How to care for succulent plants? Cultivation techniques for succulent plants

It is popular to plant succulents now . The planting method of succulents is simple, and the later management and maintenance are not cumbersome, so many people like to plant succulents . So as a beginner, what steps should you pay attention to in the process of planting succulents ? Let us introduce to you how to care for succulents .

How to care for succulent plants

When it comes to growing succulents , although every experienced flower lover has his own set of methods, the core is similar. For novices, the growth methods of succulents are not only limited to the issue of how to water and maintain them, but also include understanding how to buy succulents, how to grow seedlings and other follow-up issues.

1. Getting Started

I once saw a flower friend ask in a forum, what is considered as entry? This is a very interesting question. Because the word entry is not quantifiable. Is it considered as entry if I have raised 20 pots? Is it considered as entry if I have raised 30 varieties? Is it considered as entry if I have raised flowers for a year through spring, summer, autumn and winter?

My answer is, to get started, it depends on whether you grow succulents or buy them. Some flower lovers are persistent in their pursuit of succulents, as shown by repeated attempts and failures. When they are bought, they are in very good condition, but after a period of time, they become disabled or die, so they are thrown away and replaced with a new batch. Therefore, at each stage, his succulents are bright and beautiful, and new varieties emerge in an endless stream. I think such flower lovers will never get started even if they grow them for ten years. This also provides us with a level of judgment for flower lovers. The condition at a glance does not mean that they are well raised, because the temporary condition can be bought. The maintenance of the condition cannot be bought. The condition you grow yourself is the standard, and the condition you buy is the result of money.

2. Raising meat

I have a point of view: if plants grow well, it must be a gift from nature; if they grow poorly, it must be man-made destruction. There is a saying that "everything grows with the sun". I think the sun in this sentence is a collective noun, which means not only the sun, but also environmental factors such as soil, air, and water. If plants grow well, they must be growing in the environment they feel most comfortable. Why do plants grow well in greenhouses? Because the environment in the greenhouse is good: long sunshine hours, high humidity, air circulation, and the soil also has a special formula.

I once went to a greenhouse with a friend to choose succulents. She chose an unusually plump Angel's Tear. I said that this one looks good, but it will become ugly in two weeks at most. The environment in the greenhouse is difficult to simulate on the balcony of an ordinary home. So when we grow succulents, we just try to provide a comfortable environment for the plants, with sunshine and air circulation, watering when it is necessary, and keeping them warm when it is necessary.

If you find that your home does not have a suitable natural environment, it is best to give up raising succulents. "You don't have to own what you like." Provide what you can provide, and don't force what you can't provide. For example, if you love someone, if you can't provide what she wants, then it's meaningless to force her to have her, and the result can only be to ruin her. If your children are abroad, don't think that taking the elderly abroad to live is a blessing, on the contrary it is abuse.

To grow succulents, all we need to do is provide a good environment. Growth is the plant's own business. If the environment is good, the plant will naturally respond. If there is a problem with the environment, it is inevitable that the plant will grow poorly.

3. Watering

In my opinion, watering is the most challenging thing to do. Because once the soil is prepared and the plant is potted, there is no need to dig it out again for at least a year unless there are special circumstances. The only thing left to do and can be done repeatedly is watering. Friends who are new to the field can easily kill the succulents by watering them too much because they are careless. Growing succulents is a long process, and some succulents can live longer than humans. Although some plants are sensitive to water, it is impossible for them to respond after watering them for an hour. So when it comes to plants, patience is a must.

I remember when I first started, I bought Ermu's book, strictly referring to the water requirements of various species in different seasons, set the watering time, and recorded it after each watering. The result? Some died and some were injured. So watering, like drinking water, will not have good results if you set a time to drink water every day, because people and plants are not machines.

Many flower lovers will ask, how to water? My answer is, I don't know either. We can get the characteristics of plant habits by consulting materials, and roughly understand whether the plant likes more water or less water. Then, according to your own breeding environment, you can summarize a set of breeding experience that belongs to you. This is really useful. Other people's experience is only applicable in other people's environment, and it is of reference value at most. If you copy it completely, there will be no good results.

Some posts asking about watering will have replies like "I watered the plants every day and they grew very well", "I watered and dried them here and nothing happened". If the poster lacks experience and does the same, he will know the consequences. It is almost impossible to answer questions like how to water the plants. This is related to the breeding environment, which is related to multiple factors. For example, what material is the pot used, how is its air permeability and water retention; what is the local temperature; what is the local sunshine; what is the humidity; what kind of soil is used, how is its air permeability and water retention, etc. Even if the above parameters can be accurately provided, it still involves the micro-environment of breeding, the owner's watering habits, and everyone's definitions of different words. For example, "I only watered a little bit", what is considered "a little bit"?

