Staff Answer
May 27, 2021 - 07:30 AM
Good question!
That depends on your personal preference. You certainly don't HAVE to fertilize succulents. They do fine on their own. However, you COULD fertilize them if you want them to grow bigger faster.
If you do fertilize them, I would recommend using a dilute, and most importantly, "balanced" fertilizer. A balanced fertilizer is a fertilizer where the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are all about equal. You'll see this represented in three numbers, separated by dashes called an NPK ratio (N=nitrogen, P=phosphorus and K=potassium). For example, a 10-10-10 fertilizer is said to be balanced while a 15-30-15 fertilizer has more phosphorus. You would want to go for the balanced one in the case of succulents and dilute it a bit with water at first. The reason being that an overabundance of nutrients can actually "burn" or damage the roots.
This next step is usually more of a thing in orchids, but it can apply to succulents too or any plant that your growing in fast draining soils. If you've been using a fertilizer for a long time on the same pot of succulents, it may be a good idea to "leech" the soil with clear water. This just means to run some clean water, with no fertilizer, through the soil and out the drainage holes of the pot. You would want to do this because fertilizers can sometimes leave behind salts that the plants don't directly pick up. If these salts get to be too concentrated, then they can burn the roots as well, so washing them out of your dirt with clean water every so often is a good idea.
I know this was long winded, but I hope this helps!
That depends on your personal preference. You certainly don't HAVE to fertilize succulents. They do fine on their own. However, you COULD fertilize them if you want them to grow bigger faster.
If you do fertilize them, I would recommend using a dilute, and most importantly, "balanced" fertilizer. A balanced fertilizer is a fertilizer where the nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium are all about equal. You'll see this represented in three numbers, separated by dashes called an NPK ratio (N=nitrogen, P=phosphorus and K=potassium). For example, a 10-10-10 fertilizer is said to be balanced while a 15-30-15 fertilizer has more phosphorus. You would want to go for the balanced one in the case of succulents and dilute it a bit with water at first. The reason being that an overabundance of nutrients can actually "burn" or damage the roots.
This next step is usually more of a thing in orchids, but it can apply to succulents too or any plant that your growing in fast draining soils. If you've been using a fertilizer for a long time on the same pot of succulents, it may be a good idea to "leech" the soil with clear water. This just means to run some clean water, with no fertilizer, through the soil and out the drainage holes of the pot. You would want to do this because fertilizers can sometimes leave behind salts that the plants don't directly pick up. If these salts get to be too concentrated, then they can burn the roots as well, so washing them out of your dirt with clean water every so often is a good idea.
I know this was long winded, but I hope this helps!
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