Do you have only cacti? (All cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti :)

Just wondering: can yo share your reason you want to keep them inside year round? - I am assuming that you have some outdoor space/garden since you said you just moved into a house.

For my dormant plants, I don't water them to wake them. Once I notice they're waking by appearance of new growth, THEN I start to water.

The difference being I wait for them to tell me when to water; I don't tell them. Sorry, but I think this distinction matters.

Rina,

I have a bunch of different succulents: Aloe, Agave, Crassulas, Echeveria, Haworthia, Mesebs. Kalanchoe, etc. I have a few cactus: prickly pear, mammillaria, and some kind of Noto.

I live in the city and have limited side walk space, plus have many native perennials growing in containers out there as is. If I owned my house I would probably install shelving into the face of the house so I could enjoy more full sun plants! I also had some echeveria succumb to a type of fungus last summer when it was very humid. Birds/mice? also damaged some of my plants as well. My "backyard" (a 10 x 15 slab of cement w/ a raised bed full of ivy) is bright shade, but I fear it will not be enough light for most of my collection.

Imontestella,

That makes plenty of sense. I was reading that where people felt like they had to acclimate them back into full time watering mode.

Krista

Plenty of good reasons! I only asked since I believe that nothing beats natural sunshine and air circulation - but I get some damage done by squirrels and similar too.

So you have lots of different succulents. I have only couple of messembs, but have all other you mentioned +.

I keep all my succulents and other tropical plants indoors when it gets too cold. I have lights for succulents too, mostly CFL bulbs since I have many - so will keep using them as along as they work. They are all 6500k.

Very simple rule I keep for all of them: colder it is, less water they should get. Many are opportunistic growers.

Thanks for starting this topic Krista, and Rina and Imonstella for the feedback. I am considering keeping some things indoors year round too. Reason for me is hoping to grow some really pristine Echeveria, mine get roughed up outside, mostly by snails, slugs, aphid and mealies, as well as long wet periods. However, aphids and mealies can be a problem indoors for us, they love the warm nights in my house. Same is true of my greenhouse, the plants AND the bugs love the climate in there. I'd like to hear ore feedback on Krista's questions as well as if any of you indoor growers have a solution for the critters. I suspect indoor growing is more successful in harsher climates where you wouldn't have the pest issues I have. I;m considering using a systemic, but scared to go there....

Lisa

I am sure here could be many pest issues indoors. From what has been posted/asked about here, mealy bugs, scale are quite common. Overwatering leads often to fungus. Even thrips, and some less common problems (Kevin had recently posted very good thread on his fight with serious pests - indoors). I do not think growing indoors would eradicate these. Critters like squirrels or chipmunks and birds yes, but the mice still could get to plants.

Humidity could be controlled indoors, and temps too. Air circulation could be helped by using fans if needed. Oedema could happen indoors or out.

I keep all succulents outdoors. I have used plastic sheet to cover them in case of prolonged and heavy rain, but in few years had to do it only very few time. I wish it was warmer here longer since it is approx. 6mo in and 6mo outdoors for plants. But it could be much worse - you may have seen posts & photos of Oksana, she grows beautiful jades in Siberia. And others living in z4, z3 or even colder.

I have never used any systemic, but any ppl do. I hope they will post - I really wonder if that totally eradicates pests. I just accept it as part of growing plants and part of life in general. If I see any pests, I do get rid of them, so far rubbing alcohol is my best friend :). I also used a cinnamon spray for fungal infection. Maybe I would be saying different things if I had some seriously bad pest issues :) Thinking of it, I have few loquats, and something is chewing on few of the leaves...I think it is a pest that came in with the plant (not a snail, maybe a grasshopper?-can't see it; or some worm), possibly in the soil. I would imagine that flushing soil with systemic would have taken care of it!

I hope Kevin (ewwmayo) will post, as he grows under lights, in higher temps and he also fertilizes his plants thruout the year. He is using T5HO IIRC, and has many rare and more pricey plants - I believe these are kept indoors year-round. He also takes many outdoors in spring.

Krista,

You'll find that only-summer / only-winter growers are actually the exceptions, rather than the rule. You use their growth in habitat as a guide to how you grow them in your collection, but remember that many of them grow in strained circumstances (no regular watering / feeding, elephants trampling them, grasping the eroding side of a hill to grow onto), and most of them are opportunistic growers - when it's not too hot, and not too cold, and there's water and sun, they'll grow, no matter the time of the season. There are exceptions to that, as well, but most (all - if we know what you have, species-wise, the better we could tell you if you have questions) will grow given the opportunity.

