Have you ever wondered how to build an indoor succulent shelf? Let me help you with that. I have seen various indoor succulent shelves and I can help with your problem. This post was originally a step-by-step tutorial to building indoor succulent shelf, but I decided to cut it into smaller parts for easier reading. I hope this guide is useful to you in case you want to build one for your home.
How to build indoor succulent shelf?
Using succulent shelves to showcase your succulents is a great way of bringing so much glamor and elegance to your entire space. First of all, get the following essentials arranged.
- Three-step stair stringers
- 2-by-4 treated lumber board
- 1-by-8 treated lumber board
- 1 box 3-inch wood screws
- 3 plastic window boxes
- Tape measure
- Circular or table saw
- Cordless drill
- Screwdriver bit
- Safety goggles
- work gloves
When selecting the plants, you need to first have 4 cuttings which have the same resemblance with each other which you can use for one stand. As the first step, you need to measure and cut the shelves. The shelves are usually made of metal, walnut or even from plywood. So, when you do that you need to measure your window box planter.
Next, lengthen it by another 10 inches. Literally you can make use of a table saw and cut them into 1 by 8 lumber boards into three sections. Ensure that they are equal in sizes. Secondly you need to measure and cut the back legs. After that attach those to the stair stringers. To do that you may simply lay those stringers on the ground upside down.
Next lay the other stringer also on the ground right next to them. After that, you can place one of the cuttings on top of the stringers. After that lay the other cut on the other stringer. I urge you to use wood screws to attach the legs to the stair stringer. Keep doing these steps for the other stair stringers.
Fourthly, you should enclose the shelf boards to the stair stringers . When you do that keep in mind that you need to attach the bottom shelf board to the stair stringers. When you place the bottom shelf board right in the middle of the bottom stair notches, you need to fix them at a distance of four inches.
After that you may attach the shelf boards which are left to the stringer. Next, add the window boxes. Finally, you may fill plants in the boxes. When you plant the succulents, you can cultivate the taller plants right in the bottom shelf of the set ups.
How to attach light to your shelfs
There are so many light types you could use for this purpose, for example, the light made out of bamboo frames. However, there are people who don’t opt to go with them assuming they are not good quality.
Further one might find them less sturdy as well. You could do this task by using LEDs too. Consider that you have a four feet wide succulent shelf, then you can go ahead with two strips of LEDs. When you place the grow lights, ensure that they are well reachable for the plants in the bottom shelves. Ideally you need to turn the grow lights on for 10 hours per day.
However, you may also use separate lights for each shelf as well. To fix the light in this set up, if you come across any gap in the set up, you can tuck the light codes there using paper towels. When you provide lights for separate sections, you can provide light for different durations depending on the succulents you have cultivated.
Indoor succulent shelf ideas
Modern plant shelf
You may make a modern plant shelf mainly using wooden boards and it will give a modern look to your setup.
Hanging Plant Shelf
You make use of these hanging plants to cultivate herbs and it would be so eye catchy once you complete the whole project.
Ladder Plant Stand
Ladder plant stands shelves would be ideal to make, especially if you have a small place to grow your succulents. Furthermore, it would help you to grow multiple plants together.
Easy DIY Plant Shelf
If you wish to proceed with the easy DIY plant shelf , you need to arrange a wooden plank and metal support and make this DIY on your own.
Wooden Floor Stand
Wooden floor stands can be arranged using a nifty plant stand. Making them is a quite easy process.
Plant Cart with Wheels!
I suggest you go ahead with this option to grow herbs and other plants as well. These are sort of like readymade carts, and you can relocate them wherever you want depending on the sunlight exposure and the direction.
Plant Shelf with Wood Slices
Plant shelves with wood slices come up with three large wood slices. Additionally, they may also consist of small angle brackets and copper spray paint as well. In addition to that, there would be some other supplies which would be useful to make them.
Perfect Plant Shelf in White!
If you wish to have a setup which has bright shades of white, I suggest you go ahead with this. This will allow you to cultivate plants as you wish.
Indoor Plant Wall
Making an indoor plant wall is very simple and you can make it with less effort also.
Wall Mounted Plant Shelves
Wall mounted plant shelves is yet another fine way of showcasing tiny plants as well as blossoms.
Plant Shelves in Line
If you are sort of looking for a way to display your multiple indoor plants by a window, I suggest you go ahead with this option.
