applying adhesive to the pumpkin
Step 1: Coat with Adhesive
Start by covering the top of your pumpkin with a spray adhesive ($10, The Home Depot). Pick a pumpkin with a flat top; Cinderella pumpkins are a perfect shape for this project. This will help the moss stick.
Step 3: Attach Succulents
Group the three tallest succulents slightly to one side of the center, working your way out from the center. To attach succulent cuttings to the moss, use a hot glue gun ($16, Target) or a clear crafts gel kind of adhesive. Continue around the initial set of succulents with extra plants, packing them closely together. Start with hens-and-chicks and sedums if you’re unsure of what kind of succulents to use; both come in variants that stay small and give fascinating colors and textures.
Step 4: Finish Arrangement
With taller succulents placed closer to the pumpkin’s core and shorter ones oriented outward, try to create a mounded succulent pumpkin centerpiece. Because its trailing tendrils look finest draped over the edge of a container, burro’s tail succulents would make a perfect choice for the outer margins (or in this case, a pumpkin).
How long is a pumpkin going to stay succulent?
Start with your largest succulent in the center of a huge pumpkin, attach the stem with a small amount of hot glue, and insert it into the moss.
Then, keep gluing your larger succulents into the moss as you work your way outward from the center.
Prioritize using your larger succulents before using the smaller hanging and filler succulents.
For a tiny pumpkin, I typically use a larger succulent as the focal point that is somewhat offset from the center, and then I add 2-3 smaller succulents to the sides.
Step 5: Finishing Touches
Look for any areas where the hot glue is visible. If there is, cover the adhesive with little pieces of stretched moss to conceal it.
Succulent Pumpkin Care
However, they will thrive in a partially sunny, covered area with shade. Or indoors where they will be protected from the elements and enjoy some filtered light.
Then, spray the succulents with water at the base of the stem once a week to every other week.
The succulents will gradually begin to sprout roots into the moss; this is ideal because it will allow you to plant them later.
How Long Do Succulent Pumpkins Last?
Starting with a healthy pumpkin will ensure that the entire arrangement lasts at least two to three months. But I have seen pumpkins with succulent tops that lasted for almost a year!
You may see all of my favorite succulents to use on pumpkins on the free list below.
Does hot glue work on succulents?
Your closest buddy while dealing with succulents in unconventional pots will also be floral glue. This glue from the Oasis brand cures rapidly and keeps succulents firmly in place. The support needed to keep a succulent in place is minimal. This is something you should have on hand whether you’re making a wreath or a planter out of driftwood.
Hot glue is another option that is equally as effective and affordable. Although I used to use this a lot for my crafts, I’ve found that the floral glue holds its shape better. However, if you already have it, go for it!
What about hot glue?
Actually, using hot glue on succulents is acceptable. On the location where the glue is, it does burn a tiny bit, but the rest of the plant is unaffected.
There are still spaces at the leaf nodes (where the leaves join to the stem) at the stem’s base where new roots can grow despite the bottom of the stem being completely covered in hot glue.
Even though it is now more challenging, your succulents may still send out roots at the end of the stem that, as they grow, may either push the hot glue off or just push up around it.
Crazy! But it’s possible. Your succulents will still grow successfully in either scenario.
Since floral adhesive tends to stick to succulents better, I prefer to use it.
How are succulents adhered?
Warm up the hot glue gun. To help the succulent better take root, add a few dots of hot glue to the underside of each rosette but not the stem (Image 1). Hold each succulent in place while the adhesive cools by pressing it into the moss. Continue until the desired look and organization are obtained (Images 2 and 3).
Step 3: Glue Succulents into Moss
Warm up the hot glue gun. Apply hot glue in little dots around each succulent stalk. To allow the succulent to take root, avoid applying glue to the stem. Until the glue has cooled, press into the moss and hold in place. Continue until the desired look and organization are obtained. Advice: The arrangement will last roughly one month. To protect succulents and moss from drying out, mist them with water. Healthy succulents can be propagated and/or replanted, and moss can be removed from pumpkin.
Live Succulent Pumpkin Centerpiece
Succulents are now popular in gardening and home décor, so your holiday tabletop is the ideal place to use them. To create a striking centerpiece, live succulents are trimmed and used to top off seasonal pumpkins and squash.
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Step 1: Insert foam, and fill in empty spaces with moss.
You’ll see that I didn’t use all of the desert foam in the container. Instead, I filled in the gaps with moss and angled the stems of my succulent plants into the foam.
This green Spanish moss was picked because it doesn’t compete with the vibrant artificial succulents.
Step 3: Insert faux succulent stems into foam bricks.