Excited to find this helpful thread. I've kept my collection indoors since beginning of last nov. Mesembs have been entirely indoors this year. But I'm seriously considering just continuing to keep the entire collection indoors due to the severe lack of natural light and hungry squirrels. Oh plus the plants will not be covered in debris from dust, pollen, leaves, etc.

@ewwmayo I was hoping you would respond because I know you grow under lights, and they always look so great and healthy.

Good to know 10 hrs of light is your minimum...I was reading on a thread that someone had decreased it to 8 hrs a day, which doesn't seem like a lot of light to me.

Pest wise inside I haven't had trouble yet, but I try to take a close look at least once a day. Whenever I introduce something new, I am extra attentive. I should get into the habit of quarantining...Now that it's brighter for longer, I could probably just put succulents in a south facing window for a week without too much etiolation...most are already etiolated anyway.

My cactuses are the only ones that I had completely stopped watering, other than my Lithops and Pleiospilos Nelii. --I just deeply watered the cactuses as they were all looking like they could use it. They had been putting out new growth within the past month, so they will probably be very appreciative--

I think this guy was watered too much before I read more about the species. I should be withholding so he doesn't become too stacked?

Finally, the second pair of leaves are emerging! I've been misting them every now and then so the roots don't wither away. I had read somewhere to mist as though you were just trying to get dust off of them...

This is the plant that received the most bird damage. This is what it looked like April 2016:

The bird picked off all but two leaves! Luckily, new growth started in December, so it's making a comeback.

Not sure if I should repot this H. maculata(?), because it seems happy enough to put out three blooms at once! I would like to get the largest two pups off the mom and pot them separately, at some point, just don't know when the best time is.

E. Black Prince is having some weird growing pains, but is definitely happier under lights. I would like to behead at some point this season.

Somekind of Pachyphytum, the label said "moonstones" but I don't think it's correct. Pupping like crazy.

Even this guy in a 2" pot is starting to pup.

Christina - Squirrels are the WORST for me. I'm going to invest in a second motion detecting sprinkler for my roof to keep scaring them away. Some of the damage is going to stay for so long! Very frustrating.

Krista - I have a bit of a routine looking at my plants every day. A quick overall look for new things flowering and then I focus on a smaller section to look at. Usually to see if anything strange is going on or if I need to do some tweaks (light mostly).

The only cactus I have now is a small Astrophytum. I water it liberally and it seems to grow. Others are much more knowledgeable on cacti than me!

My Lithops are kept dry now, maybe a tiny amount of water if they look like they are struggling too much when changing leaves. I don't grow Pleiospilos nelii anymore so that's a better question for others. Mine had died due to red spider mite attack and at the time I didn't know about them or how to get rid of them. Now I am well prepared. But I do water my Pleiospilos simulans a little occasionally so it doesn't stop growing it's second head.

I don't mist because the leaves absorb almost nothing and the roots have shriveled back so much from lack of water that they are in the center and directly under the plant body.

Good to see your Kalanchoe is recovering. I am growing some small leaf propagations of the same one which are also coming along now.

Is your Haworthia in gritty mix? If so, then repot anytime you want in fall/winter/spring. As long as the root system is healthy no flowers should be lost. You can separate the big pups and leave the smaller ones - it's all really up to you.

I am keeping my overgrown Haworthia together until spring to save space.

Some photos of the set up. As you can see, my plants are all of varying heights and sizes, so I adjust each accordingly. At some point I might cover the table top and wall in white contact paper, to help try to maximize the quantity of reflective light. I would also like to have two tables, one for larger/taller pots, and one for the smaller guys.

Everything is in some kind of gritty mix. My formulas have changed depending on material availability/substitution and the water intake of plant. I have a Senecio rowleyanus that seems to do better with a higher organic material ratio.

A standard mechanical outlet timer. It wasn't rated for use with florescent bulbs, but so far there haven't been any issues.

Krista - Nice setup! You can get mylar for $1 off ebay if you don't mind waiting two months for it arrive. Covering the tabletop won't a tangible difference.

The only important thing with the timer is that you do not exceed the rated amperage it can control. The mechanical timers I am using have three outlets on each so I don't have to use any splitters.

Your wooden light stands look very nice and sturdy.