Here are six comparatively simple steps for making your own succulent tray garden.
- Decide on a container. Any shallow container should work.
- Pick out some planting soil.
- Choose your plants.
- Plants are potted.
- Set the container down.
- Keep up with your garden.
How are indoor succulent arrangements made?
The advantages of indoor plants are endless.
They increase mood, air quality, and even focus and concentration. Succulents are among the simplest and most adaptable houseplants to include into your decor, and making your own indoor succulent garden is a wonderful way to do it.
You may make your own arrangement of lush and beautiful succulents in just a few easy steps.
- Select a Container The versatility of indoor succulent gardens is one of their most beautiful features. Succulents may be grown in a variety of sizes and shapes, thus almost any container can be used as a succulent planter. Succulents don’t require a deep container to support their roots because of their slow growth, therefore even the most unusual container can be used as a planter. Wide, shallow bowls or pots are popular, but you may also construct your own garden out of a wine glass, a wooden trough, a mug, a shadow box, an old bucket, a candle holder, or even half of a huge shell.
- Ensure drainage It’s crucial that your container has adequate drainage because succulents don’t want their roots to be damp. If at all possible, the container’s bottom should be pierced with a hole, but you can also ensure proper drainage by placing 1-2 inches of gravel in the pot’s base. To prevent soil from spilling out of a hole, cover it with a small piece of screening or a scrap of newspaper.
- Fill in the Base With a succulent-friendly soil, like a cactus and succulent potting mix with plenty of drainage, fill in the base of your pot or planting container. Sand and vermiculite or other similar minerals can be added to standard potting soil to enhance drainage and make it suitable for a succulent garden.
- Decide on Your Plants To give the layout considerable visual interest, choose plants with a variety of forms, colors, and textures for your succulent garden. However, make sure that all of the plants require a similar amount of care so that they may coexist in harmony. Because they grow slowly, plants don’t mind being packed closely together, so take your time positioning them around the pot. A trailing plant might look lovely next to the edge of the pot, or you might choose to place smaller plants all around a larger specimen.
- Complete the Soil After placing the plants in their respective locations in your garden pot, add more dirt and lightly compact it around each plant. However, avoid planting the plants too deeply or burying them, since this could lead to root rot. A top dressing layer of gravel, sand, glass marbles, sea glass, or crushed shells can be a lovely method to tie the garden together. Top off the planter with a decorative material if desired.
- Attach extras Accessorizing succulent gardens can be enjoyable, and you could wish to use miniature props to transform your indoor garden into a fairy world. Other ideas include inserting a larger “boulder” or huge seashell into the arrangement or adding moss as a final touch around the plants.
- Sprout the Garden Following planting, sprinkle the garden gently with a spray bottle to water it, being careful not to overwater the plants. Overwatering succulents can cause them to decay, therefore it is preferable to let them dry out a bit rather than keep them damp. When they receive fresh water, they will recover if they are dry and will start to shrivel or wrinkle.
- Lie back and enjoy! Even inside, full sun or a location where they will receive many hours of good sunshine each day are optimal for succulent gardens. However, stay away from placing the garden close to a heating or cooling vent that could cause temperature extremes. On a kitchen table, the corner of a desk, or a mantelpiece, a succulent garden can look beautiful. You may design a succulent garden to be the ideal match everywhere you want to add a touch of greenery to your home’s decor!
Size
Choose a pot that is just big enough for the plant to grow in, but not too big. The circumference of the appropriate pot is 5–10% greater than the size of the plant. Choose pots with a maximum excess space around the sides of an inch or two. The delicate roots will spread if the pot is too big before the plant has a chance to develop. There won’t be any room for the roots to spread in a pot that is too tiny.
Style
The ideal pot should not only complement your style and decor but also the physical properties of the plant. Tall pots look excellent with upright-growing succulents, like aloe. Low-growing cultivars, like Echeveria, look fantastic in little pots. Not to mention spillers with trailing growth tendencies like String of Pearls. Spillers in shallow pots or hanging plants look fantastic and grow well.
