Planting succulents is the simplest way to brighten up your home. They are simple to care for and can be used in various settings; also, they can fit in any environment.
Succulents are among the simplest plants to grow. They need little water, no sunlight, and even live in a pot without soil! Plus, they’re adorable!
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Succulents are one of the most popular plants on the planet. They are available in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and colors.Â
By growing succulents, you can decorate your home or office with low-maintenance living art!Â
Get started planting succulents right away!
Thanks for your interest in learning about the proper method of planting succulents!
Before beginning the step-by-step planting succulents guide, make sure you have everything you need. Check out this list of essential supplies for succulent planting on my blog.
This includes selecting an appropriate pot or planter for your succulents. Please see this post for my suggestions on choosing succulent pottery.
After reading those posts and gathering the necessary supplies, you’re ready to begin posting!
Supplies Required for Succulent Planting
First, you must get the necessary supplies to ensure that your succulents thrive in your home or garden. Fortunately, these supplies are quite affordable:
- Succulents Soil, also known as Cactus Mix
- Terracotta Pot
- Liquid Fertilizer
- Squeeze Bottle OR Watering Can
- Succulents
Cactus and Succulent Soil Mix
Terracotta pots for Succulent
Fully Rooted Succulents
Liquid fertilizer for succulents
Squeeze Bottle OR Watering Can
If you’re planting succulents indoors, we recommend investing in a container or planter that you’ll enjoy looking at every day! After all, indoor plants are an integral part of your home’s decor.
You may prefer to keep your succulents and houseplants in a crisp-white or ivory-creme-colored container, similar to those pictured in this post. We believe it enhances the succulents’ vibrancy and works well with our furniture and home accents.
When should I repot my succulents?
There are several situations when you should repot your succulents. The first is just after you purchase them. When succulents are grown at a nursery, they are often grown in very organic soil and do not drain well.
This works well in a controlled environment like a nursery but not always at home. After purchasing succulents, it is good to repot them in fresh soil.
Repotting your succulents is also necessary if they’ve grown too large for the pot they’re currently in. They are frequently “root bound,” meaning the roots have filled up the pot, and the plant has no room to grow more roots.
If you buy succulents from a nursery, they’re more likely to be root bound. This slows the growth rate of the succulents, which allows the nursery to repot them less often.
It’s a good rule of thumb to leave 12″ to 14″ of space between the pot’s edge and the succulent leaves themselves. If your succulent has a diameter of 3″ (7.5cm), use a pot with a diameter of 4″ (10cm).
Keep in mind how critical it is to choose a pot with a drainage hole for the root system of your succulents. Succulents can go for days, weeks, or even months without water because they store it in their leaves and stems. They are drought-tolerant because they store water in this manner.
A drainage hole lets water run out of the pot so that the roots of your succulents don’t have to sit in wet soil.
One of the most common reasons for dead succulents is a lack of moisture. If succulents are allowed to sit in wet soil, their roots will rot, resulting in a dead plant. Succulents do not require a lot of water.
Plant your succulents in a pot with a drainage hole to help them thrive. They’ll thank you for becoming vibrant and healthy plants!
A good starting point is to use a good cactus mix or soil mix made specifically for succulents. This soil will allow plenty of drainage and air circulation, which succulents require to thrive.
When you have your succulent soil or cactus mix ready, pour it into your pot. (If desired, cover the drainage hole with mesh to prevent soil from seeping out.)
Fill the pot with enough soil to allow your succulents to sit above the rim. If the leaves touch the rim, start adding more soil to raise the plant.
Take the Pot and Soil-Away
Nursery pot: This is the first thing you need to get rid of to plant succulents successfully. Remove as much soil as you can. When it comes to the soil that nurseries use to grow their succulents, it’s almost always too dense and holds too much water. Getting rid of this nursery soil will make it more healthy for your succulents’ roots.
Even if you can’t get every last bit of soil off, that’s fine. Remove as much as possible while being gentle with your succulents.
