Have you ever thought of planting many succulents in one pot, yes it is possible to do. However, when you do that, you need to consider several facts. Such as water requirements, soil type, sunlight requirement on each succulent. In this article I am going to tell you the best succulents to pair together and how to take care of them.
I must tell you this is a somewhat tricky process, if you are a fresher in succulent gardening. But you do not have to worry, I’m going to help you here. So first of all let me tell you what to consider when pairing succulent together.
Planting succulents together: what to consider
As aforesaid said, it is not an easy task to pair succulents and grow. However, if you make a little effort to make it happen, they will reward you with an eye-catching pleasant set of plants and they will be all worth the effort you put in.
However, when you are going to pair succulents, you need to consider the following facts such as their growing season, dormancy period, sunlight requirement. Moreover, you need to observe their water requirement, soil type they need and their temperature requirement.
When you make sure that you fulfill their growth requirements, they will all go to their fullest potential and finally turn out to be an attractive succulent arrangement. Let me explain further.
Succulent variety
When you use several types of succulents with various heights, different shapes, and textures, you could create a wide array of succulent arrangements. In addition to the aforesaid facts, if you could add some succulents which have special features such as hairs, it would make the succulent garden even more attractive. There are so many options which you could select from.
For example, you could select succulents such as Sansevieria, Aeonium as a tall growing plant. On the other hand, if you wish to add rosette forming succulents, you could go ahead with succulents such as Sempervivum or Echeveria. In addition to this, if you want to give a cascading touch to the succulent arrangement, you could add cascading succulents such as sedum and Senecio.
You could choose succulents with numerous heights to make this more interesting. Instead of that, you may come up with a uniform prototype of succulents which are in the same size. Apart from all these, if you are more excited to add more colors and textures, you could adjust your succulent arrangement based on that concept too.
There are some succulents which contain fantastic texture formations. For example, succulents such as Gasteria, Aloe and Haworth carry an interesting texture with them along with markings in white. Apart from this, cactus adds a pretty texture to its spines as well for its branches too. Moreover, succulents like Euphorbia have a vast range of growth patterns and so many textures.
Care level
In terms of the requirements, you need to ensure that you fulfill their care treatments so that they can grow vigorously and happily. It is vital to fulfill the succulents’ sunlight requirement as it is very important when it comes to providing proper care level. Majority of the succulents will do well if they get morning sunlight and shade in the afternoon hours.
As such, not all succulents will thrive well under full shade when you grow them indoors. There could be certain succulents which would love to grow under bright sunlight throughout the day.
In case you blend succulents which have different sunlight requirements, you will not come across any problems at the beginning. Over time, you could spot repercussions of that such as succulents, stems stretching, sun burns etc.
In addition to sunlight requirements, you need to water them properly and need to apply fertilizers as appropriate too. Moreover, you need to make sure that you provide them with a proper soil mix and an appropriate pot as well.
Water requirement
Providing these succulents with a proper amount of water is equally important as providing sunlight requirements. Many of these succulents can withstand the drought conditions and can survive without for sometime.
On the other hand, there could be some succulents which require water more often. You could identify their water requirement simply by observing the thickness of their leaves.
For example, succulents such as Sedum adolphii, Pachyveria Empress or Moonstones contain thick leaves, and they can survive without water for a longer period. However there are succulent types such as Flapjack, Lavender Scallop and Portulacaria afra which contain slender eaves. As such you need to water them more often.
However, it is possible for you to pair the succulents which have different necessities in watering, but when you water them, you need to be very cautious. You simply have to water the plants thoroughly which have slender leaves and you should ensure that it doesn’t reach the plants which have thick leaves. It would be safer if you could use a syringe or a water bottle to water them.
Light requirement
The most crucial factor when it comes to care treatments is their sunlight requirement. Majority of the succulents will do well if they get morning sunlight and shade in the afternoon hours. Not all succulents will thrive well under full shade when you grow them indoors. There could be certain succulents which would love to grow under bright sunlight throughout the day.