Material
There are many different types of materials for pots. The most prevalent materials are wood, terracotta, metal, ceramic, and resin. Terracotta or ceramic pots work best for succulent plants. Both of these materials allow for proper air and water circulation because they are both breathable. Just keep in mind that both ceramic and terracotta are weighty, especially after adding soil and plants.
Pick resin or plastic pots for larger plants, especially ones you plan to move around. Your back will thank you for using those lighter pots as you move or reposition plants.
Drainage
Before you plant and cultivate succulents, the most important thing to understand is that they don’t like a lot of water. Even before you develop a watering schedule, this is relevant. Without adequate drainage, water that accumulates at the bottom of a container without anywhere to go may cause root rot in your succulent.
The ideal pots for succulents, regardless of design, are planters with drainage holes in the bottom. Since many succulent planters lack drainage holes, you can use any of them as long as you keep in mind to water succulents sparingly and keep an eye on them frequently.
How are succulents planted in a small dish?
Succulents are resilient plants with a wide range of sizes, textures, and colors, including cacti (Opuntia spp.) and other plants. They live by storing moisture in their fleshy stems. A desk or tabletop can be transformed into an intriguing indoor desert scene using a variety of succulents and a shallow dish. A desert dish garden requires little maintenance after it is established. In the open air, the majority of succulents are warm-weather plants that flourish in USDA plant hardiness zones 9 through 11. Some plants can successfully grow in USDA zones 5 through 8.
A shallow dish should have 1 to 1 1/2 inches of fine gravel in the bottom. Any shallow container that is at least 2 inches deep and has at least one drainage hole in the bottom is acceptable.
To keep the soil fresh, sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons of activated charcoal granules over the gravel. Then, fill the dish with a cactus- and succulent-specific commercial potting mixture to within 1/4 inch of the top.
A variety of small plants should be placed all around the taller succulents in the middle. Plant taller plants in the back of a dish garden so that it can be seen from one side. When you’re satisfied with the arrangement, place the succulents on top of the soil in the dish while they are still in their separate pots.
Using a stick or your finger, make a little hole for each plant. Take each plant out of its pot. After setting the plant in the hole, gently pat the earth over the roots. For growing room, place 1 to 2 inches between each plant. Wear gloves if you’re working with spiky succulents or cactuses with spines.
So that the potting mixture is evenly moistened but not saturated, lightly water the dish. As a general guideline, add water to the dish until it is 1/4 full. For a dish with a total volume of 4 cups, for instance, add 1 cup of water, and then let the extra water drain through the drainage hole. Never allow succulents to stand in potting soil that is wet or waterlogged.
Put the dish garden in direct sunlight. Every two to three months, or whenever the soil seems dry, water the dish garden. To prevent standing water, slowly add lukewarm water until it drops down the drainage hole. Then, allow the potting mix to completely drain.
What kind of glue works best with 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.
Can succulents be grown in just rocks?
It should be obvious that succulents will thrive when planted in rocks given these circumstances. They drain very well and do not retain water, which eliminates the possibility of root rot. This does not include another component of soil, though, since all plants need nutrients.
Although succulents are not particularly hungry plants, they do need certain nutrients to grow. Other micronutrients like zinc or iron are needed in smaller levels, whereas macronutrients like nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium are essential. The plant won’t grow at all or last very long without these nutrients.
By their very nature, rocks don’t release nutrients quickly enough to keep the plants alive. They are composed of minerals, but since they decompose so slowly over time, they are not appropriate for growing on their own. Additionally, they often don’t retain enough moisture, allowing the roots to quickly dry out after draining practically instantly.
Sadly, this means that succulents cannot thrive permanently without soil in rocks. If not given regular care, they may survive for several weeks or even months on the nutrients found in the stems and leaves.
What might I employ as a plant shelf?
Ideas for Diy Indoor Plant Shelves
- Contemporary Plant Shelf. Making this sleek and contemporary plant shelf is simple and only requires standard wooden planks.
- Plant Shelf That Hangs.
- Planter with a ladder.
- Simple DIY Plant Shelf
- Solid Wood Floor Stand
- Wheeled plant cart here!
- Plant Shelving Made of Wood Slices
- Perfect White Plant Shelf