Secret To Beautiful Succulents

So I have a plant nursery and over the last 12 years I've learned how to grow rather nice looking succulents. It took a lot of failing blood sweat and tears I'm not going to lie but with a bit of luck and a few tips most of you can get your succulents looking like this too. In this video I'll share what I do with our succulents so they look their best. All of the plants you'll see in this video have been grown in my nursery fern farm plants. Before we start please note I am just sharing my experience. You can do what you will with the following info it may not be for everyone so take what applies and leave what doesn't. Climate is an important part of growing many succulents and we are so very lucky to be able to grow our plants outdoors where they grow best all year round. When I was deciding on a crop for my nursery after growing a variety of foliage plants for the florist industry succulents came up top as they were perfect for the climate here. I have also been obsessed with them for a while so it just made sense. However succulents will be harder to grow in certain climates. Most are not frost hardy so if your winters get really cold things snow and frost that can last during the day you will have to grow succulents in pots and bring them indoors. But it doesn't end there. The great majority of succulents don't grow all that well indoors. Some households are bright enough to support their needs for decent light but most will be too dark. So if you want them to stay nice and compact grow lights are pretty much a must. I know this all sounds a bit doom and gloom as people like to point out in my comments but I feel it is good to give a fair warning when growing succulents may be difficult. In my opinion it's better than saying everything is dandy which will encourage you to waste money on plants that may cark it. Another problematic climate will be tropical climate as many succulents dislike high humidity and are prone to fungal diseases. We can get a bit tropical here during La Nina years and it is tough trying to maintain spotless succulents. Many fungus prone types such as Samecavirias go into covered ventilated greenhouses during this time. I guess what I'm trying to say here is that sometimes the odds you can do little about will be stacked against you so don't beat yourself up too much if your succulents don't look perfect. Succulents love light and while some may prefer higher levels of shade the majority like it nice and bright. Personally I don't think most succulents make good indoor plants. There are a few that do but most will likely struggle. You can grow any succulent indoors with good grow lights or if you have a sunroom or super bright windows however succulents grow best outdoors. I do have a few succulents I grow inside they are mainly Rhipsalis, Haworthia and but everything else grows outdoors in a sunny position as that is what the great majority of succulents prefer the most. Shade cloth is not essential when growing succulents but it can help so much when it comes to heat waves, unexpected frost, hail, damage from flying debris or animals. I cannot tell you how many times shade cloth saved my bacon. Just last week we had a massive hailstorm and without it all my succulents would have been shredded. As I said it's not essential but if you have fancy plants I would highly recommend one. 30% shade factor is ideal for the great majority of succulents. There are many ways people like to water succulents so if you have a system going that works for you keep doing that. Our plants get watered when the potting mix dries out. To be honest I don't really stress too much about it. We grow outdoors and they do get the rain as well. Contrary to popular belief succulents can tolerate quite a bit of water. Yes some are prone to fungal diseases like rot but when they have good potting mix and are grown in a sunny spot they should be okay. This may ruffle some feathers but I don't really like to leave my succulents dry for too long as some can start losing leaves and to dormancy and the potting mix often goes hydrophobic. If you're growing succulents in the ground many will grow just fine in plain old dirt. Add a bit of generic potting mix and they will thrive. However in pots I will always use good quality succulent potting mix. This is what ours looks like. The experts in the comments like to tell me it's too wet for succulents which is just not the case. It's formulated by a company that supplies most nurseries here. Some of these nurseries produce upwards of million of succulents in a couple of months. In my experience well draining potting mix that is not too gritty is best. I've tried so many potting media over the years and those that are super gritty tend to stress succulents a bit too much. There are instances where there may be a good choice but in general a bit of water retention is not a bad thing as even succulents do like to have a drink especially if the weather is warm and dry. While many succulents will tolerate not being reported for long periods of time I like to report mine once they get rebound. It can prevent leaf loss, unnecessary stress and help with growth. I have a ton of reporting videos and I'll link to a few in the description. Pest control is often overlooked in succulent care which usually causes heaps of problems as succulents are on the menu for a lot of animals. The worst offenders are mealybugs and aphids. They can cause infestation and affect a wide range of different types of succulents. Slugs, snails, caterpillars, grasshoppers, birds, deer and if you are in Australia possums and kangaroos are huge fans too. Some of these can raise succulents to the ground. I find one of the best pest control techniques is cleanliness and not having lots of dead leaves and hiding places for the smaller animals to breed or hide in. I often take trays off tables, give the whole thing a good scrub with alcohol and remove any dead leaves from the plants. Sometimes that is not enough though and pests will find a way to your plants. For aphids I use pyrethrum based spray and mealybugs imidacloprid. If there are ants all over your succulents it is almost a given you either have aphids, mealys or scale as ants protect and farm these pests. Stopping ants will help greatly as predators will be free to do their thing. If you want a more in-depth info on any of these topics I have lots and have linked the most relevant videos in the description. Thank you so very much for watching and if you like this video please consider giving it a like and commenting a few words.