Succulent care indoors: soak, dry out, and give them sun

Indoor succulents need two things most homes underdeliver: 4–6 hours of direct sun and soil that dries out completely. Water by the soak-and-dry method, thoroughly until it drains and then not again until the pot is dry to the bottom, which is about every 7–14 days in summer and every 3–6 weeks in winter. They die from water sitting in cold, dense soil, not from drought.

"Succulent" is a growth form, not a family: echeveria, haworthia, jade, sedum, aloe, kalanchoe, lithops and desert rose all store water in leaves, stems or roots. Their care overlaps a lot, with differences noted in the table further down.

Watering: soak and dry, in real days

The method has two parts, and the second matters more.

1. Soak. Pour water until it runs out of the drainage holes and let it drain 10–15 minutes. Roughly a quarter to a third of the pot volume: about 5–8 fl oz for a 4-inch pot. A splash "just to moisten" is the worst choice: only the top wets, and deep roots die back.
2. Dry completely. Water again only when the mix is dry to the bottom. Push a wooden skewer all the way down; dry and clean means go.

How long that takes depends mostly on the pot. Terracotta loses water through its walls; plastic and glazed pots only from the surface.

Double the interval for pots over 6 inches; halve it for 2-inch pots. Clemson Extension sums up winter care as watering just enough to keep plants from shriveling, typically every few weeks, and Missouri Botanical Garden says no more than once a month in winter. The leaves are the best gauge: the lowest tier loses firmness and shows soft lengthwise wrinkles.

Water at the rim or from below (stand the pot in water 10–20 minutes). Never pour into the center of a rosette; the growing point can rot in 3–5 days. More in watering.

Why are my succulent's leaves wrinkled?

One symptom, two opposite causes. Tell them apart by the soil and the feel of the leaf.

A 10-second check: finger an inch into the soil while pressing a lower leaf. Dry plus firm means thirst. Damp plus soft means rot, and you should act that day; rot climbs the stem an inch or more in a week. See overwatering and root rot.

Soil: at least half grit

A succulent mix should dry through in 3–10 days and hold air around the roots. That comes from non-decaying mineral particles about 1/16–3/16 inch in size. Recipes by volume:

• General: 1 part cactus mix + 1 part perlite or pumice (50–60% mineral).
• Rot-prone types (lithops, haworthia, caudiciforms): 1 part mix + 2 parts pumice, lava rock or calcined clay (65–75%).
• Large fast growers (jade, aloe, kalanchoe): 2 parts mix + 2 parts perlite + 1 part coarse sand (about 55%).

Fine play sand does not work; particles under 1/32 inch clog pores. Background in soil.

Why nursery peat is a problem

Grower succulents arrive in peat-based mix that suits greenhouses with scheduled watering and strong light. At home it works against the plant: it holds water for weeks, dries on top while staying wet below (so owners water again), shrinks away from the pot wall when bone dry so water runs straight through, and breeds root rot fungi and fungus gnats. For gnats, see our sister site's guide to fungus gnats.

So repot store-bought succulents 1–2 weeks after purchase, shaking off most of the peat, and wait 5–7 days before watering.

Light, stretching and acclimation

The minimum is 4–6 hours of direct summer sun: a south, southeast or southwest window, right on the sill, not on a table a few feet back (light drops several-fold within 3 feet of the glass). Missouri Botanical Garden gives at least 4 hours of bright direct light. Haworthia and gasteria are the exceptions and do fine with 2–3 hours.

Etiolation is stretching from low light: longer gaps between leaves, smaller paler leaves, rosettes that open and bend down. It starts in 2–4 weeks, and in sedum within 10 days. Crucially, it does not reverse.

What to do:

1. Cut the top with 4–6 leaves using a clean knife; let the cut dry 3–5 days in shade.
2. Set it on dry gritty mix and don't water until roots form (10–20 days).
3. Keep the stump: in 3–8 weeks it usually sprouts 2–5 side rosettes.

In winter even a south window falls short. Either keep plants cool so they rest instead of stretching, or add a full-spectrum grow light 10–12 hours a day, 8–12 inches above the plants. Full diagnosis in leggy plants.

Acclimating to sun without burns

Store plants come from shaded benches, and a sudden move to a south window can burn them in 2–4 hours: bleached patches that brown and never heal. A 10–14 day plan:

1. Days 1–3: bright indirect light only.
2. Days 4–6: one hour of morning sun, then a sheer curtain.
3. Days 7–9: 2–3 hours of morning sun.
4. Days 10–12: 4 hours plus late-afternoon sun.
5. Days 13–14: full day.

