Goodbye summer, Hello fall…
Time to put away the flip-flops and break out those boots and chunky sweaters, fall has arrived! If you live somewhere where the change in seasons means a drop in temperature and daylight hours, you’ve got a little succulent garden prep work to do. So, we went ahead made a handy autumn cheat sheet, to give you some peace of mind and prepare your succulents for what’s ahead. Follow along below to set up your babes for autumn and winter SUCCess!
Relocate
If you’re one of those people breaking out the scarves and sweaters for fall, then you’ll definitely want to be bringing your babes inside. Basically, if you live anywhere where it frosts, indoors is going to be your succulents’ best bet. To set them up for a happy winter put them in a south or west facing window where they’ll get indirect light.
Maximize Lighting
If your succulents are already living inside, that north or east facing window they sat in all summer might not give your more established succulents enough light. Move them to a brighter windowsill, like the aforementioned west or south facing ones. If you don’t have a window that gets indirect light, check out a grow light as an option.
Rotate
Rotating your succulents 180 degrees every couple of weeks will encourage them to grow upright and evenly. This is especially important if they’re only receiving moderate indirect sunlight. If they aren’t leaning toward the light, but you are starting to notice larger spaces between the leaves along the stem, it means your succulent is stretching and needs more light.
Fertilize
Succulents really only need to be fertilized twice a year, and fall and spring are the best times. That’s because you’re setting them up with nutrients to either get them through their dormancy period or growth period. (Whether a succulent goes dormant in the winter or summer depends on the species.) Either way, the most important thing about fertilizing is to only use 50% off the suggested dose of fertilizer. More information on that in this blog post.
Prune + Protect
Pruning is something we do all year round, but it’s especially important as you’re getting ready to bring your succulents indoors. Pruning away all the dead and dying leaves from your succulent will help to keep away pests like mealybugs. Now, you might think by bringing your succulents inside they’d be safe from bugs. Unfortunately that is not the case. So, we recommend lightly spraying your succs with a natural pesticide, such as neem oil. This will help keep those pesky pests away, and it won’t harm your plant!
And there you have it! 5 easy steps to set up your succulents for a nice, cozy fall and winter (because they don’t make sweaters for succulents, but that would be adorable). Want to print the cheat sheet above and pin it up in your gardening shed, or send it to a friend? Right click the photo above to save it to your device!
Pro Tip: As you’re going through these steps, you may notice roots coming out the bottom of the pot, or water sitting on top of the soil, rather than draining right through. Summer is a big growth period for many succulent species, so fall may be your time to repot as well! When you do repot your succulents for fall and winter (or anytime really) be sure to use a pot with a drainage hole. It’s even more important in the cooler months because water won’t be evaporating from the soil as much if at all.
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