Home»Cactus - Succulents»General Cacti - Succulent Care
Succulent plant life are typically very loose to manage for , so they are democratic for beginning gardener and as office screen background or indoor plants .
They are also well - known for being low - maintenance plants , gain them an first-class choice for gardeners and even people without a light-green thumb .
There are extensive mixed bag of succulents , and even though all do well with simple care , problems can come up , and you may fear that your succulent are give out . fortunately , most of the time , these trouble can be well corrected .
Consider These 15 Reasons Why Your Succulents May Seem To Be Dying
1. Your Plants May Not Have Good Drainage
Most succulent are drought - tolerant industrial plant . Plants suffering from insufficient orbad drainage will develop succulent origin rot . This get soft , mushy leaf and yellow or transparent leaves .
Left untreated , the leaves may build up black spots , become completely brown / blackness and mushy , and crack up .
A combination of loose , light , sharply enfeeble , or well - draining territory and a breathable container with passel of drain holes will help oneself keep your succulent flora healthy . Avoid plastic , methamphetamine , or glaze ceramic containers . Instead , opt for breathable terra cotta .
In a garden setting , plant succulents on a slight rise and remedy the grime with plenty of organic subject and fine gravel to improve bad drain .
Whether in container or the landscape painting , succulent should never tolerate in water .
If your works is meet from root rot , you probably wo n’t be able to save the radical , but you may be capable to disperse new succulents from the good for you root or leafage cuttings .
2. You May Be Watering Your Succulents Incorrectly
Use soak and dry watering . Overwatering will get root rot . It can also cause succulent foliage to become egotistical with water and burst .
If your works is in a tidy sum with poor drain , it is concentrated not to overwater . Excessively frequent watering will also make root buncombe .
To avoid this job , allowyour succulent ’ farm mediumto become near dry before watering deeply . The water supply should guide through the lush grime , and surplus water should operate off freely .
3. Avoid Overhead Watering
Succulents are drought - support plants . And overhead watering can cause fungal outgrowth , such as powdery mold , on succulent leaf . This is especially true of plants that have furry leave .
Water succulent at grime level ( orwater from below ) . Keep leaves teetotal .
Fungus on Succulent and How to Treat Them
4. Your Succulent Plant May Be Hungry
Most succulent are not grave feeders , but they may need a boost of plant food in the spring .
If your plant ’s new increase is scandalmongering , dull , deformed , and weak looking , a dose of fertiliser may be just what it needs . Prune off sickly growth and provide a feeding the next prison term you water .
Top dressing with insect castings is another good way to fertilise succulent . This method can be applied at any time . When you use dirt ball molding , orfish photographic emulsion fertilizer on succulent , you do not execute the risk of over - fertilizing , which can conduct to its own host of works problems .
It is also deserving noting that if you repot your succulents per year , you may not need to fertilize at all in the spring .
Just be sure to use a dependable - quality potting soil mix amended with constitutional topic ( compost , cured manure , and worm cast ) and vermiculite or fine gravel / vulgar Baroness Dudevant for drain .
5. Your Succulent May Be Thirsty
If you are watering too little , your plants ’ leaves may wilt , line , and display juiceless tips . You will also notice yellow or brown daub on the leaves if you ’re underwater them .
This may bump if you water too seldom or if you just provide small , frequent drinks of water . It is far better to soak your succulent ’ planting culture medium thoroughly and then give up it to dry out out almost completely before water again .
Typically , watering deeply on a weekly or bi - weekly basis will cultivate . More onHow Often To Water Succulent Plants .
6. Succulents Can Be Sunburned
Cacti thrive in full , hot sunlight , but many succulent suffer in exuberant sunlight . If your plant develop dry , brown , scorched - looking streaks or dapple on its leaves , it may get too much sun . The entire plant may dry out out , reverse black , and collapse in utmost cases .
If yoursucculent is endure from sunburn(even in an utmost case ) , murder the damaged vegetation using a very sharp , sterile press clipping implement .
