Analyzing the causes of leggy succulent plants: master this and your succulents will grow plump

What to do when a succulent plant grows leggy

A leggy succulent is very hard to restore on its own. All you can do is increase light, control water appropriately, and for some varieties, behead the plant to control its shape.

How to make succulent plants grow plump

Even for the same succulent species in the same region, the results can vary widely. This is closely related to factors such as temperature difference, sunlight, soil mix, and watering. Below we look at these aspects to see how to make succulent plants grow plump.

1. Soil mix:

The soil mix is the most critical factor. One grower's mix is peat: perlite: river sand: vermiculite at 2:1:1:1, though it is not measured in exact proportions - just make sure there are more gritty particles. This grower's seedlings, starting from leaf cuttings moved into pots, have used this mix with a very high proportion of gritty material like river sand, and they grow really slowly - only a tiny bit in a month. But succulents grown in this kind of mix are truly plump. The river sand referred to is not the yellow construction-grade sand, but white small particles that are slightly larger in size.

2. Temperature difference

A large temperature difference is what guarantees succulents coloring up. For succulents grown in a greenhouse environment, on sunny days the day-night temperature difference is especially large. With sun, daytime temperatures are over 40 degrees, and at night just a few degrees. The large temperature difference suppresses the chlorophyll in the succulent, so under these conditions the succulent grows slowly, changes color, and produces various hues, while the leaves become shorter, rounder and tougher. Many people think that only in a greenhouse environment can you get such short, round, thick, beautifully colored succulents, but outdoor growing can actually also provide this kind of temperature difference. When the sun is strong and temperatures are high during the day, and it cools down a lot at night, with a temperature difference of over 15 degrees, it is very easy for them to color up.

For many people growing succulents at home, if you are not chasing growth speed, you can give them direct sun all day long, and at night as long as it does not drop below 1 degree and there is no frost, it is fine. As the saying goes, frost-bitten eggplant is delicious - though I do not know how frost-bitten succulents taste.