If you’re going to plant your succulent alone, you’ll want to keep the roots as intact as possible. Because there are many succulents in an arrangement, it might be best to break off a few of the roots to make the arrangement look better.
Remove some roots, and your succulent will be fine, no matter which way you do it! You can also remove the babies from your main plant if you’d like.
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TIP: Succulents’ roots should rarely be stripped of the soil before planting. This is unnecessary, in our opinion. Remove the plant from its plastic container and place it in its new pot, soil, and all.
This is how we’ve done things for years, and we’ve seen no reason to change. Plants do better when the roots are not stripped from the existing soil, which we know is the practice of many growers. You can do this only when working with live succulents in crafts.
This is one of the most interesting things about gardening. Even though there are some rules, everyone comes up with their own way of doing things. If it works for you, that’s great! Keep up the good work. People say, “To each his own.”
Cover the Drainage Hole with Mesh
Drainage holes are important for the health of your succulents, but you don’t want the soil to fall out of them. Utilize mesh tape to keep the largest chunks of soil in place.
Mesh tape is effective because it allows for easy water drainage while retaining the majority of oil. Some “dust” will likely fall out, but this is normal.
Alternatively to the mesh tape, you can use a Drainage Discs or mesh screen.
Drainage Discs
Pot Hole Mesh Pad
Fill Your Pot Nearly to the Edge
Make sure the pot you’re going to put your succulents in is almost full of succulent soil. Then, put the succulents in the pot. Allow a small amount of space at the top to allow for a comfortable fit for the roots, and you can always add more soil later.
Where to Plant Your Succulent
It’s now time to introduce your succulent into the planter! You may plant it centered or off-center, as desired.
Keep some roots in the soil so they can get a little start on growth.
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In the picture, there are a lot of succulents in the garden. If you want it to look like there are a lot of them, plant them close together, and make sure each plant’s base is above the edge of the pot.
You should treat this step as an art form. It takes a lot of skill to make beautiful arrangements of succulents or flowers. The best way to make a beautiful arrangement is to mix and match your succulents while keeping color, texture, and height in mind.
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Concerning succulents growing in such proximity, You don’t need to worry about it because they appear to enjoy it. Additionally, growing them in this manner keeps them compact, which you may prefer. Until they’ve outgrown their pot, you can keep them this way in the same container for up to a year before moving them.
You might prefer smaller succulents to those that appear overgrown, particularly for indoor planters.
You have the option of planting just one succulent in a pot, two succulents in a pot, or a large number of succulents in a pot!
Lovely Echeverias planted in a succulent soil pot.
Lovely Echeverias planted in a succulent soil pot.
Make sure you like how your succulents look together before planting them in the ground. Then you can rearrange things or begin planting.
Dig a hole in the ground for each plant and fill the hole with soil to protect the roots from the outside elements.
How to Plant Succulents, so They Look Beautiful in Their Container
You should always take your time planting your succulents in pots because you need to think about how the whole thing will look. Many people use the thriller, filler, spiller rule when they grow plants in containers. This way, they can make their plants look good from all angles.
If you want to give your succulent arrangements some more structure, you don’t have to stick to such a rule when planting them. However, it’s fun to do so.
Allow us to explain.
The thriller is a striking plant, and it is typically a taller plant that serves as the pot’s focal point. Occasionally, utilize a tall succulent, and occasionally, utilize an eye-catching rosette-shaped succulent (like this one below).
You may consider the panda plant; since it’s taller and has an interesting texture, you might think of it as the “wow” plant in this arrangement.
The panda plant dwarfs all other plants, including the colorful cacti, when viewed from the side.
The filler is a plant or plant that can fill in the empty spaces in the container, and it is typically a small plant.
Some plants you can use for your filler are low-growing succulents with a rosette shape, like Echevarria, and small cuttings from bigger plants. In this arrangement, the cacti also serve as fillers.