Add the 12–4 pm sun last: behind glass with no air movement, leaves can overheat. Outdoors in summer, start under a shade cloth or porch roof.

Stress colors: when red is good

Pink, purple and burgundy tones on echeveria, sedum and graptopetalum are protective pigments made under strong light, cool nights and dryness. A green plant can color up in 2–4 weeks with 6+ hours of sun and a 15–25°F day-night swing. Shade, warmth and fertilizer turn it green again in 3–6 weeks. It is easy to tell from damage: stress color leaves the leaf firm and smooth; sunburn shows bleached patches with sharp edges; rot shows soft dark tissue.

Winter rest

A cool winter is what separates a compact collector's plant from a stretched store plant. From November to February there is too little light for good growth; coolness simply pauses it.

Practical spots: a cold windowsill behind a heavy curtain, an enclosed porch that stays above freezing, a bright basement window. Rules: the cooler, the drier; water only on the morning of a sunny day; bring plants back to warmth gradually in late February. More in winter care.

Propagation by leaf and cutting

Both need a dried cut: a fresh wet wound in soil often rots, a callused one rarely does. University of Wisconsin Extension gives the same step for jade cuttings: let them dry for several days before setting them in dry, well-drained mix.

From leaves (echeveria, sedum, graptopetalum, jade, pachyphytum)

1. Twist a mid-level leaf sideways so it comes off whole, base included. No base, no baby.
2. Lay it on dry mix in shade to callus 1–3 days at 68–77°F in bright indirect light.
3. Don't water until roots appear; then mist the soil (not the leaf) every 4–7 days.
4. Roots in 10–21 days, a rosette in 3–8 weeks, an independent plant in 3–6 months.
5. Let the mother leaf shrivel on its own; the baby is living on it.

Success runs roughly 40–70%. Haworthia, aloe, gasteria and cacti do not grow from leaves; use offsets or seed.

From stem cuttings (jade, kalanchoe, sedum, string of pearls, leggy rosettes)

1. Cut a 2–5 inch top with a blade wiped with alcohol; strip the bottom 2–3 leaves to expose an inch of stem.
2. Dry the cut: thin stems 3–5 days, thick ones 7–14 days, until it has a dry matte skin.
3. Insert an inch deep into dry gritty mix; prop with a pebble.
4. First light watering at the rim after 7–10 days, then every 10–14 days.
5. Roots in 2–4 weeks in summer. Success: it stops wobbling and makes a new leaf.

Water-rooting works worse; water roots partly die back after potting. Best season: April–August at 72–82°F. More in propagation.

Popular succulents compared

More in the succulent collection and easy houseplants.

Mistakes that kill most often

• Watering on a schedule. "Once a week" in February at 55°F is guaranteed rot.
• A pot to grow into. Choose a pot 1/2–1 inch wider than the root ball; see pots.
• Fertilizing in winter or right after repotting. Salts build up and roots stall; use a half-strength feed April–August only (fertilizer).
• Repotting into wet mix and watering right away. Damaged roots in wet soil rot. Pot dry, wait 5–10 days.
• Succulents planted with moisture lovers. Watering needs are incompatible; see terrariums.

What does not work

• A drainage layer to fix overwatering. Gravel at the bottom raises the wet zone; the whole mix has to be gritty.
• A teaspoon of water once a month. Only the top half inch gets wet and deep roots die.
• Hydrogen peroxide drenches for rot. Only cutting out rotten tissue and keeping the plant dry works.
• Bloom boosters. Buds come from sun plus a cool, dry winter.

When to start over from a cutting

The stem decides. Cut 1 inch above the visible damage: a white or light green cut face is live tissue and the top can be re-rooted; brown dots mean cut higher. Start over when more than half the stem is rotten or the base is soft all around. A healthy 2-inch top is a complete plant and often looks better than the rescued original within 4–6 months.

Are succulents toxic to pets?

The word succulent says nothing about safety. ASPCA lists jade plant as toxic to dogs, cats and horses (vomiting, depression, incoordination), aloe as toxic due to saponins and anthraquinones, and desert rose as toxic with cardiac glycosides. On the safe side, ASPCA lists haworthia and hens-and-chickens (Echeveria elegans) as non-toxic to dogs and cats.

If a pet eats a toxic plant, call your vet or ASPCA Animal Poison Control at (888) 426-4435. For a child, call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. Wear gloves when cutting euphorbias and desert rose; their sap irritates skin and eyes. Lists: pet-safe plants and toxic plants.