So I think to be precise, you shouldn't ask how to water, but what the water requirements of a certain plant are. And the person answering should also try to explain the environmental factors clearly, instead of saying something harmful like "I water this every day, and it grows very well." People who get the answer should not copy it without thinking. You should consider the differences between your own breeding environment and the other party's, and then how to adapt the other party's breeding experience to your own experience.

IV. Purpose

Some people raise meat to make the meat feel comfortable, and the meat will return with good condition after it feels comfortable. Some people raise meat to make themselves feel comfortable, and what to do with the meat after they feel comfortable is not so important. In the final analysis, raising meat is a kind of fun, just like playing with birds and fish. Everyone can have their own way of playing, the key is to be clear about your purpose. I believe that those who want to make themselves comfortable only need to have enough money to support themselves; while those who want to make the meat comfortable have a lot to learn.

I prefer seedlings and seeds to mature plants, because I hope to have a plant that will grow under my care, even though it is not my credit (it is the credit of the "sun").

5. Common Goods and Expensive Goods

There is no clear definition for this. To the rich, there is no such thing as expensive goods in the world. Plants are equal in nature, but people divide them into different levels. This also involves market factors: things are expensive because they are rare. The less they are, the more expensive they are; the more they are grown, the more expensive they are; the less they produce in the greenhouse this year, the more expensive they are.

The quality of meat does not depend on the price. As long as it is well raised, ordinary meat is just as beautiful.

6. Bringing Seedlings

As the saying goes: It is easy to conquer a country, but difficult to defend it. The same is true for sowing: it is easy to germinate, but difficult to grow the seedlings. In addition, the maintenance of seedlings will be different at different stages, and different species will also require special attention at special times (for example, Lithops cannot be watered when it is molting).

I know a flower friend who has been raising succulents for several years. I asked him why he never sowed seeds. He said: Do you think it is easy to raise seedlings? It is not that simple to become a big farmer. For seedlings to grow into mature plants, there are only conditions at home. Even if they can grow, their condition is not as good as the ones bought. So he chooses to buy mature or semi-mature plants, and then provide them with the best environment possible to let them grow. This is also a way to play.

7. Buy Meat

I believe that many flower lovers are like me. They first bought succulents at the flower and bird market or Taobao. The flower and bird market and Taobao have their own advantages and disadvantages, and everyone will make different judgments based on their own situations. But since I found a local wholesale market, I have never bought succulents at the flower and bird market again. I have also been to the greenhouse. Relatively speaking, the price is more expensive than the wholesale market, but the quality is much better than the wholesale market. The wholesale market is suitable for buying general goods, while the greenhouse is suitable for buying expensive goods. This is my experience, and the market conditions may be different in different places.

In addition to the above, I have two other important channels to refer to: one is the forum, and the other is the boutique. I am not saying anything good about this forum, but Xianzhen's trading area is definitely better than Taobao. Most of the sellers are very professional, and the prices are mostly more affordable than Taobao, and there are more boutiques than Taobao. This is why you have to rush to buy things in Xianzhen. Many times, the goods are good and cheap, but they are sold out as soon as they come out. It is really painful to miss it!

What is the concept of a boutique? What I mean by a boutique is a store opened by some veteran players themselves, which may be in a flower and bird market or an independent store. For example, there is a store in the Jiangyin Road Flower and Bird Market in Shanghai. The master's surname is Shi (I don't know what character it is, but I heard people call him that), and he has been dealing with succulents for fifteen years. The things he has are all very good, mainly fish, tubers, peonies, and twelve, all very expensive. I hardly buy things from him, but I occasionally go there to have a look and learn something, and by the way, listen to his conversations with others, and learn something.

8. Suit the basin

My other point of view: Newly bought plants need to adapt to the pot, whether or not they are repotted. Adapting to the pot means adapting to the environment, not just the pot. Since the living environment has changed, there must be an adaptation period.

Acclimation is crucial to the growth of plants. If the plants are well acclimated, they will grow quickly; if they are not well acclimated, they will need a long time to adapt, or even remain in a state of discomfort. Just like a person's sub-healthy state, they will be neither alive nor dead for a long time.

What are the principles of acclimatization? Try to create a suitable living environment for the plants, including soil, light, air, pots, etc. This requires us to have a certain understanding of the habits of plants and know what to do at what time.

When I first started, it was summer, and the first thing I did when I bought a plant was to repot it. Now it seems that this was a kind of destruction to the plants. Last summer, the temperature in various places was over 35 degrees, and many plants went into dormancy, but I didn't care about repotting them. This made the plants, which were already living in dire straits, even worse, so many plants died.

I have a friend who saw that I had a lot of succulents and thought they were cute, so he wanted to try it himself. I got him a pot of Alocasia odora. Last December, he said the flower had grown a little big, and asked if he should change to a bigger pot. I said it was almost winter, so I should wait until spring. Now it seems that it was a wrong decision. I didn't expect that the temperature in Shanghai would still be over 20 degrees on New Year's Day. I should have changed to a bigger pot in December.