In case you mix succulents which have different sunlight requirements, you will not come across any problems at the beginning. Over time, you could spot repercussions of that such as succulent’s, stems stretching, sun burns etc. Some succulents will start to stress too, while others end up getting sun burns.
Nutrient requirement
Generally, succulents grow in low nutrient environments. However, succulents would also love to have some fertilizers for their proper growth. Generally, once a year feeding is adequate for succulent’s survival. You could use a well-balanced organic fertilizer for this purpose. You could cut the dose into half and then apply at the start of their growing season.
Color combination
Succulents’ colors are the highlight of them. They have a wide array of colors which are very attractive. They form in almost all the colors and the only exception of the color would be deep blue.
On top of that, they have got a unique feature in them to intensify their color when they are exposed to intense sunlight. They do this as a natural defensive way to protect them from climate changes. This characteristic makes them prettier.
Succulents have their own uniqueness and attractiveness and on top of that when you make a succulent arrangement with succulents with different colors it will make them more attractive. You could use a simple color concept for a succulent arrangement.
In addition to that, you could use succulents which contain complementary colors for this purpose too. Ideally, the opposite colors you could spot on the color wheel like green and red for instance. If not, Blue and orange, or even purple and yellow etc. You could spot Red and Greens among the succulents naturally. Hence, an arrangement like this is very attractive to form.
Soil type
You should utilize a well-draining cactus mix or succulent mix for this. Apart from that, you could amend the potting soil with some coarse perlite, crushed lava or even some pumice which will make the draining faster. For example, one part amendment and four parts potting mix would be very handy here.
Pot type
You need to consider pots and containers also when you are pairing succulents. You should select the proper container with good drainage this purpose. When selecting this, you need to select a pot with whatever color you wish to have along with the shape and with the texture as you desire.
When you select a pot along with these features then they will add more attractive contrast to the succulent arrangement. It is important to select the pot carefully as they have numerous forms of top dressings like pebbles or broken blocks.
Height differences
It is vital to be aware of the peak and on the specific colocation to locate them in a place where they could co exist healthily. You may have an exceptional thriller, a filler and a spiller in the arrangement. If you use succulents which are higher for thriller will make the whole of it look eye-catching. On the other hand, when you use shorter succulents, it could give a more filling look.
Moreover, you may place some spiller trailing succulents to finish the succulent arrangement in a more attractive manner. It is an easy process to do.
Growing speed of different plants
It would be healthy and better if you could choose succulents which have similar necessities to pair the succulents best. That is simply because there are so many succulent types, and their necessities would be somewhat different to each other. They could keep the same look of the entire succulent arrangement for a longer period.
For instance, if we take the Jade plant and California sunsets, Jade plant’s growth period falls in winter whereas California sunsets grow in summer. As such, you should avoid pairing them. So when you are planning to pair succulents, you need to pay special attention to their growing season.
You could plant succulents such as Agave, Echeveria and Sempervivum together as they are some winter dormant succulents. When you grow them together, they look fantastic. On the other hand, Aeonium, Aloe, Graptopetalum and Kalanchoe would be a great combination when you want to grow succulents of the same season together.
best succulents to pair together
You could plant Graptopetalum, Aeonium, Aloe, Crassula, Gasteria, Graptoveria, Pachyphytum and Haworthia together as they are the types of succulents which go dormant in the summer season.
Moreover, you could grow plants such as Echeveria, Sempervivum, Agave, Adenium, Euphorbia and Lithops too. They are the plants which go dormant in the winter season.
As you see, different types of succulents go into dormancy during different times of the year. As such you should grow the succulents together which fall in the same category.
How many succulents can you plant together?
It depends on you and it is up to you to select the number of plants you wish to plant together. If you wish you could plant just one or maybe two or three or even more. I am going to explain this further by using a wall planter as an example.
