The fact that succulents are so simple to cultivate and require minimal maintenance is one of the (many) reasons why people adore them. Low care does not equate to no care, though. Succulents require proper irrigation even though they are attractive plants that require minimal water. Succulents do benefit from the proper quantity of fertilizer applied at the proper times, even if they are suited to nutritionally deficient soil. It can be simple to overfeed them when it comes time to eat because of their extraordinary tolerance to low nutrition environments. Your succulents will flourish with the appropriate nutritional support! Let’s examine various fertilizer choices for succulents and discuss the best ways to apply them.
Do Succulents Need Fertilizer?
Do succulent plants require fertilizer? No, strictly speaking. No matter what, your succulents will live without food. However, the appropriate fertilizer will give your succulents a boost of nutrients, resulting in stronger plants with fuller, more prolific growth. Succulents grow more swiftly, bloom more fully, and have more ideal form when given adequate nutritional support. Additionally, they are more resilient to pests and may react to environmental challenges. Your succulents will flourish if you give them a little fertilizer.
It’s just as important to know what not to do while feeding succulents as it is to do it correctly. Unless it is diluted to a quarter-half strength of the usual recommended dosage, some chemical plant food is likely to burn succulents or even result in scarred or deformed leaves. A moderate organic solution high in micronutrients is what I favor using. Your succulents will receive the wide variety and low concentrations of nutrients they require from an organic fertilizer, and the soil in which they grow will also be nourished.
I fertilize both my ground-planted and container-grown succulents. I’ll demonstrate my top succulent fertilizer techniques for you.
The way that grazers’ dung replenishes the earth where it is left behind is such a smart trick of nature. Long recognized as a benefit to garden soil, well-composted manure from a range of grazing animals like cows, horses, sheep, and chickens. It contains a variety of minerals and micronutrients in abundance. These nourish the soil’s microbes, which are essential to your plants’ health. Manure is a top-notch soil conditioner and improves soil aeration. Additionally, it facilitates the plant’s access to the carbon in the soil. It is a superb amendment that enriches and energizes the soil and encourages the growth of larger, lusher plants.
But not all grazers and not all plants are created equal. While well-composted horse manure may be beneficial for ornamental and vegetable gardens, succulents should not be planted there! A bacteria found in horse manure can induce mycoplasma infection, which results in the cracked, scabbed leaves seen on succulent plants. There is no cure that works.
The best method for fertilizing succulents is with organic fertilizers that feed the soil. The best approach to feed succulents is slowly and subtly rather than risking burning them with chemical fertilizers or just overloading these perfectly adapted plants. Fish emulsion is one of my favorite ways to feed all of my garden plants, but especially my succulents.
A quick-acting organic liquid fertilizer prepared from entire fish or fish byproducts is called fish emulsion. Iy offers a 4-1-1 NPK ratio and is a good source of micronutrients. In fourth grade, do you recall learning that Native Americans had taught the pilgrims to place dead fish at the base of their plants for crops? The concept is the same. My favorite book is Neptune’s Harvest. The fishy smell is absent, yet it contains the fish proteins and lipids found in the greatest fish emulsions. Win-win! This is adored by my succulents! Always give the bottle a good shake. A gallon of water should therefore contain just 1 Tablespoon of the fish emulsion. Stir well, then add the water. When the earth is completely dry, avoid fertilizing succulent plants. Feed instead when the ground is just barely damp.
Once a month, I make fish emulsion tea for the majority of my plants. I only anticipate using the fish emulsion for three regular feedings each year because I grow my succulents “hard.” To get them ready for the growth season, do this once in the early spring. Once in June, just before the summer’s intense heat arrives. After the summer heat subsides, do it once more in late summer or early autumn. Use fish emulsion once a month for indoor plants or those that overwintered indoors if you want to give your succulents more frequent feedings. If you live in a cold winter climate and garden, I suggest feeding your in-ground sempervivum, cold-tolerant sedums, and opuntia in the early fall to give them a head start on the upcoming cold season.
All of my plants receive another type of manure that I use as an outstanding organic fertilizer for my succulents. Worm castings, or worm manure, are the byproduct of earthworms. Gardeners can use it as a helpful soil amendment. Worm castings are beneficial for all the plants you raise, including succulents, fruit trees, roses, and vegetables. The advantages comprise:
- Worm castings contain high concentrations of more than 60 different micronutrients and minerals, including potassium, carbon, iron, copper, zinc, magnesium, and calcium, in addition to nitrogen, phosphate, and potash.
- Worm castings can be used to balance out high or low soil PH, enabling plant roots to absorb essential nutrients.
