Care tips, Succulents
5 Tips On Making Your Succulents Grow Faster
Feb
Whether you’re a succulent newbie or an experienced grower, having a favorite plant growing well brings a feeling of success. However, with succulents, you may wait for that feeling a bit longer. Succulents are beautiful and colorful, they don’t require much care and can withstand almost all environments. However, these are mostly slow-growing plants. Even fast-growers among them can take months to grow up to the mature state.
Being easy-maintaining plants, succulents just need some water from time to time, proper temperature, and sunlight. Still, if you want to trigger your succulent to grow faster, but remain healthy and happy, there are some tricks you can apply. They won’t take you a lot of time, so the succulents remain easy to take care of. As you’ll see through the article, the main thing you should focus on is the roots of your plant. The condition they are in will determine how fast the succulent grows.
Succulents Love The Crowd, But Not Too Much Crowd
It’s all about balance. It’s known that succulents can tolerate the crown much more than other house or garden plants. Roots of the succulents are capable to absorb the nutrition the plant needs even in a tight space. They can form a succulent system according to the soil density and a potting space. However, if the aria the succulent is planted is too crowded, the plant will focus its energy on the roots in order to maintain the nutrition and water balance needed for surviving. Therefore, much less energy is invested in growing above the soil.
If the pot you’re planted the succulent has many plants in it, there will be a whole root battle in the soil. Every plant will fight for a root space in order to take as many nutrients as possible. This will result in slowing down the growth. When you notice that, the best thing you can do is simply removing the succulent that struggles into the less competitive environment. Keep in mind that some species are stronger than the others and try to identify the dominant one. It’s simpler to repot the dominant succulent only than to deal with more plants all at once.
Quality Soil Will Ease The Grow Process
When it comes to soil, the most important thing for succulents is good drainage. That’s why it is a common solution to add some chunkier material to the soil mix to allow water to get through easily. If the soil isn’t a well-draining one, it will retain the water and the roots won’t be able to “breathe”. The whole plant will be affected by that stress over time and reduce its growth in order to keep the energy for staying alive. The succulent will thrive in a soil that will allow the root to expand properly and in a pot with a lot of the draining holes at the bottom.
Besides being well-draining, the soil needs to be rich in nutrients in order for your succulent to grow faster. You can help the plant with a regular watering schedule. Add water as soon as the soil is dried out. No succulents like “wet feet”. Also, they are mostly desert plants, but you don’t need them to go in a surviving state due to drought. Furthermore, you can add some extra fertilizer to empower the growing process. The fertilizer will make your succulent extra healthy and give it enough energy to focus on growing, instead of spreading out the roots. Just make sure that the fertilizer isn’t too strong since it can burn the sensitive succulents to the point of no repair.
Spread The Roots From Time To Time
In order to get the most from the soil, succulents tend to crowd their roots together in circles. How tight is the root circle depends on how much space you provided for the succulent in a pot or in a garden. If you want the succulent to grow faster, you can help it spread the roots every now and then. This will allow the plant to absorb more from the soil and trigger faster growth. When succulent feel free space, it tends to fill it, both in the soil and above it.
The process is quite simple. Just take the succulent from the soil gently. Be careful not to damage the root system. If the succulent is in the pot, you can gently squeeze the pot or add a few drops of water around the rib to loosen the soil. When the succulent is out, softly shake off the soil from the roots. The best way is to gently massage the root system with your fingers. When the soil is out, you can plant the succulent in a fresh soil mix. While doing that, make sure you spread the roots as much as you can with your hands. Try to avoid using sharp objects that can cut or damage them.
Regularly Separate Offsets From Mother Plant
As the succulent grows, it will produce a lot of offsets. They are basically new plants that stay attached to a mother plant, taking up the place. Family love is not strong among the succulents. As offsets mature, they are absorbing the nutrition from the soil, fighting for survival. So, the best thing you can do is to separate new plants from a mother plant regularly. This way, everybody will have enough space to develop the root system and to grow up.
Crowded pots with a lot of offsets usually result in a slow to now growing of both mother plant and new baby succulents. Removing new succulents from the main plant will not shock them, because they are still not used to their environment enough. They will except a new growing place pretty quickly. Furthermore, their roots are still in an early stage of growth, so it’s much easier to get them out of the soil without harm. Finally, by freeing up space, all of the plants will grow faster and look healthier.
Keep Your Succulents Safe While They Grow
While being the hardiest plants when it comes to growing conditions, succulents are extremely sensitive to physical damage. Damage can slow down and even completely stop the growing process since the plant will focus on healing. Stems of the succulent may look strong, but they are not as strong as ones on other plants. Therefore, even the slightest scratch or breaking can take months to heal.
You need to keep your succulents away from curious pets that would like a bite of them or kids that would like to play with them. Also, plants like cacti can be pretty harmful, so it`s best to be safe than sorry. Also, if strong winds are a common thing in the area you live, you want to protect succulents from them too. Secure the pots from falling and taller succulents from breaking under the strong airwaves. Still, keep in mind that succulents need a lot of light to stay shiny and healthy, so avoid placing them in complete shade.