Pimp My Succulent Garden!
June 15, 2017 9:07 AM Subscribe
I have been collecting various awesome succulent plants to place in a container garden. I have some questions.
I have two large square galvanized metal buckets and many succulents of different kinds.
1. What would you fill the bottom of the metal bucket with to maximize drainage -- just cactus soil all the way down or what?
2. How do I care for these dudes during and after transplant?
3. I like dramatic and weird succulents -- do you have any suggestions for adding to the collection?
4. Do you have any other tips or things I'm not thinking of?
I have two large square galvanized metal buckets and many succulents of different kinds.
1. What would you fill the bottom of the metal bucket with to maximize drainage -- just cactus soil all the way down or what?
2. How do I care for these dudes during and after transplant?
3. I like dramatic and weird succulents -- do you have any suggestions for adding to the collection?
4. Do you have any other tips or things I'm not thinking of?
Depending on the size of your actual bucket, having soil all the way down may end up quite heavy. Most succulents I have do not have very deep roots - they need maybe 5-6" soil. So you can fill the bottom with rock, sand, or for a lighter option, you can use styrofoam peanuts if you have those lying around.
For drama, you can add some air plants on top. This can provide a nice contrast to the thick leaves of the succulents.
posted by hydra77 at 9:58 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
For drama, you can add some air plants on top. This can provide a nice contrast to the thick leaves of the succulents.
posted by hydra77 at 9:58 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
1. Fill the bottoms of the buckets with pebbles. Poke drain holes in the buckets, too.
2. Don't over-water, keep out of shade if they get leggy too quickly trying to find light. Plan to propagate and replant when they *do* eventually get leggy, it happens to some varieties.
3. I love lithops, but they can be temperamental. I have a 50-50 success rate of them lasting only a few months.
4. Tip: Keep a lot of little pots with soil handy. Plants often drop leaves that are perfect for propagating. And succulents that pup are also great propagation fodder.
posted by Wossname at 11:37 AM on June 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
2. Don't over-water, keep out of shade if they get leggy too quickly trying to find light. Plan to propagate and replant when they *do* eventually get leggy, it happens to some varieties.
3. I love lithops, but they can be temperamental. I have a 50-50 success rate of them lasting only a few months.
4. Tip: Keep a lot of little pots with soil handy. Plants often drop leaves that are perfect for propagating. And succulents that pup are also great propagation fodder.
posted by Wossname at 11:37 AM on June 15, 2017 [3 favorites]
I grow lots of succulents and I've had no problems with regular potting soil. You can go for succulent/cactus mix or mix something like vermiculite into potting soil if you want even faster draining. Make sure you punch a bunch of holes into the bottom of your buckets. That's going to be much more effective for draining than soil choice.
I haven't ordered from etsy, but I go and gawk there quite a bit. There are lots of growers who propagate unusual succulents who sell there. I've also found people on Craig's List who give away cuttings if they're thinning their successful plants. I've also traded with people who are fellow enthusiasts - mostly via Next Door or Craig's List.
I don't treat my succulents specially before or after transplanting. I don't do most of what you're "supposed" to do and they thrive anyway. They're incredibly tough plants that propagate easily and the only really bad thing you can do to them is overwater or expose them to freezing temps.
posted by quince at 3:32 PM on June 15, 2017
I haven't ordered from etsy, but I go and gawk there quite a bit. There are lots of growers who propagate unusual succulents who sell there. I've also found people on Craig's List who give away cuttings if they're thinning their successful plants. I've also traded with people who are fellow enthusiasts - mostly via Next Door or Craig's List.
I don't treat my succulents specially before or after transplanting. I don't do most of what you're "supposed" to do and they thrive anyway. They're incredibly tough plants that propagate easily and the only really bad thing you can do to them is overwater or expose them to freezing temps.
posted by quince at 3:32 PM on June 15, 2017
I just started getting into succulents too!
1. +1 on filling the bottom with something else, like pebbles. Another tip: I also cover the drainage hole with a fine mesh (I use the fabric from a Smith Teas teabag) to cut down on soil outflow.
2. Mostly they don't seem as high-maintenance as some other plants. So far I've just observed them to see if they're drooping etc. and water them every few days. Some do not like too much sun (one of the hen-and-chick plants got quite sunburned outside so now it's under a trellis to get mottled sun).
