Succulents Hate Your Soil! How to Replace Soil to Make Them Bloom Three Times Faster

18.02.2025 07:48

Are your succulents stubbornly refusing to bloom despite perfect care?

It’s not the watering or the light that’s to blame, but the soil that you thought was “special.”

Most ready-made mixtures contain peat, a component that turns the pot into a swamp after the first watering.

Cactus
Photo: © Belnovosti

But there is a way out: create soil that will make succulents bloom even in a city apartment.

Dig up the plant, shake the soil off the roots and inspect them. If the roots are brown and slimy, cut them down to healthy tissue. Rinse the remaining roots in a weak solution of potassium permanganate (1 crystal per liter of water). This will stop the rotting.

Mix 50% zeolite (volcanic mineral), 30% coarse river sand and 20% coconut fiber. Zeolite absorbs excess moisture and releases it to the roots as needed.

Add 1 tbsp of crushed eggshells per liter of mixture - calcium will strengthen the stems and stimulate flowering.

Advanced gardeners add 5% wood ash to the soil. It contains potassium, which accelerates the formation of flower stalks.

But be careful: excess ash increases the alkalinity of the soil. Check the pH with a litmus strip - the optimal level is 6.0-6.5.

After transplanting, do not water the plant for 10 days.

Then place it in a cool place (+12...+15°C) at night and in direct sunlight during the day. This temperature difference simulates desert conditions and makes the succulent bloom to preserve its appearance.

Feed the plant with phosphorus. Dissolve 1 tablet of calcium glycerophosphate (sold in pharmacies) in 1 liter of water and water the soil. Repeat after 2 weeks. Phosphorus is the "flowering hormone" that awakens dormant buds.

Elena Shimanovskaya Author: Elena Shimanovskaya Editor of Internet resources


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