How much sun do succulents need

When you water your succulents, soak the soil until water runs out of the drainage holes. You can also place pots in a pan of water and allow the water to absorb through the drainage hole. Once the top of the soil is moist, remove from the pan. Wipe off the leaves and spines gently with a damp cloth use a soft paintbrush to get at hard-to-reach spots.

Your container should have a drainage hole to allow excess water to escape. Terra-cotta pots are ideal for beginners. View on Instagram. Choose cactus soil or mix potting soil with sand, pumice, or perlite. Succulent roots are very fragile so be gentle when repotting.

These plants have spines that not only protect them from predators but provide a little bit of shade from the extreme summer sun. The beautiful plant in the foreground is a Purple Prickly Pear.

The color is more intense in the cooler months. I lived in Santa Barbara, California for 10 years and grew oodles of succulents which were planted in the garden and also in containers.

The Sonoran Desert is hotter in summer and colder in the winter than the Cali coast. And, most notedly, the intense summer sun will fry them. This is my Aloe vera which grows in the back of my garden in a container in bright shade.

This Aloe vera is thriving in the ground in full sun here in my neighborhood. Discolored plant leaves are due to some type of environmental stress. Not as much gel in these leaves! What exposure depends on where you live. In general, succulents need high light when growing indoors. I have 2 mixed succulent gardens growing indoors on windowsills here in Tucson. Succulents that do not receive enough sunlight will exhibit problems such as elongation or etiolation, where the plants stretch to seek more light.

This process produces weak stems and poor growth. Succulents that do not receive enough light will lose their vibrant pigmentation and will become pale or revert to a dull green color. Plants that receive adequate sunlight will demonstrate their true beauty by showcasing their full range of vibrant colors. Succulents by nature do better with a lot of sun exposure, but they do need protection from direct sunlight or intense heat.

Too much intense sunlight can cause damage to the plants. Sunburn damage on a plant can lead to permanent scarring or worse, plants can literally fry to death when left outside in full sun without protection. To prevent sunburn or sun damage, it is better to slowly condition to the more intense sunlight prior to full sun exposure. You do this by giving it partial shade in the beginning and slowly giving it more and more sun exposure until it is fully acclimatized to the sun and heat.

You can start with morning sun which is less intense and better tolerated by most succulents and work your way up to the more intense afternoon sun. You can also place the plant under a shade or taller plants when first exposing the plant to direct sun. Increase sun exposure gradually to prevent shocking the plant and also damaging its foliage.

Shade-loving species, as well as very small plants or newly propagated plants, are more susceptible to sun damage. Plants that are red, gray, blue or covered densely with spines fare better under direct sunlight. Sun-hardy species that have been accustomed to growing indoors are also susceptible to sunburn or sun damage when first moved outdoors so it is better to do so slowly to get the plant accustomed to the more intense heat. Baby plants or newly propagated plants will not do well under direct sun.

You need to wait for them to become more mature plants until you can leave them unprotected. It may take some trial and error to see which location will suit your succulents the best. Some may like morning sun better, others will do well with the blasting afternoon heat, while others will fare better in partly shaded areas.

Too much sun, especially intense sun, can cause sunburn and sun damage. Sunburn can happen quickly in less than an hour outside, especially during a particularly hot day or during a heat wave.

Sunburn can also happen gradually. Brown spots on the leaves of the plant are usually the first signs of sunburn. When recognized early, sun stress in the early stages can be easily remedied to avoid further damage to the plants. Simply move the plant to a shadier location or place next to taller plants for protection from the sun as soon as you notice the plant getting sunburned. When left unattended under the sweltering heat, some succulents will toughen up and survive, while others will fry to a crisp depending on the type of plant you have.

Click on my resource page for sun protection recommendations. With climate change going on, it seems that weather extremes are becoming more of a norm these days.

If you have never experienced a heat wave, you must live in one of the coldest regions of the world. Heat waves are prolonged periods of extremely high temperatures lasting for days or weeks without relief. Heat waves in the summer time are especially challenging to plants that love humidity but also to succulents and cacti. Extreme heat for a prolonged period of time can be damaging to your outdoor plants if left unattended. Some plants do bounce back, but others may not recover from the damage and stress.

What can you do during a heat wave to help your outdoor plants? The best thing you can do during a heat wave is to prepare ahead of time. If you know there is a heat wave coming, it is best to find shelter for your smaller, more fragile succulent plants. If possible, you can move them in shadier spots. Small container plants that can be moved will do better if moved temporarily to a less sunny location, or even indoors.

I like to use taller, bigger plants as shade for my little plants. Hardier, more mature plants that are acclimated to the outdoor heat may do just fine, but still keep a watchful eye on them. If you have planted your succulents in ground or in beds or containers that are impossible to move, covering your plants with shade cloth or muslin from the afternoon heat during a heatwave will also do the trick.

Succulents do not like to sit in water or be overwatered, but under extreme heat conditions, it is necessary to check for adequate moisture on your plants. Not watering your succulents for prolonged periods of time during a heat wave can be as detrimental to these plants as overwatering. Hardier and more mature plants may survive these extreme conditions if left unattended, but smaller or more fragile ones will not.

Check your soil for moisture. If you have not watered your outdoor succulent plants in over a week, touch the soil and go a few inches down. The soil will most likely be bone dry under extreme heat. It is time to water, and water deeply until water seeps out from the bottom of the pot. Grow lights come in a bunch of styles to fit your needs.

LEDs often come in adhesive strips so you can put them under shelves, for example. There are tube lights which have varying lengths and can be suspended above your plants.

Particularly versatile is the simple goose-necked clip on light that can go anywhere you have plants! Not everyone has the luxury of open spaces in their apartment or wooded properties, however.

Windowsills are the natural next step. Of course, you only get light from one direction in this scenario. That could cause your succulent to grow in the direction of the light — to fix this, rotate them regularly or add supplemental light from the other direction.

What are the best windows for plants? A good south-facing window is almost as good as being outside in direct sunlight because it will get light all day. The next best window is east-facing. Windowsills tend to fill up pretty quickly, unfortunately. It took me a while to discover this, but it turns out that there exist windowsill shelves.

They easily attach to your window and can double or triple the amount of sill real estate. You can also buy some planter stands that elevate the planter so that your succulents receive better light with a stable base.