- Humus-rich, it enhances soil aeration and the nutrition of helpful microorganisms, improving the health of the plants.
- Worm castings stabilize heavy metals in the soil, keeping the plant from absorbing excessive amounts of these potentially hazardous chemicals.
- Aphids, mealybugs, and whiteflies are just a few of the pests that are repelled by the enzymes found in worm castings.
Worm castings are high in micronutrients and produce stronger, healthier plants, similar to fish emulsion. However, there is an additional advantage I adore, especially for a fertilizer for succulent plants. Chitinase is a plentiful enzyme found in worm castings. This enzyme degrades the chitin in the exoskeleton of insects. The succulent becomes extremely resistant to mealybugs, whiteflies, aphids, and other leaf-sucking parasites as it absorbs the chitinase through its roots and distributes it throughout the plant. To prevent harm and eventual death, they are aware of the chitinase’s presence and refrain from feeding on it. However, since ladybugs don’t consume the plant, they don’t cause any harm. My preferred method of pest management is one that avoids the issue!
I mix dry worm castings into the soil when I plant succulents, whether they are in the ground or a container. I put a few tablespoons of the worm castings in a tiny pot. I add a few handfuls of worm castings to a large pot or to a plant in the ground. Worm castings can also be made into a tea that you can spray on leaves or drench in soil. This is a fantastic method for both feeding your plant and controlling a mealybug or whitefly problem. In this manner, my plants receive wonderful succulent fertilizer and continuous pest defense.
How to Use Succulent Fertilizer
Personally, I prefer to use fish emulsion and worm castings as a succulent fertilizer. When I plant my succulents, I amend the soil with worm castings. Worm castings can also be used as a top dressing on mature plants. Just strew the worm castings throughout the soil’s surface, from the plant’s base to the “The leaf edge or drip line of the plants. Incorporate the worm castings into the soil with a little scrape, and then add an inorganic top dressing. Succulents that are content, healthy, and very pest-resistant are the end product. Beautiful! Then, at least three times a year, in the early spring, early summer, and late fall, I offer fish emulsion. Adapt the timing to the climate where you are.
How frequently should succulents be fertilized? A succulent fertilizer can be used as frequently as once per month. In order to produce the biggest, lushest plants in the quickest amount of time, commercial growers feed their plants frequently. However, a plant that has repeatedly grown in ideal settings has a tendency to be less able to survive in less-than-ideal environments. This is referred to as growing plants in the gardening industry “soft. This is the reason why a gorgeous plant from the nursery frequently fails to grow in your garden.
Stresses from the environment are a part of existence. I do feed my succulents, but I don’t fuss about them. I want them to have the capacity to handle any stress that comes their way, whether it be caused by exorbitant heat waves, a clumsy cat tipping over a container, or my own subpar care. Because of this, I grow succulents “harder than they would want, with a lot less applications of organic fertilizer. However, aim to use succulent fertilizer once a month for succulents of show-quality.
The adage reads, “You become what you consume. This holds true for cows, fish, worms, and their feces in the same way that it does for humans. For my garden’s manure and emulsion, I’d rather know that the fish and worms were farmed organically, without the use of hormones, pesticides, or herbicides. If you consider this to be important, thoroughly examine the labels to confirm the production and harvesting conditions. Once that happens, you will have the ideal fertilizer for succulents. You may rely on Dr. Verm’s Premium Worm Castings and Neptune’s Harvest.
Your indoor succulents will benefit from a feeding of fish emulsion (be sure to buy an odor-free variety!) or worm castings, as well, and will grow more vigorously as a result. But before you feed your plant, think about its environment for growth. Give your indoor succulents a boost with the organic tea if you have enough of light. However, keep in mind that this organic food can encourage quicker development if your plants are etiolated stretched as a result of poor light. It won’t make up for the dim lighting, but it will encourage faster, greater stretching. Give your indoor succulents a nice drink of fish emulsion or worm castings a couple of days before you transfer them outdoors to enjoy the summer in bright, indirect light.
Thank you for reading my ode to manure, or post about succulent fertilizer.
Please take a moment to leave a remark if you have any questions. I simply adore hearing from you! And I’d be interested in knowing what you feed your succulents. You all teach me things, too.
Can worm castings be applied to succulents?
Earthworm castings, often known as worm manure, are a fantastic way to improve soil naturally.
To improve our health, we consume vitamins, minerals, tablets, powders, and liquids. I consume a lot of fresh produce every day—thanks to the Santa Barbara Farmers Market—as well as grains, beans, nuts, and other things, but I also take a few supplements. Worm castings are what I consider to be soil improvers. They are my preferred soil amendment because of this. Most importantly, they are kind to the environment.
