Did you snag some funky, lush and colorful succulents over the summer that sunbathed outside all season long? Unless you’re lucky enough to live somewhere with temperatures that don’t fall below freezing, you’ll need to know proper succulent care to keep them healthy during the colder months.
When it comes to succulent care during winter, the four most important things to keep in mind are: light, water, temperature and no fertilizer. Here are our top tips to help you keep healthy succulents during winter.
Winter succulent care: sunlight
Sunlight is probably the most important part of winter succulent care. If they don’t get enough sunlight, they’ll stretch to try to get closer to the light source, often resulting in flopping leaves or stems.
The best-case scenario is a spot in your house that receives full sun, but that can be difficult to achieve indoors.
A window that faces south is best, but east or west windows can work as well.
Winter succulent care: water
Because your succulents are receiving less sunlight and experiencing cooler temperatures during the winter months, they need less water. Keep your succulents on the dry side during winter, only watering just enough to keep them from shriveling up.
A good rule of thumb is to give them a little drink every two weeks. When in doubt, remember that it’s better to water a succulent too little than too much, because if you overwater your succulents, you run the risk of them rotting.
To help keep your succulents dry during winter, make sure you’re using a premium soil, such as our Terrarium Soil, and Terrarium Hydrostones to help prevent over watering.
Winter succulent care: temperature
The next important aspect of winter succulent care is temperature. Believe it or not, during winter, succulents will do best in cooler temperatures of around 55 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have a sun room that runs cool during the winter, your succulent will do well in this spot. If not, no worries! There’s no need for you to freeze all winter just to keep your succulent happy.
A succulent that’s overwintered in a warmer house may continue to grow during the winter, resulting in a leggy plant. Legginess is when a plant grows greenery before it has adequate strength in its roots. The result can be a floppy plant. This may sound bad, but it’s not a death sentence for your succulent. Your plant’s growth will likely balance out when it ventures back outside during the warmer months.
Also remember: A sunny spot in a warm room is preferred over a cool spot in a dark room.
Winter succulent care: fertilizer
Because the goal is to simply keep your succulent alive during winter—not to let it grow—your succulent will not need any fertilizer during the winter.
Now that you’re a pro at overwintering succulents, get all the succulent care tools you need to keep your plants happy and healthy: https://www.46spruce.com/collections/succulent-care