Succulent help?

Thanks for the tips on the different types of soil, I had never gotten a really detailed description on how to make it. Only read "Soil and sand", never really a good recipe!

On my other forum I frequent I was also told they would do better in a well breathing terra cotta pot, so when I move them to that I will work on fixing the soil. The pieces of bark are just sitting on the top, almost just looks like decoration, I thought it was weird. I avoided them when I watered the plants, but I'll take them out now. I gave the echeveria a nice drink yesterday and it already looks better! Today I'm going to water the other two. I'll keep in mind that I need to water the Sedium less often. That's probably why it's doing the best, I guess the garden shop was caring for them all the same way and was underwatering!

I have heard not to water the plants themselves, I will be especially careful to avoid touching the leaves with water!

I do orchids and succulents (many are both). Most succulents are going to be highbred. Your not going to stumble onto a species plant unless specifically sold as a species. Most that you will find seem to come from Australia originally there are a few from the Peru area too.

There are two very different kinds of plants that are both labeled succulents. On is the thick lush leafed plants that we often see in garden centers the other is very slow growing plants from the dessert. They often look similar to fat rooted/based bonsai.

The succulents that you have are succulent for water retention. They need a bit more water to retain their shape (the whiter looking one is needing more water). They need quite a bit of a drink. The other kind don't get much water so store it.

Plants in pots are hard to maintain. You either over or under water them. They do well in direct sunlight. Just be careful to not burn them with water drops (water sitting on the leaf in hot sunlight). I plant mine out side and water in the evening. I have rock walls for my more established plants and wooden barrels with potting soil for my new plants.

When I get new ones I plop them right into the potting soil and place them in a spot that gets the most sun all day long. I'm in WA so the sun is not quit as intense as where you are. You could try partial sun. I water them every other day. When the plant looks like its grown in size or has new growth then I move it to my rock walls or display barrels. They do well in green houses too but not everyone can whip one of those from their back pocket. They don't do very well in houses unless you have a good sun room.

When you are first learning you will lose plants. You will find that some will love you and flourish and others will hate you. Just stick with it and you will get a good feel for it. When you get them established I would love to trade starts with you. I have some plants that my family has cultivated and packed around for more than 50 years. I love sharing plants. I find them very rewarding.

The desert based ones are hard to set up but easy to maintain. I know a man who travels the world to collect them. He has permission from all the countries to take plants from the wild and has discover dozens of species. If you get into those kind I can get you his contact information.

Good luck! :gj:

My family is in the process of moving, so I don't think I can plant them in the ground just yet. I don't want to have to dig them back up! Is there anything else I can do to make my time a little easier? I guess I just gotta get used to plants hmm? :)

I had a spider plant for a while in college, and it was doing okay but my roommates started to over water it and smash up the roots. They bought one of those water bulb things and everytime they filled it up they ended up digging it into the roots and snapping them off. Only took about a week for the whole thing to die. :O That was very sad! I do have catnip that is doing okay right now, but I didn't groom it well so it's nasty and stringy looking. I'm scared to cut it back, I've never done that so i don't know how much is too much or where to cut!

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I posted this question on an active garden forum and still got 0 replies! Glad to have people here willing to help a noob out!

I have a question about the "Hawthoria"/Aloe looking one. It looks like there are 6 plants in there, two big ones and what appears to be smaller ones coming out of it. Is this sort of how they reproduce and I have two plants, or is it actually 6 separate plants all in one pot? I'm kind of interested in trying out growing new ones from leaves/cuttings and stuff, so I was just curious. Also, the smaller ones barely get any sun because they are underneath the big ones so i wondered if they should be separated.

They are starts off of the mother plant. They can be separated and grown from the divisions. Or you can leave them and they can fill out and have a large full 'clump.' The easiest way to kill a plant is over care. For watering yours I would fill the sink. Dunk them under the water, let them drain, place them back and not water again until you see the potting medium is dry. With my orchid succulents (dendrobium rigidum and the like) they are in Sphagnum moss, I soak them and let the moss get bone dry.

That's really cool! I might let them grow in and maybe later take one of the starts and see if I can grow it myself :)

Thanks for the tip on watering, I'll have to try that! I'd never have thought of that!

From looking through the soil already in there it looks like the white one actually has the MOST draining soil which just adds to why it's so dehydrated. That will be fixed ASAP!


One more question. I keep reading about fertilizer. I know nothing about fertilizer! I see some people say they use it often, some use it less often, and some don't even mention it. What is the rule of thumb with that stuff? When should it be used.. Not just with these guys, I guess with plants in general. I don't know how to use it I guess

I don't use any. My mom will when things need a pic-me-up, and I know a few people that fertilize once a year annually. I'm not sure what kind they need but I will ask my mom what she uses later tonight when she's off work. I'll message it to you. I know that you should avoid the generic ones that are in stores. Especially the ones that are to be used often.

Ahh, yes I've heard bad things about the store ones. I remember someone telling me about certain fertilizers that may fertilize the plants, but also kill the soil so it needs more fertilizer in the future! Sneaky!

i reccomend you look up each plant individually. there is not one method with succulents. the methods above sound like a great way to rot city!! while it will work with more of the hydrophilic succulents, it doesn't work for all!

I'll definitely keep trying to learn how to care for them. Today is cooler but nice and sunny so they are all outside right now