Do newly transplanted succulents need to be fertilized (can succulents grown in nutrient soil still be fertilized)

Regarding whether fertilization is needed when transplanting succulents

  New friends who have just come into contact with succulents are always obsessed with fertilizing them because they don’t know much about their growth habits.

In fact, according to my understanding, succulents are very resistant to barrenness. In their native habitats, they mostly grow on cliffs, among rocks and gravel. So if we want them to reach a better condition, we should apply less fertilizer or even no fertilizer.

For example, when transplanting succulents, you only need to trim the roots appropriately, let the wounds dry, and then pot them with granular soil in an appropriate proportion. It is not necessary to add base fertilizer.

However, if you already have organic fertilizers such as chicken manure, earthworm manure, and cake fertilizer at home, you can take some of it and use it to mix with the soil or as base fertilizer before potting, which can increase the fertilizer efficiency of the soil.

If not, you can directly put it in the pot. It is the same to use some water-soluble fertilizer or slow-release fertilizer during the vigorous growth period in spring and autumn after the plant has adapted to the pot . Generally speaking, the basic principle is to apply thin fertilizers frequently and to rather have less than too much.

Fertilizing succulents only needs to be done in spring and autumn:

Most succulents are short and compact, like a lotus, and their unique temperament can only be highlighted when they are colored.

Therefore , compared to fertilizing, daily maintenance such as maintaining sufficient light, controlling appropriate water content, and creating an appropriate temperature difference between morning and evening can prevent excessive growth, fading, and spreading, allowing succulents to maintain their condition better.

Moreover, most succulents have the characteristic of dormancy during the high temperature period in summer, and some varieties that are difficult to survive the summer are even in a "life and death crisis". Therefore, in summer, the main measures are to provide shade, assist ventilation and cool down to allow succulents to survive the summer smoothly. No fertilizer is needed.

When the temperature drops to around 5℃ in winter, the growth of succulents slows down or basically stagnates, and it is also necessary to stop fertilizing and control water, which will help succulents survive the winter smoothly.

Therefore , even if you need to apply fertilizer, you only need to apply some thin fertilizer during the vigorous growth period in spring and autumn. Water-soluble fertilizers and slow-release fertilizers are very convenient to use and are more popular choices.

If you mix fertilizer into the nutrient soil when you first plant succulents in pots, this will save the trouble of fertilizing later . The fertilizer in the flower soil can also provide nutrients for the succulents for a long time.

For the succulents that have just adapted to the pot, how many days later can we fertilize them?

My suggestion for this problem is this: First of all, when we plant succulents, we will add some peat soil to the soil (except for succulents that are grown with all particles).

Peat soil is rich in nutrients, which is enough to meet the growth needs of succulents in a short period of time, so it is not recommended to fertilize the succulents that have just been potted.

Secondly, the root system of the newly potted succulents is not yet developed enough. If we rashly fertilize them, it is likely to cause damage to their root system.

The consequence of this is that the succulents will either become stunted or suffer from waterlogging and black rot. Therefore, even if we want to fertilize the succulents, we have to wait until they have adapted to the pot and have grown for a while.