Giant Wooden Peg Board
Giant wooden peg board is yet another way of showcasing your beautiful succulents. Giant wooden peg board would come up with a sheet of plywood and a pegboard. Additionally, it may also come up with some other supplies.
Hexagon Honeycomb Shelves Made with Popsicle Sticks.
If you have popsicle sticks at home, you can make use of them to make the Hexagon Honeycomb Shelves.
Easy Rope Shelf
Making an Easy Rope Shelf is very straightforward. I encourage you to get involved with your kids when you make this.
Floating Corner Shelves
If you have a limited space to make the setup, using the floating corner shelves method would be ideal here. It would literally consume a little space here. You may keep your pots , faux flowers as well as your books here.
Pegboard Living Plant Wall
If you are looking for a stylish way of displaying your succulents, you could simply arrange wooden pegboard kits and paint them in your desired colors.
Floating Window Plant Shelf
If the majority of the succulents you have are sun loving plants, you may consider going ahead with this option. You may simply make this set up and keep it on the window.
Wooden Wall Planter
I recommend using a premade wooden pallet to make this project. It would save some time for you. They would perfectly fit in for any wall.
Mini Floating Shelves
Mini floating shelves is another fancy way of showcasing your succulents. This usually depicts a dark colored theme where you can showcase your pots, vases as well as other paintings and books.
Compact Ladder Plant Stand
Compact ladder plant stands are yet another way of showcasing your plants if you have issues with space. They would make great combinations with small trailing plants.
How to care shelf succulents
Caring for succulents is very crucial when you grow them. However, in terms of providing the right care, it is very important to provide sufficient sunlight and water them in a precise manner. In addition to that you need to ensure that you are providing a soil mix which has excellent drainage too.
Sunlight
In fact, the most important factor when it comes to care is exposing the succulents for sufficient sunlight levels. They are sunlight lovers. The more they get sunlight , the happier they would be as long as it is not too intense. Despite the fact that they are great fans of sunlight, they are not the type of plants which would tolerate excessively intense sunlight.
Generally speaking, succulents would perform well with full sunlight for about six hours in the morning. That said, you need to do a thorough check before you expose the plants for direct full sunlight. If you expose the plants to excess sunlight, it will make the plants sunburnt. Keep in mind that the plants which are not mature are more prone to sunburns.
If you have placed them near a bright sunny windowsill, chances are that these plants may end up leaning towards the direction where they can absorb sunlight. So, in that case, what you could do is to just simply rotate the set up on a constant basis so that the plants can gain sunlight equally. Consequently, it would help them to grow straight.
If your succulent has already developed lengthy growths, you need to trim the lengthened parts so that you could make them look tidy. Next allow the cuttings to dry completely and use them for propagation and make new plants.
Watering the plants
Second most important factor is watering the succulents in a precise manner at the right time. Excess watering could turn out to be lethal on the plants. if you supply water in excess for these plants, it will result in the death of the plants as well. You need to ensure that you water the plants only if they are dry from the previous watering session.
There is a high probability for you to supply water in excess for these plants especially if you are a fresher in gardening. Ideally before you water the plants, you need to ascertain whether the top layer of the soil is dry from the previous watering session. If it is dry, you need to water the plants in a way where all the excess water will run out of the draining holes in the plants.
Furthermore, the majority of the succulent grow actively during spring and in summer. That literally means you need to water them quite often during these seasons as they would consume more energy during these two seasons. They will be developing new growths in the plants. Additionally , many of these succulent flower blossoming would also take place either in spring or in summer.
On the other hand, they would more like relaxing periods during winter when there are colder conditions around. Lastly, keep in mind to not make the water too soggy when you water the plants. On the other hand, misting is also not encouraged here. If you soak the leaves with water, chances are that it would create mold on them.
Proper soil mix
The next most important thing in terms of providing the right growing condition is supplying them a soil mix which has excellent drainage. Most of the time, succulents usually come in premade succulent soil mixes which would be high in grittiness. They would usually comprise elements such as pumice.
Once you use these kinds of soil mixes, it would ensure that there is a fast-draining facility as well as a good aeration. Lastly, you need to protect the plants from pets as well. pests such as gnats and mealybugs are quite attractive towards the succulents.
The moistened soil attracts these pests. If you ever come across such situations, you need to immediately repot the plants too. You may use isopropyl alcohol to remedy them.
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