How To Plant Succulents? Ultimate Guide

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We are so glad you’re here with us wanting to learn about planting succulents correctly. These plants are drought tolerant with low maintenance and can thrive outside and indoors. In addition, succulent plants add loads of color and texture to the home.

You can quickly transform your drab living space into a modern house. Still, there are different methods to plant and keep your succulents alive. So, today Plantly will share how to plant succulents our way.

How To Grow Succulents Depends on The Species You Have

succulent plants

When you want to plant succulents, it comes down to the types you want to use. Furthermore, depending on personal taste, you will consider the color scheme, shapes, sizes, and color combinations.

Still, there is no right or wrong when combining succulent plants. The only thing you need to be careful about when you grow succulents together in a container garden is to look at their growing needs.

Where possible, plant your succulents outdoors and inside with similar growing needs. If the plant label does not provide the needed information, a quick search online for the basic growing needs can help.

Planting Succulents Know The Plant’s Basic Growing Needs

Knowing the basic growing needs, you can easily plant different succulents together to make caring easier. Hence, it helps to research the plant’s following requirements:

Lighting Requirements

succulent plants lighting condition

For container gardens, the plants you place together need similar lighting needs. Whether you grow succulents indoors or outside in a container, the lighting must be the same. Some plants may thrive in direct sunlight, while others prefer bright indirect light.

Thus, it helps to grow your sun-loving plants together while low-light succulent plants need to be in another container. Doing this allows you to find a perfect spot for your plants to place in a sunny window or not.

Watering Needs to prevent root rot

Luckily, succulent plants from different species have the exact watering needs. Hence, you need not worry about this too much when combining your plants. Yet, as a rule, always check your plant’s watering requirements when planted with other succulents.

The most important thing to remember when watering succulents is to wait before the soil is completely dry.

The majority of watering succulent care is to ensure that there is good drainage for all plants in the same pot. Proper drainage is essential as it can lead to root rot for all your plants. Lastly, when watering succulents, the excess water must drain and be thrown out of the sauce below.

The Best Soil Mix

succulent potting mix

As your succulents do not like wet feet, it needs well-draining soil. To provide the right soil mix for the root system, you can add pumice or coarse sand to help improve drainage. Or you can add organic materials to make the soil airy, like perlite, small gravel, or crushed granite.

Alternatively, sandy soil for succulent container gardening is a great choice.

Plants’ Hardiness Zones

Finding out about your different succulent plant’s hardiness zones is the best thing you can do. You do not want to mix cold, hardy plants with a tropical cactus that thrives in high humidity. The same applies to mixing a tropical cactus with a desert cactus.

Doing some research will make planting succulents that belong together in the same environment easier.

How To Plant a Succulent Container Garden?

container garden succulent

Growing succulents in containers together is an excellent choice if you love succulents. It makes caring for them simpler. So, before you start planting, it helps to test whether all your outdoor plants will fit into your pot.

Fitting them into the container garden before planting helps determine how they will look together. But before we get to succulent growing, we first want to answer some essential questions about how to plant your succulents in the container.

How Far Apart Do Succulents Need to Be Planted?

succulents in a container garden

Ideally, you want air circulation between your succulents of at least an inch or two. Then, the room will be enough for them to grow new roots and expand. Still, do not leave too much space as you will end up with plants sitting in too much soil.

Having too much soil causes problems as it retains too much moisture. So, you do not want an enormous container for your plants. Still, you can fill your container to the max, leaving about an inch of space between your plants.

Your succulent plant will grow well, whether it is tightly planted or crowded. When tightly compact, succulents are slow growers. But we prefer leaving some room in between to help our plants expand and grow.

You will see your babies multiplying by themselves.

Where to Place Your Tall Succulents

succulents in a dish garden

If you have tall growing succulents, you can place them at the back of the container. Nonetheless, as your plants need direct sunlight, you do not want them blocking the light from the smaller succulents.

But do not stress if you plant a tall one in the middle and only realize it later. A quick fix is to remove the plant and place it somewhere else. Still, leave taller plants in the center if standing on a table and not against a wall.

Where to Place Your Focal Succulents

Preferably, you want your focal plant in the middle of the pot if they do not grow tall. The succulents you grow in the center need to be mid-sized. So, not too short or too tall. Hence, place your unusual-looking, interesting, attractive succulents in the center.

Doing this provides a point of interest in your succulent container garden.

Placing Smaller Plants

small succulent plants

You do not want your smaller plants to reach for the light to find the sun. Hence, it helps to plant smaller succulents in front to receive direct light. Lastly, if you have hanging succulents, place them on the side to hang or trail down the pot as it grows.

Planting Your Thrillers, Fillers, and Spillers

succulent plants in a dish garden

If you want a good mix of plants in your pot, you can look at this term thriller, fillers, and spillers. It means placing small, mid-sized, and tall plants to fill the pots. The spillers are those succulents that trail or hang over the side to make things more interesting.

  1. Start preparing the pot you want to use by doing the fit test to see if all your plants are arranged and fit in well.

  2. Next, prepare your potting soil with your cactus mix combined with perlite. Oh yes, make sure the pot has enough drainage holes.

  3. Remove your succulents from their nursery pots to loosen up the root ball.

  4. Start planting at the back, working your way down the row to the front and sides.

  5. First, plant your tall plants at the back.

  6. Place your mid-sized succulents in the middle as the focal point with your smaller ones in front. Then place your trailing plants on the sides.

  7. Instead of using topsoil, you can add some nice ornamental rocks to give it that pizazz finish.

  8. Then end it by watering your plants and waiting until they dry before watering again. We recommend checking your plants when removing them from the nursery pots to see if they are too wet. But we recommend following your discretion.

Conclusion

When choosing to grow succulents together, the important thing is to choose the right pot, potting mix, and the correct mix of plants to grow together. Like any plant, it needs the right growing medium, light, and water.

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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