Succulents are gaining popularity due to their low maintenance and unique eye catchy look, still many people aren’t aware of it. So what exactly are they?
Succulents are basically the plant species that store water in their leaves and can survive for days without being watered. Their unique style, growth patterns and delightful colors make them great candidates for beautiful vertical gardens, terrarium gardens, many kinds of indoor decorations . There is a wide range of succulents available, some do pretty well indoors while some are made for the outdoors as they need sunlight in abundance. Just like other plants, your succulents also need timely care. They need occasional watering, sunlight exposure or grow lights, and even fertilizers to ensure they grow with their full potential. People usually have a habit of watering their plants daily but that isn’t the case with succulents. On the contrary, your succulents need loose soil and nutrients to grow and flourish.
First Step After Bringing Your Succulents Home
The succulents you usually buy are greenhouse grown, which means they need to acclimate to the sun gradually once you receive them, especially in the hot months. When you bring them home, allow them exposure to soft sunlight and then slowly introduce them to direct sunlight. If you are not careful with proper sun influx, it can cause the plants to sunburn. The burn will either kill the leaves or cause them to look unsightly. You should also consider repotting your succulents with the new soil and fertilizers to provide them with enough room and nutrients to flourish.
The vivid color of succulents is largely maintained with the combination of proper light, fertilizers, and water. Succulents can acquire exquisite and vibrant colors if taken care properly. Therefore, it’s important that you research well about the succulents you have bought to make sure you are providing the appropriate amount of everything.
Do succulents need fertilizer?
As low maintenance as they may be, succulents still need proper soil, nutrients, fertilizers, and enough room for roots to grow in order to stay healthy. A right balance of fertilization, watering, and sunlight exposure can make them thrive.
Usually succulents grow pretty well from the nutrients they get from soil. But if you notice that they are not as vibrant as they should be or if they are not growing properly, fertilizers can act as a catalyst. Fertilizers act as succulent food and feeding the right amount of food to your succulents can make them grow dramatically. There are various kinds of fertilizers available in the market from chemical-based to natural food. Succulents are quite flexible plants and can adjust with any kind of fertilizer, but a fertilizer with a higher ratio of phosphorus to nitrogen is recommended for succulents. Be careful enough to not choose too strong fertilizer as it can damage the plant.
Fertilizing Indoor Succulents
We did a lot of research on whether we should fertilize indoor succulents or not. Finally, we came up with the conclusion that fertilizing indoor succulents once a year is a good idea. Here are few things you should keep in mind though:
- As fertilizers help succulents grow, you can expect a lot of plant stretching after you have fertilized them – especially if they are not getting enough sunlight. Therefore, it’s a great idea to move succulents outdoors for a few days for fertilization so that they can stay as compact as possible.
- If you don’t want to move your succulents to a bright area outside, you should consider getting a grow light for them. They will replicate the sunlight and help them stay compact and make great use of nutrients they are getting from fertilizers.
When to fertilize succulents?
It purely varies from species to species but it’s good to fertilize when they are beginning to grow, which mostly happens in spring and summer. If you’re using manure, you can fertilize them every month, however, they grow just fine with yearly fertilization. Fertilizing succulents in the spring time is more effective as this is the time when their growing period actually starts. If you have succulents that grow in the winters, we’d recommend fertilizing in the fall. If you keep your succulents outside then fertilizing them more often is not harmful as they are more exposed to the sun and they can handle some extra dose of fertilizer. On the other hand, too much fertilizer for indoor succulents can burn them.
Remember, using manure tea as a succulent food won’t do them any harm. But if you’re using chemical-based fertilizers, you should keep a check on their usage. Such fertilizers are potent and they can burn succulents if used excessively.
How to fertilize succulents?
A right blend of fertilizer is really important to keep a succulent healthy. A low balanced soluble fertilizer works best. It is always a good idea to dilute the fertilizer with water and then use it. Though garden specialists advise the use of fertilizer once every 2 weeks, it depends on species to species as tropical succulents require more recurrent watering so they can even be fertilized every week.
Feed fertilizers and water when the upper layer of the soil has completely dried. More repeated watering can flush away all the nutrients before the succulent can absorb them.
If you are searching for some succulent fertilizer, we are here to suggest you some of the best in the business that you can buy online.
1. Easy Peasy Succulent Food
The Easy Peasy succulent fertilizer is known for its 6-5-4 NPK ratio formula which can help your succulents grow better. If you dilute it properly, it is gentle enough to be used every time you water without burning your succulents. The fertilizer is specially prepared for all succulents and lasts twice as long as any other succulent food.