Give your plant a good , bass watering and move it to a mise en scene where the clear status it take in are bright , indirect igniter . you may place your indoor succulents in a south - facing window so they wo n’t incur direct sunshine .
In most case , even plant that have lost all their leaves to sunburn will eventually grow back as long as the root have not completely dry out out and died .
Note that most succulent keep as family plants prefer bright , indirect sun pic to harsh direct sun .
7. Your Plant May Be Unable To Conduct Photosynthesis
A succulent not getting enough sunlight will not be able to conduct photosynthesis . When this happens , the industrial plant may stretch toward its light seed in an attempt to get more light . Its leaves and stem may become weak and pallid .
If yoursucculent works become stretched ( etiolated ) , cut them for shape , employ the newspaper clipping to propagate more plants if you wish , and improve your plants ’ light exposure .
more often than not speak , succulent houseplants need a minimum of six hours of sun exposure day by day . smart morning sun is usually adept . shiny , collateral sunshine all day is also a good selection . add on low light with grow lights is also helpful .
Popular Succulent Plants :
8. Your Succulents May Not Be Warm Enough
Succulent plant life are typically tropical or desert plants , so they like consistently warm temperature and dry conditions . Very cold temperatures can cause leaf damage and slow down growth .
frigid temperatures combined with overwatering / pitiable drainage can cause root rot .
lush hardiness varies from one variety to another , but mostly speak , these plants do well at temperature ranging from 55 ° to 80 ° degrees Fahrenheit without a lot of unwarranted variation . For houseplants , if you are comfortable , your plants will be comfortable .
Related : grow Succulents in the Garden
If temperature deteriorate suddenly or drastically , and your plant picture signs of damage , cut back off the damage parts and chastise the temperature situation .
Note that if temperature are depressed for an extended full point of clip and your industrial plant are overwatered , you should unpot them , examine the roots and crop off black or schmalzy parts , which may have been move by root guff . Repot using an entirely fresh , dry succulent or cactus potting mix .
9. Overwatering or Underwatering Can Make Succulents Subject to Pest Infestation
For the most part , succulents resist pests , but if they are overwatered or submersed , they can become attractive to vernacular houseplant plague , such as wanderer jot , mealybugs , and aphids .
These can also be bring into your collection of new plants , but hefty plants usually resist them .
To prevent succulent pest insect infestation , be certain to examine new plants before acquiring them . Keep fresh plants in quarantine for a couplet of weeks to secure you are not introduce pests ( or disease ) into your ingathering .
If your succulents do become infested with pests , most can be dealt with by wiping them off with a paper towel soaked in rubbing alcohol .
Note that for furry succulents , you could shake off louse pests and then kill off any cleave individuals with a cotton swab soaked in rubbing alcohol .
Instead of spraying furry plants with a liquid , detritus lightly with food - grade diatomaceous earth . This will face unsightly for a while , but once your infestation is under ascendance , you’re able to brush it off using a soft artist ’s paintbrush .
detain argus-eyed . Examine your plants daily and repeat treatments every few days . When there has been no sign of pest for a couple of workweek , you may stop treatment but continue examining your plants on a regular basis to catch pests before they become a full-grown trouble .
10. Scale Insects Can Present a Real Challenge
Scale insects are more unmanageable to get disembarrass of because they are armored . There are both flaccid and gruelling - scale insects . The ones with flaccid armour are a slight easier to deal with than the hard shell , but not much .
you may make do with scale insects much the same way as wanderer jot , mealybugs , and aphids , except hard scale insects tie their armor to the plants ’ surface . This laborious brown or black shell protect the insects against rubbing alcohol , soapy water , neem oil , and horticultural oil .
associate : How To Get Rid of Scale on Succulents
You have to come up the shell of the grownup insects off with a dull sword or your thumbnail and then treat the plant . It can be easy to cut off hard invade limbs and leaf and then treat what ’s pass on .
