How to grow succulents? Just do these 8 things indoors and you're set

Growing succulents well as an indoor grower is no easy task. In an environment with insufficient light and poor ventilation, succulents either turn pale green or easily fall prey to disease and black rot!

So how can indoor growers come to the rescue?!

1. Give more sun and water less!

Growing succulents indoors is such a cozy thing! Beautiful, lovely potted plants are everywhere, and every day you can easily enjoy a touch of greenery and freely breathe fresh air!

To extend the shelf life of this happiness, you need to take extra care of our little succulents. With indoor growing, sunlight is essential; succulents, like us, love a well-lit environment!

But indoor sunlight simply can't compare with outdoor light; not only is the light insufficient, its intensity is also lacking! So to avoid succulents growing leggy, you must control your hand. Sunlight and water need to stay in balance; once that balance is broken, your succulents will show you what leggy looks like!

2. Open windows for fresh air at all times!

Opening windows often to air things out isn't just for the healthy growth of your succulents; it benefits you too. Fresh air keeps these lovely plants looking fresh and lively.

Whether it's an air-conditioned room in summer or an indoor space with the heating on in winter, you need to open the windows more often,to exchange the air for fresh air, otherwise both your succulents and you will easily get sick!

3. Diligently prune spent flowers and dead leaves!

Don't be reluctant to remove leaves that have turned to mush, otherwise they will hit you even harder. Take the big and let go of the small;for the safety of the whole succulent, leaves that have turned to mush or become diseased must be removed promptly, leaving no hidden trouble behind!

As for dead leaves caused by normal consumption, they must be cleaned up regularly no matter the season, especially for succulents grown indoors! Indoor ventilation is insufficient,and too many dead leaves not only ruin the look but also easily breed pests and diseases!

In many cases, succulents that start rotting from the stem do so because too many dead leaves have piled up, making the stem area dark and damp and unable to receive light!

4. Replace soil and pots in time!

Tailoring to fit isn't just for people! For these plants, it's important too!

Plants of different sizes and body types need different pots, and fast-growing succulents need their pots replaced promptly with ones that suit them!

When roots have already grown out through the holes at the bottom of the pot to breathe, or even many fine roots are starting to appear on the soil surface, it shows that the current pot can no longer contain this succulent. You need to trim its roots, change the soil, and settle it into a new home that suits it better. Only then can the succulent continue to grow with enough space and nutrients!

But wait until the succulent's growing season to do this~~

5. Keep the watering rule firmly in mind!

"Don't water until dry, and water thoroughly when you do" - this watering rule is even more applicable to indoor growing with a stable environment! Outdoors there's plenty of sunlight, ventilation all around, and ever-changing weather, with many variables affecting when and how much to water.

But for succulents grown indoors, this watering method does a good job of ensuring healthy growth. Most importantly, pick a good day to water!

6. There's an art to fertilizing and spraying!

Fertilizers are divided into organic fertilizers and chemical fertilizers. Organic fertilizers are things like animal manure and won't have adverse effects on plants, but they give off an odor during fermentation, which for an indoor growing environment...

Still, you can buy already-fermented organic fertilizer!

Chemical fertilizers are chemical products; they're clean and hygienic and easy for succulents to absorb, but you need to watch the amount used - fertilizer that's too concentrated will burn your succulents.

Special note: during a succulent's dormant period and times of slow growth, you must not use fertilizer!

7. Know about rainy weather in advance!

In a city full of towering buildings, light is already hard to come by, and rainy days make it even more of a headache! Potted plants on a desk can get supplemental light from a desk lamp, while a large fleet of potted plants needs professional grow lights to make up the difference. If conditions allow, you can choose to buy a grow light for your indoor succulents!

8. Choosing the right plants matters most!

Besides adorably cute succulents, you can also choose some shade-tolerant green plants to place indoors!Parlor palm, Brazilian ironwood, bamboo palm, snake plant and so on are all relatively shade-tolerant plants. They're not only attractive but also suitable for indoor growing. Choose the right green plants and you'll get twice the result with half the effort!

Additional notes:The main reason indoor growers fail with succulents and end up with pale green plants year after year is that indoor growing lacks sufficient light and a ventilated environment.

Most succulents dislike stuffy conditions and environments lacking light; this is bad for their own growth, so it's very hard for you to grow healthy and colorful succulents, especially Echeveria succulents.

However, succulents like Haworthia that don't have very high light requirements can actually be given a try indoors.

Furthermore, among indoor growers there are better and worse situations. Those who can grow succulents relatively well are the bay-window crowd and the glass-house crowd, which is hard for ordinary people to set up. The bay-window crowd isn't really much worse than balcony growers when it comes to light, so it's no surprise they can grow succulents well.

But ordinary indoor growers who want good succulents need to put in some serious effort; watering, ventilation and so on all need attention.

1) Never water arbitrarily; better dry than wet, otherwise your succulents will go leggy on you in no time.

2) In an unventilated environment, succulents are more prone to disease, so open windows as much as possible to keep the environment ventilated.

3) If there's really no light and you don't want pale green succulents, you might as well try a grow light.

4) Or choose some succulents that are more suitable for indoor growing, such as Haworthia cooperi (the succulent that needs the least sunlight among succulents); Sempervivum (which has no particular fondness for sunbathing); cactus, "lotus" and so on.

Actually, no matter what kind of succulent it is, they all need to regularly feel the warmth of the sun, the gentleness of the breeze, a natural ventilated environment and so on.