, and it may take 1 or 2 years, or perhaps even longer.

For succulents in their growing season, I generally water generously, because there is no need to worry about sunburn. Still, the safer approach is to blow the water droplets off the leaf surfaces with an air blower after watering. In spring and autumn, water thoroughly once every two weeks; in summer and winter, extend this to once a month. In summer especially I water quite cautiously, and I try to avoid getting water on the leaves.

If your succulents are planted in mini flower pots, you need to increase the watering frequency appropriately. Those succulent growers who love to water should restrain themselves: if you give them a full drink of water every day, they will become lazy and unwilling to store water, so of course they will not grow plump.

One more thing to note is that succulents planted in mini pots are easier to keep in shape and easier to bring out their best colors. In other words, how big a succulent you want depends on how big a pot you grow it in. Plants grown in thumb pots generally will not grow very large. For succulents planted in small pots, use a bit more peat moss, otherwise the plants will get smaller and smaller~~~.