How to Take Care of Flowering Succulents

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The most rewarding feeling is when your succulents bloom indoors. But, sadly, this does not often happen as your succulent indoors rarely grows flower stalks. Hence, it all comes down to providing the proper environmental conditions.

When you give your succulent plant the essential care to grow, you might make it so happy that it blooms a flower for you.

First Things First With Indoor Succulents

indoor succulents

The critical thing to realize is that not all succulents indoors bloom. The truth is it can take years of TLC before you even have a chance of seeing blooms. The reason is that it needs similar conditions growing outdoors as in its native habitat.

Yet, we are not saying it is impossible because under the right conditions providing enough light, a good water schedule, with well-drained soil, you might be lucky for it to flower. So for most succulents to grow a flower.

It helps provide the following: it needs to be old enough, gets plenty of light, and enjoy a cool winter dormancy with warm summer temperatures.

How To Get Succulents To Bloom?

So, before helping your succulent species grow flower stalks, let us first look at some basics of these plants.

Why Do Succulents Flower?

flowering succulent in a white pot

Similar to most other plants, your succulent needs to attract pollinators to the flower. Hence, in nature, for survival, they need pollinators to ensure the production of the next generation. When seeds are produced in a flower, it contains reproductive parts.

The bloom stalk is bright with colors and has a sweet scent attracting bees, birds, to butterflies. So, succulent plants rely on insects or animals to help them reproduce. Still, when cultivating succulents, the flowers can self-pollinate when you use a paintbrush, similar to same-seed production.

You can harvest the seed allowing it to germinate to grow new plants. Many cacti and succulent growers propagate at nurseries and homes through seed collection. Still, you can use leaf cuttings or stem cuttings as well.

Do All Succulents Flower?

Unfortunately, not all succulents bloom, as some can take years before they are ready to flower. At the same time, others might not flower at all. You may find that some succulent varieties bloom quickly when young, and others need a maturation period.

Yet, it also depends on the environmental circumstances. But luckily, there are a few things you can do to encourage blooming.

When Do Succulents Bloom?

flowering succulent

You can find your succulent plants blooming at different times of the year. Some monocarpic succulents like cacti bloom once a year after reaching the age of four years. While certain succulents bloom in early spring to late summer.

Then you have some flowering in the fall to the winter months. Yet, it depends on the type of species you have.

Helping Your Succulent Plant to Bloom

indoor succulents in a bright room

Now that you know how your succulent plant flowers, let’s re-look at the things to ensure that your succulent will grow a flower. It would also help these plants to be treated as outdoor plants every once in a while during summer. Bright light encourages these plants to flower.

Are Your Succulent Plants Mature Enough to Flower

When you have indoor succulents, they need to be old enough to grow a flower stalk. Your young plants will not bloom, and it also depends on the succulent type you have. Then it depends on growing conditions as well.

You might only see succulent flowers when your plant reaches four to six years old. Hence, before you try to do anything else, it helps to determine the age of your plant. The best is to buy a matured plant if you want to see succulent blooms.

Your Plant Needs Bright Light to Bloom

indoor succulents near a bright window

When your plant matures, it helps to provide them with a lot of light. Hence, when growing succulents, you can place them at an eastern or southern window. So, choose the brightest yet sunniest spot you can find in the home.

Still, keep an eye on the direct sun on those hot days as they can get sunburnt. If you find the sun too warm, we recommend moving them away from the window. Alternatively, a sheer curtain can provide a bright shade for those delicate, large leaves.

If you notice your plant stretching is not receiving enough light, the chance of seeing a succulent bloom is scarce. Or, you can use some growing light to encourage growth and blooms.

Succulent Care for Summer and Winter

When you have monocarpic plants, they mostly come from the desert. But you do have exceptions as some succulents also come from tropical areas. Hence, it is essential to know your species regarding temperature and humidity.

Your desert plants love warm temperatures that differ between night and day; the same applies during summer and winter. The temperature differences help trigger blooming. Depending on your succulent, you can keep it in a cooler room in winter where there is no heat.

Tropical succulents like your Thanksgiving and Christmas cacti need darkness for up to eight weeks to bloom.

How Do You Care For a Flowering Succulent?

flowering succulent plant

If you are lucky to get your succulent flower, you can do a few things to care for them while in bloom. The important thing at this time is to provide the flower buds with sunlight. You can do this gradually, and besides, the more sun it gets, the more water you will need with fertilizer.

How To Water Succulents in Bloom

As succulents store water in the leaves, they can handle some drought. But when you see new growth, they need regular watering. The same applies when you see a flowering rosette; it needs a bit more water.

You can soak the soil and leave it to stand to drain the water through the drainage holes. Then you can leave the soil to dry before watering again. Once the succulent flowers and the cycle are complete, you can return to regular watering.

Another helpful tip is if you want most cacti to have longer-lasting flowers, it helps to keep the humidity low. When the humidity is high, the flower stalks fade faster.

Feeding Flowering Succulent

When your plant grows, it uses up a lot of energy, and with a bit of help, giving a bit more feed helps. You can increase the fertilizer for many indoor flowering plants to once a month. For example, if you give your plant a 1/4 strength, add a bit more to make it half strength.

Then, you can continue feeding your plant until the entire bloom cycle completes and it starts to fade.

What Happens When the Bloom Cycle Completes?

indoor succulents

A question that comes up is if you should remove the flower stalk. Well, some people will take a pair of scissors to cut the stalk as they do not like the flowers as they take up all their plant’s energy.

Yet, if you have waited so long, leave it to complete a full bloom as the flower will start dying. Then you can cut away the stalk using sharp pruning scissors or bonsai scissors. Then trace the stalk down to find a spot close to the bottom to cut without harming any leaves.

Another question asked is if the succulent dies after it does bloom. Yes, there is some succulent flower stalk that dies, and the plant dies with it. But this is very rare as your plant will not die after it blooms.

The only plant that can die after flowering is your monocarpic plants which bloom only once, while perennials flower many times throughout their life.

Final Thoughts

Wow, we have reached the end of today’s tips to help you make your succulent bloom.

We hope the information helps you to produce a flowering succulent that will create a magical display when it happens.

So, we would love to see some photos if you grow succulents and gift you with beautiful flowers. So, why not share it with us as we would love to hear from you?

Whether you want to buy, sell or simply reach out to other plant enthusiasts, Plantly is the right place to be!

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