3. I recently got a string-of-pearls plant after seeing a hanging pot of them at a fair. They can provide a dramatic backdrop or addition to a collection of other succulents. Plant them around the edges of your bucket. (Idea for when you expand your collection: plant them in a birdbath/fountain, an over-sized goblet or martini glass, or a hanging basket.)
4. +1 on looking into airplants and propagating succulents.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 4:34 PM on June 15, 2017
1. +1 on filling the bottom with something else, like pebbles. Another tip: I also cover the drainage hole with a fine mesh (I use the fabric from a Smith Teas teabag) to cut down on soil outflow.
2. Mostly they don't seem as high-maintenance as some other plants. So far I've just observed them to see if they're drooping etc. and water them every few days. Some do not like too much sun (one of the hen-and-chick plants got quite sunburned outside so now it's under a trellis to get mottled sun).
3. I recently got a string-of-pearls plant after seeing a hanging pot of them at a fair. They can provide a dramatic backdrop or addition to a collection of other succulents. Plant them around the edges of your bucket. (Idea for when you expand your collection: plant them in a birdbath/fountain, an over-sized goblet or martini glass, or a hanging basket.)
4. +1 on looking into airplants and propagating succulents.
posted by Sockin'inthefreeworld at 4:34 PM on June 15, 2017
There are a few reasons to put pebbles in the bottom of a pot: you want to weigh it down, your pot has no holes and you want to create a reservoir, you want a shallow soil layer because your plants are shallow rooted or your pot is very deep. Just be aware that pebbles do not increase drainage. Water moves through media in several ways; when media has reached the saturation point any water that remains drains off as gravitational water (moved by gravity). Water also moves though media as a result of capillary action, if the media is fine enough. That's why you can put a pot filled with basic potting soil (or peat moss, or coir, or blends of similar stuff) in a saucer of water and it will soak it up and sideways (against the force of gravity). That's because soil particles have some attraction to water molecules, and water molecules are weakly attracted to each other, and have surface tension. If the mix is too coarse however, the spaces between particles are too large for water to move by capillary action. You can't really water an orchid planted in chunky bark by having it wick up water from a saucer because larger pore spaces have less capillary rise. The same is true of gravel.
When you use potting soil above a layer of gravel, the water in the potting soil will only move into the gravel once it has passed saturation point in the soil and can move by gravitational forces downward. Up until that point, water won't move into the coarse material (even as it disperses through the finer media) because it cannot travel by capillary action into those larger pore spaces. If you are hoping to make the soil drain better or faster by adding gravel to the bottom of a pot, it won't, though this is a very persistent myth.
If I were you, I would drill some holes in the bottom of the galvanized pails. I'd use a well draining potting mix, and plant directly into that. Then I'd mulch with some fine lava rock or pebbles to keep the soil from washing into crevices in the succulents and to help maintain soil temperature and moisture, and to look cool =) However if you can't drill holes, add 2-3 inches of gravel to create a reservoir for gravitational water since many succulents do not like to have wet feet. It's harder to keep drought loving plants alive under these conditions though.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:13 PM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
When you use potting soil above a layer of gravel, the water in the potting soil will only move into the gravel once it has passed saturation point in the soil and can move by gravitational forces downward. Up until that point, water won't move into the coarse material (even as it disperses through the finer media) because it cannot travel by capillary action into those larger pore spaces. If you are hoping to make the soil drain better or faster by adding gravel to the bottom of a pot, it won't, though this is a very persistent myth.
If I were you, I would drill some holes in the bottom of the galvanized pails. I'd use a well draining potting mix, and plant directly into that. Then I'd mulch with some fine lava rock or pebbles to keep the soil from washing into crevices in the succulents and to help maintain soil temperature and moisture, and to look cool =) However if you can't drill holes, add 2-3 inches of gravel to create a reservoir for gravitational water since many succulents do not like to have wet feet. It's harder to keep drought loving plants alive under these conditions though.
posted by oneirodynia at 6:13 PM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
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I had a pot full of succulents that always seemed to drain well, that I purchased in a plant sale from some impressive succulent growers. When I eventually emptied the pot out, I found that they seemed to have custom mixed their soil, and the bottom was sort of a sand/gravel mix under the succulent soil.
Also, I just found out recently (from a succulent book I was reading) that there is a Cactus and Succulent Society of America. They have links to local chapters, plus, if you join, you can get inexpensive succulent seeds - they seem to have a pretty wide variety of seeds on their site.
posted by needlegrrl at 9:34 AM on June 15, 2017 [1 favorite]