Gardening with Drought Tolerant Succulent Plants

They are the obvious choice for arid climates, water conserving gardens as they are the most drought tolerant plants. The ease of cultivation and propagation makes them a prime choice for Rock gardens.

Fire resistant succulents do not carry inflammatory oils, hence they are a good choice for a boundary wall of fire susceptible areas. The foliage accumulates water and they act as a retardant, preventing spread of fire in such zones.

There are as many succulent types as the names and forms appear. I couldn’t find any reliable source of classifying succulents by means of their genus or properties. Succulent lovers describe every plant as a different type. Popular of the types are Sedum, Crassula, Aloe Vera variants, Echeveria etc.

People say that succulents are easy to care for. On the contrary, if you are of too much pampering type, my advice to you is to keep your restlessness at bay, don’t transplant and move succulents very often and at least leave them at bay when it concerns watering. Many of our ardent gardener enthusiasts kill plants by overwatering. It would be wise to remember that succulents can draw moisture from atmosphere too.

Like any plant, succulents may need fertilizer. In the natural environment of desert, the nutrients are supplied by the desert soil and atmosphere. One may apply weak fertilizer once or twice in a year. The plants do not need fertilizer if the soil mix is of right type. It will help to replace the soil once the plant is 1 or 2 years old.

My first succulents survived in the garden soil but now I make a soil mix that is native to their origin ie the desert soil. Because of the ease of maintenance and low fertilizer requirements, I can assure that they will survive anywhere unless you kill them with overwatering.

Succulents and cactus love soil that is reminiscence of desert soil. Sand, hard rocks and poor soil nutrient properties would be readily embraced by Desert Succulents.

To make my desert dweller happy my succulent soil mix consists of 2 part of garden soil, 2 part of sand, 1 part of compost and 1 part of perlite. You can also try different variations of perlite, sand and soil.

Overwatering kills succulent is not a cliché. In fact, overwatering can kill any plant. No plant loves stagnant water, least of it are the succulents. Rotting roots are a sure way to ensure killing your exotic creatures. I generally water them twice a week or when they fully dry out. If you have propagated a baby succulent, ensure that you keep it moist all the time.

When you water, water generously. Remember the scanty rainfalls of deserts, when it rains in deserts, sometimes it is a light shower and other times it is a complete downpour. So drench your succulent in the water completely once in a way so that it soaks and bathes in delight till the water comes out from the drainage hole. Remember if you are overdoing it, your plant will complain. There will be visual signs of withering leaves, stems and rotting of roots Also, as a rule of thumb don’t drench the leaves, while watering stick to the soil. Succulent foliage is well built to store moisture and it dislikes water on its leaves and stems.

Contrary to the belief, the scorching sun does not do any good to some varieties of succulents. My experience has it that they do well with partial sunlight. Especially for the small ones, which I had transplanted recently, they were OK with the dim morning sun and filtered sunlight in the evening. Many of my succulents did even better with indirect sunlight. Bigger and established ones loved sun exposure for 2 to 4 hours. Mind you, Bangalore has scorching sun in summers.