I used wire cutters to trim the stems of the succulents so that they were flush with the foam foundation. Try alternating hues (reds, greens, and blues) and styles for greater aesthetic appeal (cascading versus upright).
Based on the succulents and planter you select, the finished item will resemble this…
Here is how the succulent arrangement currently appears in my living room:
Need moss for succulents?
Sphagnum moss is a valuable planting accessory for succulents. Although it is frequently referred to as peat moss, that isn’t what you need. Dead, decomposed moss is known as peat moss or sphagnum peat. Peat moss sacks for soil conditioning may have been visible to you. Long fiber sphagnum moss is the material we are interested in for our succulent plants.
Sphagnum moss varies in quality. Recently, I called six garden supply stores in a big city in search of long fiber sphagnum moss. No luck at all. At a big box store, I at last discovered a pitiful example of moss. It was a hideous brown color, loaded with sticks, and would only be useful if placed out of sight. I was quite aback by how challenging it was to locate attractive sphagnum moss.
Fresh Oregon sphagnum moss cut from a tree, packaged Oregon green moss, and sphagnum moss purchased from a big-box retailer, from left to right
Sphagnum moss uses Sphagnum moss attracts succulents because it quickly dries out after absorbing a lot of water. This enables the plants to receive the water they require without experiencing rotting problems. Sphagnum moss and succulents go well together in the following ways:
- Succulents can be planted without soil straight in sphagnum moss and grow there. In wall planters where the weight of the soil might be an issue, in terrariums, in wreaths, or anywhere else where the use of soil presents a challenge, soilless planting using moss can be employed. One thing to keep in mind is that sphagnum moss dries out more quickly than soil, so it might need to be watered more frequently and fertilized every now and then.
- Form Building – You will always end up lining the form with sphagnum moss whenever you have a frame (like the wire chicken planter I made earlier). This is evident in succulent topiaries and wreaths. The frame is covered with a thick layer of soggy moss, which is then filled with dirt.
- Secure Plants – Planting in vertical areas offers a challenge because the plants tend to want to fall before their roots are set (such as the cracks in a rock wall or containers). To keep the succulent in place, you can cram moss into the area around its roots.
- Three factors are crucial for soil conditioning: nourishment, drainage, and moisture retention. All of these qualities of soil are improved by sphagnum moss.
- A tuft of fluffy, green sphagnum moss that hangs down the side of the container or pokes out between the succulent plants might serve as the finishing touch to your planting.
A Word About the Sphagnum Moss in Oregon Despite not being actual sphagnum moss, Oregon Green Moss is marketed as such. It shares crucial traits with true Sphagnum moss (absorbs water directly through its leaves and stores the water in the cellular tissue). Numerous individuals, florists, and nurseries employ Oregon Sphagnum Moss for the aforementioned purposes.
Additionally, moss is not living unless you are gathering it directly from the wild. It’s either decorated with it or
will not maintain its green status. Usually, even the lovely green moss starts to turn brown over time and exposure to sunshine. Other colored decorative mosses, whether pink, lime green, or another color, are just ornamental but won’t fade.
Can wood chips be used to cultivate succulents?
Mulching succulents is a topic of some debate among fans of the plant. Some people advise against mulching in areas where succulents are cultivated because they claim it makes the soil far too damp for them. Others claim that sparingly applying fertilizer is acceptable as long as the succulents are grown in raised beds or on a slope.
Mulching succulent plants in the garden is harmless. Mulching has advantages for manes. However, there is no one solution that works for everyone, and whether or not to mulch succulents might vary depending on your temperature, the position in which they are planted, and the variety of succulents.
Succulents: Can they grow without soil?
Because they can retain water in their leaves, succulents can grow without soil. As a result, they may go for extended periods of time without having access to surface moisture.
But in order to do so, they need to have access to a sizable quantity of water and nutrients from the environment.
Succulents can typically grow in rocks without soil or water. The goal is to have a rock that makes it simple for water and nutrients to absorb.
The inability to continuously providing succulents with what they require when they are grown in rocks without soil is one potential drawback.
There are several advantages to soil, such as the provision of air spaces that can absorb excess moisture or dryness more effectively than would be possible with merely rocks.
Because there are no open spots on top where insects could enter and destroy this plant’s root structure, it also safeguards against pests and illnesses.
Another problem with growing succulents in rocks devoid of soil is that they might not be able to resist drastic changes in weather.
When there are no other plants nearby to provide shade, this plant has nothing to shield it from environmental variables like wind or water that could blow sand into its leaves.
We advise staying with potting soil unless you are certain of the environment your succulent will thrive in.
It offers all the advantages required for this kind of plant, which cannot be achieved by just utilizing rocks as a substitute.