Caring for Your New Succulent
I always get that feeling of excitement everytime I get a new succulent. Even though I have bought hundreds of succulents by now, I still run through the thoughts of “What am I going to do with it? Should I repot it or not? Do I need to water it now or wait? Should I make an arrangement with it or let it shine by itself?”
The first thing I like to do is repot my succulent, especially if I purchased it from a large chain store or a large nursery. The majority of the time these places have used regular potting soil or something similar to it. This type of soil holds moisture, and succulent roots hate to stay wet! I use a special mixture of part cactus soil and part gritty mix of sand and pebbles. This makes water drain quickly from the pot when watering. It is more difficult to overwater a succulent when using a gritty mix as potting soil. Remember, the quickest way to kill a succulent is by overwatering!
I nearly always choose planters that have a drainage hole. It just makes it simplier to keep from overwatering the succulent. A pot without holes can be used, but be sure to use less water when watering it so the roots will not stay wet and rot.
When ordering succulents online, typically they are shipped bare root or semi-bare root which means without a pot. Some succulents with shallow, delicate root systems, such as the “String” succulents, are shipped in nursery pots to protect the roots. Other succulents that are difficult to handle, such as Watch Chain, are also easier to ship potted.
No matter what, succulents need to be unpacked and unwrapped immediately. Most of the time they are very dry and dehydrated, so I like to repot and water immediately. Occasionally, some succulents still have wet soil and are not dehydrated. I will usually repot these but will wait a few days to water them even though I am replacing the wet soil. This is my past experience from when I first started collecting succulents. I killed many right away because I watered the succulents that had moist soil when I repotted. Even then, succulents are easy to overwater.
In general, succulents are hard to kill unless they are overwatered, moved around a lot, or touched too much. They just want to be left alone and watered infrequently. If this is followed, your succulent should be hard for you to kill! Our joke about succulents is, “They thrive on neglect!”
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