What Is A Succulent Plant?

Succulents are plants with swollen leaves, pads, or stems. They have thick stems to store water, as they normally go through droughts in nature (the desert). In addition, they are usually green but come in different variations of color like pink, yellow, orange, and red. Another main feature of a succulent is that they are generally low maintenance, easy to propagate, and bring a wide variety to choose from. 

Low maintenance? Easy to propagate? Wide variety? I thought all plants were green!

Let’s take a deeper dive!

Succulents Are Easy To Propagate

Succulents grow easily out of the soil even if their leaves fall off.

Normally, when a plant’s leaves fall off they rot and become fertilizer for the plants surrounding it or for the soil in general. This is not the case for succulents. The fallen leaves can become a new plant as long as you let it grow and let it really set its roots in.

To propagate a plant, you want to get a clean cut of the leaf from the stem and just let it kinda shrivel a little. This makes sure that it doesn’t absorb too much water and drown. Make sure to keep the ends of the leaves away from the soil and direct water because the propagated leaf can actually drown, again. Use a spray bottle to water the plant since these plants are used to the desert climate. They don’t always need water, but when they DO get water, it should be ample and just enough. 

Low Maintenance 

Succulents are generally easy to maintain.

They are not like orchids, bonsai, or other species of plants that need VERY specific temperature, water, and soil to even just survive. 

Succulents are naturally found in the desert, and thus they will be used to that kind of climate. So when watering and taking care of them, make sure you keep that in mind. Watering them too much will likely drown them (which happens more often than not) and not watering will make them shrivel and eventually die.

One of the most important things to keep in mind is that it is much easier to drown out a succulent than to dry it up. So always watch how often and how much you water the succulent.

Wide Variety of Succulents

Succulents come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes.

However, if you’re a beginner, you should pick the plants that are easier to take care of. Some succulents require specific conditions and may die if just taken in abruptly. Some succulent species really require different kinds of environments and may not do so well in just one climate. You may need to experiment with the succulent and see where they are best suited. 

This is the fun part about succulents! You can experiment with them and really play around and see which ones fit where. Through this, you will learn more about the plants while also being able to watch these babies grow.