The product comes with easy instructions on how to use the fertilizer and when to use it. Reviewers recommend always diluting half a teaspoon of the fertilizer with water as liquid fertilizer disperses quickly, and it will fulfill the nutritional deficiencies in your succulents much faster than the fertilizers in granular form. Succulent fertilizers act as an agent in the healthy growth of the plant.
Reviewers say that succulent plants need to be watered thoroughly when the soil is dry so that the water reaches the entire root system; then they need to dry out.
2. Perfect Plant Succulent Fertilizer
You can fertilize your succulents using this succulent fertilizer once or twice a year and you don’t have to worry about their nutritional requirements for the rest of the year. This fertilizer contain slow release pellets which keeps optimizing soil conditions for approximately 6 months. The pellets in Perfect Plan Succulent Fertilizer have a hard outer coating that breaks down occasionally when your succulents need fertilizers. This way, it helps your succulents to stay healthy.
Fertilizer is suitable for all kinds of succulents and cactus. Fertilizer helps eliminate the possibility of your succulent becoming parched with nutrients from dryer soils. Perfect Plant guarantees bigger, plumper petals, saturated color, better moisture retention, and less stretching stem. According to the reviewers, you need to plunge a few holes in the pot soil and then sprinkle ¼ tablespoon pellets to ensure that it spreads evenly and remember that pellets should not be put over the stem.
3. Joyful Dirt Premium Succulent Food
An organic indoor succulent food and garden fertilizer that is compact, easy to store, and use. With just a little sprinkle of joyful dirt, you’ll enhance your plant’s growth, health and help protect against diseases. Fertilizer is organically designed for all your houseplants, flower gardens, vegetable gardens, herb gardens, succulents, and lawns.
Joyful Dirt Premium Succulent Food allows plants to absorb nutrients and water from the soil at a rate over 100 times normal uptake. It also prevents diseases as overtime, soil quality diminishes making your plants susceptible to disease. It can restore the soil’s character to fight and prevent disease.
Reviewers advise using it once a month or as often as you water unhealthy plants. Just use ⅛ teaspoon for an average plant and water over the area for an average plant. You can also mix the fertilizer with water and stir it for 30 seconds then water the plants.
4. Miracle-Gro Succulent Plant food
Miracle Grow succulent fertilizer is great food for jade, aloe, cacti, and other indoor & outdoor succulents. Apply straight to the soil, or mix it with water and apply your succulents once or twice a month. There are no instructions in the package for how to use the fertilizer or how often to fertilize it. Reviewers say that you can use it every two weeks. During the growing season, a proportionate fertilizer, which has been altered to 1/4 strength, can be added to the water for each watering.
Reviewers have rated the product high on the scale and totally recommend it for healthy succulent growth. This fertilizer has great drainage properties and it hold water pretty well. It can be used for improving soil quality in both pot planting and in-ground planting. This fertilizer will help cacti, succulents, and all drought-tolerant plants thrive.
5. Earthworm Technologies Premium Earthpods For Fertilizing Succulents
A premium indoor organic cactus and succulent fertilizer promotes strong root growth, enable better stem development, and allows color vibrancy for all kinds of suuculents. The EarthPods fertilizer has a collection of organic plant minerals, trace minerals, natural improvement hormones, humic and fulvic acids, and a diverse population of beneficial soil microbes that boosts your plant growth. It is a balanced formula for fungi and microbial plant root populations. All these factors make it the best in the succulent food category.
The seller recommends feeding the plants with EarthPods every 2-3 weeks and watering them. The number of earthpods depends on the size of your plant so if you own a small succulent you can use 1-2 earthpods simultaneously.
We recommend to store the Earthpods in a cool and dry place and at room temperature, as humid conditions might cause a breakdown.
Fertilizing Succulents With Manure Tea
Manure tea always stays at the top of our list when it comes to fertilizing plants. Though it might not have as many nutrients as other chemical alternatives, it’s never harsh on the succulents. It won’t burn your succulent leaves if you accidentally pour it over them. You can simply put it into your watering can and water your succulents as you usually do. You will start noticing the difference within 30 days.
Conclusion
Succulents are drought-surviving plants that are easy to care. There are three points of care you want to keep in mind when caring for your succulents: water, sunlight, and temperature. Bring essence, color, and beauty into the home with succulent plants. Whether it is a living succulent wreath or a small potted succulent in a window sill, these little beauties will always make an impression. And don’t forget about fertilizing succulents from time to time.