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jenniferleighconn

Question about sunlight for my succulents

8 years ago

Would an East-facing windowsill give my succulents enough light? I live in the southern hemisphere, so it's starting to get pretty hot and the sun is coming up fairly early (6 30am)

Comments (4)

  • 8 years ago

    Different succulents have different light requirements. It would be helpful to know what types you have

    Jennifer thanked garrett222
  • 8 years ago

    I'm not sure what all of them are, but here's a link to photos of them: http://imgur.com/a/A9rur

  • 8 years ago

    2nd pic succulent on the left, looks like it's getting too much light. That rusty look, I don't think is desireable. It's a haworthia and I've read they have lower light requirements.

    Mine started to look like that & I thought it may have dried up and was ready to give up the ghost, but after moving to a shady bright place, out of direct sun, it became a lovely bright green again.

    I would also say most of them are overpotted, the soil appears to have a high component of peat, which doesn't work for me here in NY, perhaps in your part of the world it's not a problem?

    Specifically, a peaty medium stays wet for too long, plants eventually rot and roots become non existent.

    Too large of a pot also takes a long time to dry out.

    Have you any plans to put your plants outside for the warmer season?

    a stab at ID;

    pic 1. (starting on the left, echeveria runyonii and a couple of misc. babies, could one in the lower left in the pot be sedum rubrotinctum? other pot contains crassula ovata gollum, looks thirsty, or maybe lacking roots, leaves should be plump vs. wrinkled.

    pic 2. on the left is your haworthia (variety unknown to me) someone is bound to come along with the correct cultivar, I've seen them before.

    Not sure about pot number 2 (lower middle of pic) but definitely over potted.

    pic 3. sempervivum (of some kind, arachnid maybe?) the middle one is echeveria black prince, the last one on the right is aloe of some kind, that rosy blush is evidence of the amount of light it gets. I like mine to look like that =D

    pic 4. I'm guessing graptoveria 'fred ives', the pretty clump next to it, is likely an echeveria, planted in the correct sized pot, with the right amount of light, judging by the rosy blush. Though I do believe I see a couple of sunburned leaves, you can remove them, they won't heal.

    pic 5. appears to be a pot of misc. sempervivums, ahh, and there are 2 different plants in this last pot. The burgandy one appears to be the parent of the first pot of misc. babies, I know the plant but the name escapes me right now =D

    I defer to any corrections, these are educated guesses, memory isn't always as sharp as I'd like =D



    Jennifer thanked hookilau
  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Thank you so much for that amazingly detailed response! May I ask what you mean by overpotted?

    The soil they are in is a mix of perlite, river sand (which looks more like tiny gravel to me) and a succulent mix i bought at a local nursery, which consists mainly of coco peat. Do you think this is a bad mix? It is not very humid where I live, so I'm not sure if that means the peat is acceptable or not. This is the first time I've repotted any of them since I've bought them.

    I have been wondering why my haworthia isn't green any more. I bought it in the same pot that the aloe was in, so I'm guessing now that I should have separated them earlier to grow under different conditions. I have also been struggling to get the gollum well again. I repotted it a few days ago and really struggled to get the soil it was in before off of its roots. The soil as extremely hard and stuck to it like crazy. I want to start giving it more water to help it get plump again, but I am so afraid of overwatering.

    I am planning on slowly starting to take them outside. They did not get much sun during winter so I don't want to put them outside too soon. I dont want them to get burned.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    The hard soil on roots of the Gollum is/was peat that became hydrophobic - when it dries out completely, it doesn't let any water to soak thru. It is very difficult to re-wet. It will stay too wet if watered more often. Either way is not good for plants/roots, and that is the reason peat isn't recommended for succulents. Did you managed to get if off the roots? All of it should be off, or it will continue interfering with water intake. If any left, you may water but plant is still thirsty. (This is the case with almost all plants, as they are routinely potted in peat by growers. It is best to repot them soon after purchase, using well-draining mix).

    Succulents need to be watered thoroughly when needed. Watering in 'sips' isn't going to do much for them. If you keep them in fast draining mix, any excess water will drain off easily.

    Not sure of river sand - it may not be grainy enough; do you have a pic of it with something in it to compare the size? (Or, is there something else you can compare to: bigger than poppy seeds? or quinoa seeds?...)

    Small plants in big pots and lots of soil are over potted. Lots of soil, especially one that is fine, will take forever to dry out - not suitable for succulents.

    They all look like they have been getting quite a bit of sun. How hot does it get where you are (adding general location next to your name would help...)

    #4 could be Echeveria Perle vonNurnberg.

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