Succulents care

Most succulents share some characteristics, let’s see them:

• All of them store water in their leaves, roots or stems, which acquire bulky and fleshy shapes.
• They tend to be very resistant plants and also not very demanding .
• They have a reduced metabolism, and a very short flowering period.
• Unlike other plants, they open their stomata to breathe at night and thus lose less water.

It must be borne in mind that succulents are not a single family, but many of them, and they have a huge number of species. Because of this, their needs can be quite different depending on the specific species. However, most of them share a few things. In short, these are the main care of succulents they need:

• Light: the vast majority of succulents need large amounts of sunlight, even direct.
• Soil: they are not demanding plants with nutrients, so they only need good drainage.
• Irrigation: they do not tolerate excess irrigation or flooding.
• Climate: most of them are from hot climates.

Most succulents come from desert environments where they are exposed to very high temperatures and a very intense solar influence. However, to have them at home they do not need to be directly exposed to the sun, and in fact, many of their species will dehydrate if you expose them to a very intense sun.

Thus, the ideal is to keep them in very bright locations , but protected from the most intense hours of sun. One way to know that they are getting too much sun is if you see that the leaves are drying out or turning brown or reddish.

Since these plants are capable of storing large reserves of water in their leaves or stems, most of them hardly require watering. In fact, the vast majority of succulents do not tolerate excess moisture in the substrate, and if you puddle them when you water them or you water them too often, it is very likely that their roots will rot and the plant will die. In most cases, one watering every 10 or 15 days will suffice , or at most a weekly watering in warm months. Also, many species of succulents are hanging or aerial . In these, it is best to practice immersion irrigation, which allows the plant to take in the water it needs without suffering from excess humidity afterwards.

We also recommend that you learn from these guides to recognize When to water plants and How to water succulents – tips .

Succulents are not demanding on soil nutrients, so the priority when choosing the substrate is that it offers good drainage . If you fertilize your succulents, use specific fertilizer for this type of plants, and pay attention to the dosage and frequency indicated. An excess of compost will not do them good either. Ideally, use a substrate for cacti or succulent plants , or at most a mixture of this with a universal substrate.

Here we leave you a guide so that you know How to make substrate for succulents .

Finally, we offer you more tips for caring for succulents :

• Succulents tend to take a long time to flower, sometimes even many years. In addition, many of them will never bloom if they are not in optimal conditions, so if you want to be able to see their flowers, make sure that all the conditions listed above are met.
• Unless it is a tropical succulent that specifically needs it, do not water your succulents with a spray bottle or spray. This will provide the leaves with a moisture that not only does not need, but can also promote the appearance of fungi.
• Succulents are very easy to propagate due to the children they tend to produce at the base of the mother plant. If you separate them carefully with a fork, taking care not to damage them, you can plant them in a new container to make room for another plant like it. Learn more about how to do it correctly with this other AgroCorrn article on How to reproduce succulents (you can also watch the video guide below).

Also, do not miss this other guide to Transplant succulents: when and how to do it and this video from our YouTube channel on the care of succulents .

If you want to read more articles similar to Succulent care , we recommend that you enter our category of Growing and caring for plants .