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danielle_schumer

Questions from a newbie

Danielle Schumer
7 years ago

Hi everyone, I am planning on getting a few succulents here soon, probably this weekend. I've never had them before, but after seeing my sister post all her update pics on her succulents that she was growing for her greenhouse business, I finally decided I would get some after years of wanting them. My plan was to buy some from her but they sold out as soon as she posted them, so I will have to buy elsewhere for now.

I am in zone 6b. I am not new to gardening or growing plants, however I am new to growing indoor plants (and Im aware that most need to be overwintered indoors) The only indoor plants I've ever been able to grow are some pothos vines and those are growing out of the filters in my aquariums to help with nitrates. Outdoors I mainly grow lots and lots of lilium (lily-oriental, asiatic, trumpet etc) and hemerocallis (daylily). What I am most interested in with succulents is actually the propagating part of it, especially with using the leaf pieces to grow new babies. I do something similar with my lily bulbs- removing some scales and growing baby bulbs off them. It's something I enjoy very much, watching the new lily babies slowly grow over time. That being said, I have seen jade plants being recommended for new succulent owners (?) growers (?), however they don't really pique my interest too much. I am mostly intrigued by the rosette types.

On to the questions. I have been bingeing on succulent videos, but there is a few things I would like to ask that I have not really seen mentioned in videos online.

  1. When I get the new plant (s), do I have to repot immediately, or will it be okay for a week or two?

2. I have seen some succulents lately for sale at places that already look leggy and looking like they need to be trimmed back. Can I do that with a new plant or is it best to wait til its established more? (Ive seen videos where people are constantly moving their succs around, re-potting every other month into arrangements, so I didnt know if they stress easily in that regard)

3. What size pot? I know it depends on the size plants I get but didn't know if there was any general guide. Typically with most plants, you want to move up gradually in sizes of pots, but I have seen many videos where they put plants in rather small pots and claiming the plants roots like to be in smaller, tightly packed areas.

4. So I mentioned I have aquariums, one of which is heavily stocked with aquatic snails. They produce a LOT of waste and so their water is just full of nitrates. A lot of people use their tank water to water their plants, and it works really really well. Would that be okay with succulents or should I avoid doing that?

I had more questions but I cant quite remember them right now, so if I think of them I will leave them in the comment second below. Sorry this post is so long and thank you in advance to any one that can answer my questions or give any other helpful tips and advice!



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