1. Proper Sunlight
I cannot stress this enough. Plants basically eat sunlight, so if you put them in a dark corner they might look fine for a little bit, but essentially you are starving them. Depending on the kind of plant you took home some can tolerate less/more light than others. But if you keep an eye on them the plants will basically tell you what they need! here are some examples :
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| check out this happy Haworthia - I have it right next to a south facing window for maximum sunlight. you can tell this is just the right amount because of the dark green coloring of the plant. |
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| this lil Echeveria is currently enjoying the south facing window at my new apartment, but it wasn't always getting the right amount of sun. if the light isn't adequate the plant will stretch, and the leaves will be spaced far apart on the stalk (like you can see at the base). if the plant is getting the right amount of sun you will see a tight rosette of leaves. |
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| this little Aloe is getting too much sun. most succulents will get sunburn when receiving too much direct sunlight, and often take on a reddish-brown color when this happens. in the middle of summer this might be unavoidable, but if your seeing this in the early spring you might want to think of relocating your plant. I would take this Aloe from my south facing window and try either east or west. North facing windows should be reserved for plants that specifically require this - since its the direction that receives the least sunlight out of the whole day. you can also try moving the plant a bit further away from the window. |
you might be asking yourself how a desert plant could dislike too much sun! it seems counter-intuitive, but the sun is a very powerful ball of fire way up there in space. these plants are not all necessarily from the desert, just arid, dry places that receive little water. Maybe they're not from the sandy New Mexico desert we think of, but actually from a rocky alpine slope with little topsoil to retain moisture. And even if they are from the desert, most small succulents try to avoid direct midday sun because it would suck up the little water they do have, and the temperatures could cook them - so they live in the shade of rocks, or other larger succulents to avoid the beating sun.
if you don't have much light, don't fret. I have just the plant for you. Meet the Sansevieria, aka the snake plant.
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| on the left is a very small Sansevieria, and on the right is my four year old |