I always use worm castings when I plant and compost. Succulents, indoor plants, herbs, and shrubs are just a few of the things I grow with them. I frequently discuss them on our YouTube channel, so when one of our followers requested that I write a blog article about it, I said why not? Watch the YouTube video at the conclusion as we’re talking about it. Here’s why I employ them:
Worm castings are an extremely nutrient-dense soil conditioner, according to 1. This black, rich amendment doesn’t take much to improve the soil and hence strengthen plant roots. The base of the plants is the soil. Nutritious roots require healthy soil. In my garden, I don’t use fertilizers unless there is a particular nutrient shortage.
2) They make the microorganisms you want live longer and become much more active. In a nutshell, microbial activity raises the level of organic matter.
3) Worm castings aerate the soil while also enhancing its texture. Aeration is crucial since roots also require oxygen.
They assist the soil in holding onto moisture. This is crucial for the Western states that are currently experiencing drought conditions, including water-strapped California.
5) Worm castings function as a filter to stop plants from absorbing excessive amounts of heavy metals or poisons that are found in some soils.
6) They are rich in trace elements including iron, zinc, and copper as well as mineral nutrients like N, P, and K. By the way, the three digits on the fertilizer box, bag, or bottle stand for nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium. Vermicomposters provide healthy food for the worms, such as fruits, vegetables, yard waste, etc., and the castings are the product of everything that is left over.
7) Worm castings release over time. My garden here in Santa Barbara, which has a year-round Mediterranean temperature, never sleeps, so I admire how they work gently and slowly. If you want it to work more quickly, you can put a cup of the castings into a pail of water, let it steep for a few days, and then water that in.
8) My favorite reason is that they are environmentally friendly. You don’t need to worry at all; you can handle them. They are safe for children, adults, and the animals that live in your garden.
The health and happiness of the plants depend on the roots. Additionally, robust plants are better able to withstand environmental stress and resist pests, illnesses, and viruses. And for that reason, my friends, I think worm castings are awesome!
Can worm castings burn vegetation?
According to studies, earthworm castings are particularly high in a number of vital nutrients, such as iron, calcium, sulfur, and humic acid, as well as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium (NPK). We still use various natural slow-release fertilizers, such as alfalfa meal, kelp meal, neem seed meal, or anything like this organic all-purpose fertilizer, since it can be challenging to identify the precise nutrient content of homemade worm castings (and it varies from brand to brand). Keep in mind the mycorrhizae, too!
Nope! Similar to how some high-nitrogen fertilizers can burn or shock seedlings or plants, pure worm castings shouldn’t do either. One of their finest qualities is that, although having a larger concentration of nutrients than bulk compost, earthworm castings are a gentle, slow-release fertilizer. The mucus layer that forms on the castings as food and other materials move through the worm’s digestive system inhibits the breakdown and release of nutrients in the soil. You can safely apply a higher volume but less frequently than fast-acting fertilizers, similar to other slow-release fertilizers.
Worm castings can be used in the garden in a variety of ways, such as by adding some to your seedling starter mix, when filling a new raised garden bed with soil, when transplanting seedlings into the garden, directly in the planting hole, sprinkled on top of soil (lightly scratched in) after planting, or around the base of established plants like a layer of mulch. We carry out everything listed above!
Consider utilizing worm castings in their fresh, natural state as well as making compost tea with them! Compost tea is exactly what it sounds like if you are unfamiliar with it: a liquid solution or “tea” made by steeping compost in water. It’s a terrific method to stretch a little bit of compost a long way. You can feed numerous plants or garden beds with compost once the nutrients penetrate into the water. Instead of passive steeping, we enjoy making actively aerated compost tea, which further increases the tea’s beneficial microbial content. Find out here how to make compost tea!
Worm castings can have a tremendous influence with just a little bit! Again, don’t worry too much about exact proportions; it won’t hurt anyone to add a little extra either. Typically, we squint at the following:
- Worm castings should make up around 1/4 to 1/5 of the total soil capacity when filling fresh pots or seedling containers.
- When transplanting young vegetable seedlings outdoors, add a modest handful (about 1/4 to 1/2 cup) per planting hole. For larger shrubs (in one to three gallon pots), add a cup or two. For trees, use several cups.
- Spread one inch of castings on top of the soil for houseplants and plants that have already been potted. Scratch it into the surface lightly, and then wet it down. Refresh as often as every quarter, up to once or twice a year.
- Vegetable, flower, perennial, and/or shrub garden beds that have been established: top dress with 1 to 3 inches and carefully work into the top layer of soil. Continue in the spring and fall.