Wall planters
It is a trend among the gardeners to grow succulents to decorate a space be it indoor or outdoor. It is lovely to watch these succulents grow and it brings a lot of freshness and liveness to wherever we place them.
When we think of displaying succulents in different ways, a wall garden would be very useful and eye-catching. This is kind of like a vertical garden which we could hang and display on the wall.
You could plant the succulents in individual pots and then hang on the wall. However, you could also plant them in wall planters and display them in a larger arena of the wall. If you wish, you could make it smaller too. No matter if you make it smaller or larger, succulents will grace the entire location and will look even better when you plant them vertically.
Outdoors – You could make different ledges depending on your wish. No matter what, you should provide enough draining holes into that. When you make this, you could choose the cascading succulent so that it will give an impression of a living wall.
Ledges could be up near a wall or even leave it freestanding. You need to have them to support the succulent wall planters. That will avoid transferring the weight and the moisture to anywhere else.
Indoors – For an example, if you take Sempervivums , you could use it as a plant material for little living walls. They form a firm root system to hold soil in. you could find them in various colorful rosette formations. Further they could withstand the weather conditions as well.
If you wish to add more color and interest, you may combine this with a plant like stonecrop. You should keep the little living walls in frames horizontally until the roots form to hold the plants firmly.
How to treat paired succulents
First, you need to select healthy succulents. Make sure that they have their full shapes and in proper color. Most importantly ensure that they are healthy plants without any infections.
You need to choose the most appropriate soil type. It is important that you provide them a fast-draining soil type. You could ideally use a cactus mix or a succulent soil mix for this purpose. Moreover, you could add some pumice if you want to fasten the drainage.
Apart from that, ensure that you choose proper pots or containers which have enough draining holes. So that the water could move through the daring holes effectively. Water them adequately.
You should adjust watering according to the signs you get from the succulents’ leaves, so that all of them can thrive well. When watering make sure you do it only when the soil is dry which is a standard procedure of watering the succulents. Remove all the unwanted additional water.
Provide them with a proper level of sunlight. you should at least provide them with four to six hours of sunlight for them to thrive well. Apply fertilizers as appropriate. Finally, you should keep the plants looking good and healthy by taking off the dead, older and decaying leaves.
Consequently, that will help to make the plant look better and it will keep the bugs and insects away too.
Can cacti and succulents be planted together?
It is possible to plant cacti and succulents together. Once you grow them together, they make a great display for your indoor greenery. Special thing about it is that it does not require a lot of care if you fulfill its basic requirements.
Can you plant aloe vera with other succulents?
You can plant other succulents with Aloe Vera. In fact, Aloe Vera itself is a succulent type. They could make a great pair with winter dormant succulents such as Agave. In addition to Agave, they will grow well with Echeveria and with Sempervivum too. If you wish to add some succulents which go dormant in summer, you may add Aeonium, Aloe, Graptopetalum and Kalanchoe too.
How do you combine succulents?
You could combine succulents with the plants which have different necessities in water. However, you need to water the succulents which have slender leaves more and make sure that they do not over water the plants which have fat leaves.
Moreover, as per above, you could combine succulents and grow if they have the same growth patterns, same light requirements too.
Do succulents like to be crowded?
Succulents do not prefer to grow faster when they are in crowded arrangements. When it has more space, it will tend to grow rapidly. For example, you should refrain from planting a 2-inch succulent in a one gallon container. When they fill the 4-inch containers with their root spread and with the growth of the plant, you need to report them in a slightly larger pot.
Conclusion on Best Succulents To Pair Together
When buying two succulents to pair together, look for succulents with similar care and water requirements. Succulents with different light requirements shouldn’t be paired because they will likely require different conditions, but if they have very similar light requirements and can both tolerate more shade or less direct sunlight, feel free to pair them up.
When bringing succulents together that are alike in these other areas, pay attention to the size of their root and caudex systems. When you’re ready for your plants to grow and evolve, you can plant them side by side in a large container.
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