I'm located in Ontario, Canada but for part of this past Summer and Fall I frequently brought my succulents between outside from my roof (very bright and very hot) and inside my home (fairly dark and cool).

Good water planning was important. I checked the forecast frequently and would water a day or two before bringing my plants inside. This ensured that my pots would never end up sitting with high % moisture while inside for a couple days.

Even with soil mixes with quite low water retention, over watering was a distinct possibility if I was not careful.

About 1 week indoors was my limit before etoliation started to show. Most of my succulents were actively growing throughout the summer. I would often get a streak of really good light/temperature days, but then suddenly stormy weather would roll in.

Bringing them in for one or two days then was a non-issue and growth even improved (since it was cooler in my home than on my roof). However, with a week of bad weather the new growth on many of my plants was becoming less compact.

Cool indoor conditions are so favourable for growth it wasn't feasible for me to slow my plants down in the poor light. If your succulents like growing in the winter, you face this issue as well.

There was also a tremendous difference between my outdoor and indoor growing conditions (full sun vs mostly shade). If it's less of a difference for you it might have a lower impact.

Is it possible for you to temporarily cover your succulents outdoors? For rainy days and minor storms, I just covered my grow areas with heavy duty clear plastic sheets. They were held down with large plastic spring clamps and bricks. This provided protection for the top and two sides of my shelves, while the other two sides were open for airflow.

I found it was always a dilemma to bring my succulents in or not. If I bring them inside, the light exposure is terrible (even worse because I would bring them in on stormy days). But if I leave them outside there is a risk of over watering.

Obviously, it's not very practical to repot your succulents now either (and maybe not even possible to use a mix that would be suitable for a wet winter vs a hot Cali summer).

I know it doesn't help you much, but my final solution was to build and indoor grow light setup that is able to match (and even exceed) my outdoor full sun exposure. Then it became a seamless transition between growing indoors and out.

Thanks for these thoughts! It may be less of an issue for me, because the temp difference is not so big (maybe 45-55 outside, and 60-65 inside). And although it's drier inside than outside, it's still fairly humid, given the general dampness of the SF bay area (and the feeble heating and lousy home insulation, compared to what you'd have in Ontario). Usually I'm spoiled with the northern Cal weather, which is neither too hot nor too cold, too dry nor too wet, and thusly the succulents have done beautifully outside with minimal interference on my part. This winter's a different story...more like a warmer version of Seattle. But it's so unusual to have this weather pattern, I don't want to make permanent changes like repotting all these critters.

I like the plastic-and-clamp idea--all my succulents live on a big patio with a railing, so that's feasible! I don't want to actually drape a tarp over them, because what with the wind they're likely to break, but might be possible to set up a sheeting system that keeps the rain off without actually touching them. It'll take some engineering, though. Maybe once this set of rainstorms has passed I'll tinker with it. Thanks!

No problem! If you also hunt around for posts by Rina, she keeps her succulents outside permanently. She's located in Ontario as well, but has many good mitigation tactics to ensure her succulents don't explode/rot away.

I got my plastic sheeting free from my local Home Depot. They use it to wrap large pallets of fire barrier or rockwool insulation. Usually the employees cut one side and leave them lying around the isles when unpacking a pallet (until cleaning it up at the end of the day).

Normally I just go in, fold an armful of the plastic sheeting, and ask the cashier if I can take it because "it's torn packaging that will be thrown out". =)

My plastic spring clamps came from the hardware store - around 20 of various sizes for $10+tax.

if you can keep them under cover outside, they will be fine. No watering. Patio umbrella? You do not want a plastic cover too close to the plants, creating high humidity.

KMcG

As Kevin mentioned, I have semi-permanent set-up for my succulents spending spring-summer-fall outdoors. The plastic sheet is attached to a 'top rail' (I use 16' long decking board) that is fastened to posts about 6-8" or so above tallest plant. Another end is attached with staples to a long 1/2x1". That way the plastic is easy to roll up (where it is most of the time, secured with bungee cords). I drop it down/unroll only if we have too much rain - doesn't happen that often, but sometimes rain lasts more than couple of days. There are 3 levels of shelves below where almost all succulents sit in pots. They are potted in very gritty mix (most of them in perlite+grit+turface), so normal rain isn't a concern.

It is not a GH, there are no sides at all, and the sheet doesn't reach all the way to ground - maybe 8" or so & the air circulation is excellent.

Just to make sure it doesn't get blown away if too windy, I use string attached to bungee cords to stretch across horizontally if necessary - had to use them couple of times last summer when we had very windy & rainy few days.

I got fed-up trying to bring in most of the plants when too much rain. I used to have fewer plants and patio umbrella was great, but there are too many now. I would think that you could make something similar on your patio, especially with railing there already.

Rina