It ’s also crucial to realise that scale insects may attach themselves to your plants ’ roots . For this reason , it ’s chic to unpot plants that have been infest by weighing machine insect and examine , prune , and treat the roots as take .
allow your plant ’ solution tune for a few day , and then repot them with fresh , full-bodied soil and a brand - Modern or sterilized pot .
11. Slugs and Snails May Bother Succulents Outdoors
Slugs and snail like toothsome vegetation , so if you keep your succulent houseplants outside in give and summertime , or if you have succulent growing in the landscape , you canexpect slug and snails to see themand munch on them .
If you see snail trails and neatly chewed - out slur on your plant ’s leaves , the perpetrator are likely to be slugs and snails .
you may address with these ( potentially disease - spreading ) pestilence by going out into your garden at night with a flashlight , picking them off , and plunge them unceremoniously into a hot , soapy water supply bucket .
you’re able to also preclude them from pay back into your succulent surface area by patter coarse materials such as :
… around your plant . Dusting the plants ’ leafage with diatomaceous globe may also help forestall further slug and snail snacking .
Place shallow trays of beer around the edges of your garden to pull and trap slugs and snails . They fawn in to drink in the beer and are then unable to get out , so they drown .
Common Succulent Pests You Should Know And How To Treat Them
12. Your Succulent May Outgrown Its Pot
As your plant grows older and larger , it may take on an unkempt appearance , and section may start to pop off .
low leaves typically fall from succulent plantsto make elbow room for fresh leaves and dismiss feasible leaves onto the dirt below to propagate .
When this happens , it ’s time to prune away all in and damaged vegetation , snip practicable botany for propagation and repot your original plant .
13. Heavy Soil Can Suffocate Succulents
call back that water should run through your pot mix when you water your succulents .
grueling soil retain too much wet against your plants ’ radical , step in with air circulation , and make root rot .
you could buy a commercial succulent orcactus potting mixor coalesce up your own . A good homemade , general - purpose succulent mix consists of the following :
A acutely draining intermixture could be made using half or more ( up to 80 % ) common guts or hunky-dory gravel , with the oddment consist of arenaceous loam and compost for just the good level of alimental deliverance and wet retention .
14. Succulents Don’t Typically Like To Be Touched
Some succulent have a waxy coating over the leaves that can get unsightly , blotchy marks in them if you handle your plants too much . Some have leaves that fall off very easily if they are touched or brushed against .
For these reasons ( and to avoid problems with shock ) , it ’s best to choose a quality emplacement for your succulent plants and then keep them there without a spate of jostle and move about .
The best place for your plant should be out of the way of life . There should not be a lot of foot traffic or chance for people to break into your industrial plant .
When you do need to move or handle your plant life , do it carefully . Lift the plant by the sides of the mass . Do n’t embrace it against you as you move it .
Use a soft artist ’s paintbrush to dust your plant or brush scattered soil off the leaf .
Injured leave can make your plant look sickly , and indeed , damaged foliage are more likely to provide a harbour for unwellness and fungus .
Related:30 Best Low Light Succulents For Your home base
15. Your Succulent May Be In Shock
As with all plants , sudden environmental change can spur impact . Moving your plant indoors in autumn or outside in bounce can cause cushion . Making these transition bit by bit can help decrease negative reactions .
If you ’ve just acquired your plant or have just repotted it , a full point of wilting , less - than - normal growth , and general failure to thrive may not be a cause for alarm . Consistent care and solitaire may be all that ’s needed to help your flora recover .
dusty snaps , heat Wave , inclement atmospheric condition , and other sudden changes may cause your works to wither , shrivel , cliff leaves , and even give way . In all of these casing , snip aside damaged foliation using a very sharp , uninspired implement .
redress the condition that have the injuries and provide your works with a steadfast , consistent schedule of care , along with bright , collateral sunlight and consistently correct temperature . If the plants ’ root have survived , the plant will eventually rally .
