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Cacti & Succulents

Small Succulent Garden Advice

11 years ago

So I've been reading tons of posts from this site about questions that people've had regarding succulent care. My particular situation has sparked the research.

I apologize in advance for being long-winded.

I currently live in Asheville, NC and have recently started a small succulent garden outside my front door. As you may have expected, I am getting paranoid about how much rainfall we get here. (I already expect having to move them inside to pots during winter to avoid any unexpected frosts). Anyway, the bed is about 4ft x 4ft and on the top of a small hill that gets a nice amount of direct afternoon sun. Soil is a mix of pea gravel and existing soil. The bed is also surrounded by large stones that are higher than ground level.

I created a makeshift roof to put above the bed during periods of rain. It's made of a clear heavy-duty shower curtain stapled to two 2x4s that I lay on four cinder blocks at the corners. It also has a slope to allow water to slide off away from the bed. But even with this, somehow, it seems like the succulents are getting completely wet underneath the roof. Not just the soil (which I expect because of water seeping thru the ground itself) but the actual foliage. I'm guessing that's from all the Asheville humidity? Nonetheless, the succulents are obviously still getting a good soaking when it rains, even though they have their own roof.

As far as the kind of succulents I have. I know that I have various hens and chicks or sempervivum, black prince, echeverias, an aloe, jade, stone crop, (cut me some slack i'm still getting familiar with the names)... i'm sure I'm leaving a few out. I will post a picture as soon as I can. I never manually water since there's been more and more rain here.

So naturally, these questions arise- based on my situation:

1. Are any of my succulents better off in pots for any reason?

2. If I allow the rain water to soak thru the ground when it DOES rain (which seems like roughly once a week) is that too much water? Keep in mind that when rain is expected I also make sure to cover them with the roof I made.

3. How long does it take for succulents to rot due to overwatering, and what is the best way to tell?

If there is anything that anyone feels like I should know, please share. If there is any other information I can provide to help you help me, please feel free to ask. I would like to keep the succulents in the ground during the warmer seasons, but depending on what kind of response I get here i'll see what direction I end up going. Thanks for your time!

David

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Comments (2)

wantonamara Z8 CenTex
11 years ago
You might want to add some washed sharp builders sand to your soil. Be careful that you take your roof off before the sun comes out. One might cook the plants. Jade is the most persnickety of the plants that you mentioned. The others should be able to handle what you mentioned. Especially if they have elevation. The aloe and the echeveria will have to come inside for winter Jade especially. Black prince can handle some frost but only some. Aloes are all dependent on the variety of aloe that you have. Aloe maculata and aloe striata can handle some cold and moisture. but other aloes don't like moisture or cold, but humidity seems alright. the stonecrop should be fine if the drainage has been addressed. Is this right up by your house and do you have gutters? I know, dumb question. I think the jade is better in a pot and protected from summer rain.. They like a very gritty mix and really do not like wet feet and they will rot in a hurry. Hens and chicks will do well outside and love a pile of rocks. They grow on cliffs in Europe and can take things quite cold. My family grew them on a rock wall in Pennsylvania. Drainage, drainage drainage.

Rot shoes up in different plants in different wAYS. If you think your plant's is rotting. digit out of the ground and check the roots and cut off the rot, let it callous by drying and put it in some more porous medium and then do not water itt in.
ChemGardner
11 years ago
If your soil drains well enough, I don't think the 'roof' is necessary. I live in SWFL where we average 10+" of rain each month for the summer, and the succulents do just fine if they have good drainage. The only exception to this are the summer dormant ones like aeoniums and maybe jades. But my jades have been fine with a lot of summer rain.
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