Take small pieces from other arrangements and put them in the pot to fill in the small gaps. It’s easy to do this: Take small pieces from other succulents and stick their stems right into the soil. They’ll adapt and establish roots in a matter of weeks!
Now we’ll move on to the spiller. In gardening, a spiller is a plant that cascades over the pot’s edge as it grows downward.
For this, you can choose two succulents that grew and drooped over time because they didn’t get enough sunlight.
By the way, the most frequently used succulent spiller is Mother of Pearl, which you’ve probably seen in a variety of arrangements.
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Fill the pot almost to the brim.
It is now necessary to replenish the pot. Between the soil and the rim of the pot, there should be just a sliver of space. To avoid rotting, keep the leaves of the succulents completely above the soil.
If you purchased soil from Bonsai Jack, you would receive an excellent chopstick for repeatedly poking your soil. This will assist in eliminating any large pockets of air between the roots and help maintain the health of your plants.
This will help keep the soil from sinking after a few waterings.
Add a Dressing to the Top
Add a top dressing to your potted succulent to complete the look. This is why you left some space at the top of your pot.
You can put many different things on the top, like bright and fun things or simple gravel. Press down on the soil because you add your top dressing to assist the succulent in remaining in place.
The most critical!!!
Allow one to two days for your succulent to sit after potting, and the top dressing has been applied before watering it. This rest period allows the roots to recover before they resume water absorption, which also helps to prevent root rot.
How to Water Succulents Once They Have Been Planted
You may believe that immediately following repotting; you must water your succulents but DO NOT. We suggest giving them their 1st sip of water about a week after propagating.
If you water the plants after they’ve been planted, you risk rotting or disease spreading to any roots that were already damaged during the transplant. Waiting some few days will allow those roots to recover or callus over unless they can absorb water and begin to rot.
Additionally, because succulents tolerate dry soil, they will tolerate the wait.
If you’re only repotted one or two succulents, you can water them with a small watering can. It’s better to use the watering squeeze bottle if you plan to water your plants, as it will allow you to be more precise with the amount of water you put in.
Watering squeeze bottles or syringes are easier to use because they can be inserted into the nooks and crannies between each succulent to ensure that the pot receives enough water.
TIP: If this is your first time growing succulents, you should know that you should only water the soil, not the leaves.
Watering the leaves is unnecessary; the soil requires moisture, as the roots will absorb the water and transport it to the leaves, where you will store it.
If you’re going to grow succulents outdoors, you can water them as much as you like because the sun will quickly evaporate the water from the leaves. There is no need to be concerned about your leaves becoming soggy and rotting due to excessive exposure to water.
After Planting Succulents, Where to Place Your Pots
For succulents to thrive, they require at least six hours of indirect sunlight each day. This means placing them near a sunny window, but far enough away to avoid scorching and burning from the sun.
Many different succulents can handle the heat, but some are more sensitive to it in the summer. The key here is to pay attention to your succulents and see how they react to their new surroundings.
Planters can be placed on dining room tables, end tables, and kitchen bar counters, among other places.
They can also grow outside in direct sunlight; monitor their growth. When it’s hot outside, you may have to give them some shade in the afternoons not to get burned. If they are not performing well, relocate them to a more shady (or sunnier) location.
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It doesn’t matter how much light your succulents get as long as you keep them in a place that gets a lot of sunlight. Place the pot in a place that gets a lot of sunlight not to grow too big.
That is the fundamentals of succulent planting. It’s always possible to rearrange the placement of your succulents once they’ve been established.
Handling your plants gently is always recommended, but remember that they are resilient and will survive even a few hard knocks.
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That is all! Pretty straightforward.
When Planting succulents, some common mistakes are
- not remove the soil from your plants’ roots,
- not adding top dressing, and
- watering too soon.
If you follow the steps outlined above, you will avoid these common issues and have a fantastic start on your succulent garden’s health.
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Best wishes and happy planting!
