Succulents are unpretentious plants. They can do without moisture and nutrients for a long time. The soil for planting must meet certain requirements.
Many beginner growers acquire succulents in the store, not knowing how to grow them. After the purchase, it is important to know not only how to transplant the purchased succulent at home, but also what soil to use for this.
Succulents
For the cultivation of succulents, one should choose loose earth that passes air and water well. Succulents grow both in soil with neutral acidity and in acidic. The soil should not have a lot of nitrogenous fertilizers, mineral components should be contained enough.
What land is needed for planting succulents can be determined by the requirements determined by the preferences of the plants:
- It should be light and loose. Water should pass quickly through it.
- Particles of soil must provide air to the roots.
- The top coat should dry quickly.
When buying soil in a store, you need to pay attention to its composition. Depending on the type of succulents for planting, soil requirements differ.
The bulk of the purchased soil is peat. Most often, 2 of its species are mixed: high and low. Peat has a high acidity, therefore, to reduce it, dolomite flour is added to the soil.
You can prepare the soil for growing succulents in pots with your own hands from the usual universal purchased land. To give it more lightness, coarse sand, ceramic fragments and expanded clay should be added to it. To increase the acidity of the soil, peat is added to it.
Succulent soil
Growers with experience recommend how to buy a ready-made mixture for growing succulents, and to prepare the soil on their own. The main thing is to use the necessary components and observe their proportions.
Required Components
Soil for succulents can be prepared completely with your own hands. The main components of the soil for cacti and succulents are:
- sheet land
- turf land
- sand,
- pebbles or crumbs of red bricks.
As a soil for succulents, gravel can be used. Depending on the size of the flowerpot, 3 types of pebbles are used:
- fraction 1-5 mm;
- fraction of 5-10 mm;
- fraction of 10-30 mm.
Interesting. As land for succulents, the non-clumping Barsik cat litter filler can be used. It consists of a fine fraction of zeolite. Add it to the gravel should be in a ratio of 1 to 10.
The proportion of the substrate
Depending on the root system of the plant, the proportions of the constituent components also change. If the root system is represented by surface roots, then you need to get increased lightness from the soil. The main components are mixed in the following proportions:
- 1 measuring cup of leafy earth;
- 1 measuring cup of turf soil;
- 1 measuring cup of sand;
- ½ measuring cup of sand or crumbs.
For plants with well-developed, fleshy roots that can store water, the ratios will be different. Only 3 components will be required: 1 part of sand and sheet land, 1.5 parts of turf land.
Important! In preparation for transplanting any type of cactus or succulent in a pot, you need to make a thick drainage layer. This will protect the roots from decay.
When planting plants in a pot, you need to lay 3 layers:
- Drainage. Must be at least 1 cm.
- The main layer of purchased soil or made by yourself. This ground layer should not reach the top of the pot by 2 cm.
- The top layer of drainage. For him, use pebbles, brick chips or expanded clay.
Layering Layers in a Flowerpot
Important! Before watering, the top layer is removed. It should always be dry.
Lovers of desert plants often want to breed their new species. But rarely, when you can buy a stalk or part of a plant for propagation. Therefore, the question arises for lovers of exotic plants: "How to plant succulents?".
Vegetative propagation
Succulents can be grown both from seeds and plant parts. Many types of succulents on the stems form daughter plants. Most often this happens in cacti. It is possible to remove such a plant from the mother only after its complete formation. A signal to this is the gradual detachment of the bottom of the new plant from the stem of the mother.
Other types of succulents propagated by cuttings or leaves. These parts of the plant can be planted almost immediately in the soil for succulents.
Important! It is undesirable to root cuttings and leaves in water. This may cause them to rot.
Many plants in hot and dry countries themselves drop leaves for propagation. One of these species is Crassula. If you leave the fallen leaf on the soil, then after a few weeks it will take root and a new plant will begin to develop.
It is better to plant succulents with cuttings in the spring. At this time, they take root well and get stronger during the summer.
From seed
Exotic species can only be grown from seeds. You can buy them in a regular flower shop, or write out from the online store.
You can grow succulents from seeds, both following the recommendations of flower growers, and taking into account some features of the reproduction of cacti and succulents.
You can germinate the seeds using a special container with a transparent lid. You can buy such a container in the store.
Important! Inside the container should be small boxes for landing. In the bottom of the pots, drainage holes must be made.
Germinating the seeds of succulents is best in a mineral basis: a mixture of gravel, sand and perlite. Seeds from plants such as aloe or gasteria are best sown in perlite.
After spreading the substrate over the pots, a thick sheet of paper is taken and folded in half. Seeds are poured into the formed fold and, gently tapping the folds, they are evenly distributed on the soil surface.
When all seeds are distributed over the surface, they are sprinkled with a layer of sand no more than 2 mm. In this way, you can plant succulents with both large and small seeds.
Important! The coating layer should not exceed the size of the seeds. Very small seeds are not sprinkled at all.
Crops watered with settled water at room temperature. In order not to erode the seeds, you need to water them by spraying from a spray bottle. After watering, the container is closed with a transparent lid or film.
The greenhouse begins to be cleaned after emergence. The hardening time is gradually increased and the cover is removed after the plants reach a size of 2 cm.
Sprouted seeds
When growing succulents from seeds, be patient. Each species has different germination times. Some seeds germinate after 90 days. All this time the soil needs to be kept moist.
New seedlings can be planted after the seedlings have grown stronger and will be at least 5 cm in height. For some species, this takes several months, some for a year.
When growing succulents, care should be distinguished in winter and summer. In the warm season, plants need to be watered no more than twice a week. At this time, the plant is actively growing, so regular feeding is needed. In winter, watering is reduced to two times a month, feeding should be stopped completely.
Important! Succulents and cacti cannot grow well without sunlight. They are not afraid of direct sunlight, so you can safely put them on the windowsill.
In winter, for greater illumination, it is better to put pots with succulents close to the glass. This will help lower the temperature of the content by 2-3 C and increase the illumination of the plant.
It is possible to transplant succulents both in the spring, and in the summer. An examination of succulents will help determine the need for a transplant. The following signs will indicate the need for this procedure:
- A gap formed between the pot and the soil.
- Roots appeared from the drainage holes.
- The size of the plant exceeds the volume of the pot.
At home, both a professional and a beginner can transplant succulents. The transplant must be carried out, observing the following steps:
- For transplanting succulents and cacti, a pot, soil, drainage and hand protection are prepared. In addition to gloves, it can be polystyrene or thick cardboard.
- About a week before transplanting, the plant is no longer watered.
- If the succulent is healthy, then it can be transplanted by transshipment. If necessary, inspect the roots of the dried up soil carefully.
- The plant is placed in a new pot and covered with a substrate. After watering, the top layer is covered with pebbles or expanded clay.
To ensure optimal microclimate for exotic succulents, they can be planted in special florariums. These are special glass or transparent plastic vessels with a narrow neck. Often it closes with a cork. Quite often they are equipped with a heating and lighting system.
Florarium
When creating a succulent composition, you need to choose plants of one area. They should have similar watering conditions and the need for lighting. If this rule is not taken into account, then the plants will quickly die.
The correct approach and observance of the rules for care will help to grow at home not only plants familiar to everyone, but also surprise guests with plants of other countries. Combining succulents of different shapes and colors, you can create a beautiful composition that will become a decoration of the house.
