The following are popular succulent care techniques that we do NOT recommended:
- Potting your succulent in a bowl/dish/pot that doesn't have drainage holes. Rocks on the bottom do not work adequately enough to separate the roots from any water that will accumulate. Succulents need lots of water but don't like to be watered often. That means you should focus on giving your roots a good drenching (with drainage) and allow them to dry out before watering again. This is impossible to do when you don't have drainage as the water will just sit there and your succulents will rot.
- Spraying the plant instead of thoroughly watering. See above for why.
- Placing succulents somewhere they will look cute. Hey, we all love a good plant shelfie but if you want your succulent to stay cute, you need to give this plant as much light as possible. That should be the number one consideration when selecting its location. If that also happens to be in a location it looks cute, win-win!
- Placing succulents in a room or location where you will not see it every day. Why is this important to avoid? Succulents don't need a lot of attention, you water and then give them plenty of time to dry out. Its very easy to forget about these plants if you don't see them every day. Succulents will start to give you cues as to when they need something and you won't see those cues if they are out of sight, out of mind.
Can succulents stay alive using any of the above tips to avoid? Sure! We know lots of people who do it that way. Will they thrive? Likely not. We want to set you up for as much success as possible, especially if you are new to succulents. Armed with the proper knowledge, succulents can be easy!
