Cactus & Succulents Grow Season Goals
12-minute read
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Do you have goals for your plants? Maybe you do and don’t even realize it. I have recently started really cracking down with setting goals for my plants.
Going into this summer growing season I realized that some of my cacti have been with me some years now and haven’t really grown much. While cacti are slow growers, I just truly feel like they can grow a lot more if I focus on them and give them a better plant care routine to size them up.
So, I have decided to put some goals in place for this growing season for all of my cacti and succulents. Let’s get some goals in place for your plants too!
In this blog post I will cover my process of setting plant goals and how I will introduce these new habits to obtain those goals:
Table of Contents
Vision
Having a vision for your plants will help to establish your plant goals. For example, I want to size up my cacti collection and grow them into a healthier state. Ways to help with your plant vision:
Do a google image search for the species of plants you have and find the image you consider the biggest and most glamorous for that plant.
If your plant was once in a more glamourous state, find photos of it then and visualize your plant back in that state of health.
If you are extra inspired, make a vision board or photo collage of your plants.
And don’t forget to take before and after the growing season photos and progress along the way pics.
Using Canva is a fun way to create your own plant vision board and/ or photo collages.
The top pic is a golden barrel that is wide and round, mine is currently taller and skinnier. I want this wide barrel look.
The middle pic is a Starfish cactus. I would love for mine to sun stress nicely to that purple color and bloom.
The bottom pic is Lifesaver cactus. This plant is new to me, I have wanted one for a long time. Mine is just a baby so I am not expecting a lot, but some growth and sun stress to this blue color would be nice. If he blooms this summer, I will be so overjoyed!
Location
Ok, so now that you have a vision for your plants, think about how you are going to get them to this new vision. To start with you will need to place your plants in the most ideal location.
Whether it’s a cactus that can go outside for the summer and reap the rewards of hours and hours of high sunlight or a lower light loving plant you can place under a grow light to get more growth find your optimal location and place it.
Things to consider with location:
Hours and intensity of sunlight or grow light
Temperature and humidity, good air flow
Stability and pests or critters that may disturb it
Weather and environmental changes if placed outside
(for example, if you place outside and get heavy rainfall, you may need to shelter it from the rain some of the time or it will be too wet)
Pots & Soil/Substrates
Check your plants to be sure they are in optimal conditions with their pots and substrates they are growing in. I have recently posted about things to consider when selecting pots for your plants and my favorite DIY substrates. Check out the posts here.
7 Things to Consider when Selecting Pots for Your Plants
5 DIY Substrates You Will Love
After reading these you may find doing a repot for your plants may be necessary. If so, get that done as soon as possible so your plant has time to rebound and get growing in better conditions.
Pest Prevention
Check your plants for signs of pest infestation. Do a thorough check of every leaf, stem, and soil to ensure there aren’t any underlying pests preventing your plant from thriving.
If you do find pests, it’s ok! It happens to everyone at one time or another. Pests are part of growing plants, you are not doing anything wrong, they just come for your plants.
If you find an invasion, be quick to treat it. I suggest doing at least 2-3 rounds of treatment and checking daily to be sure the problem is solved.
If there are no signs of pests you are good but may want to research using a preventative to keep your plants pest free. Research beneficial mites or you can take the chemical approach and use systemics or neem oil depending on the pests your plant may attract.
Checking your plants daily or at least at every watering is ideal to keep the pest infestations to a minimum. Also, giving your plants a shower every 2 weeks or so is a good idea to keep leaves clean and pest free.
Temperature and Humidity
It’s important to know what temperature range and humidity range your plants like being held at. Most of the time, most house plants enjoy 60-85 degrees Fahrenheit and 50-70 percent humidity.
However, not all plants fall into these ranges. It’s best to research what ranges are best for your species of plants.
I suggest getting an inexpensive gauge to measure these two to place near your plants so that you can help to adjust and maintain optimal ranges. Here are the ones I use.
You may find your environment is too dry. Adding a humidifier can help to increase the humidity in the area. Or opposite, using a dehumidifier may be necessary if your plant location is staying too humid.
Also, adding a fan for proper air circulation is good for indoor plants or plants placed in a cabinet or grow tent.
Supplies
Having the proper supplies on hand is good too. Last thing you want to happen is to run out of your fertilizer and have to wait for it to arrive. Keeping everything together and on hand needed for your grow season is best practice.
Order ahead for the upcoming grow season and take inventory throughout the grow season to ensure you have all your plant supplies readily available is best.
Lighting
We have already discussed this a bit in the location section, but you may need to buy a grow light. Also, depending on your schedule you may need to be sure your grow light is on a timer.
Technology these days is bliss! If you have a hectic schedule and you know you will not remember to turn on and off a grow light for the allotted 8 hours of light your plant needs to thrive, get yourself these.
These plug-in adapters are a savior. Plug your plant grow lights into them and control when the light needs to go off and on from an app on your phone. How convenient is that? Awesome right?
Watering
When to water? How much water? Always good questions and the answer here, may disappoint you. Because it is not an exact science. I like to think of watering as more of an art.
You have to get to know your plant because everyone is different and requires different watering needs.
Here’s a little check list to help optimize a watering routine for your plants.
Place your plants in their ideal environment, location, location, location
Be sure they are in a pot that has good drainage and in a well-draining substrate
Monitor that your temperatures and humidity are on point
Be sure you are giving your plants sufficient lighting
Ensure there is good air flow around your plants as well
Here is the method I use for the majority of my plants, and it has worked for years now. I water my plants thoroughly until the water runs out of the bottom of the pot.
Then I keep track of how long the plant’s substrate stays wet. Normally this is a 4-to-10-day range. Thirstier plants usually need water every 4 to 7 days in the normal growing season and grown in their optimal environment.
Your plants that hold more water in their foliage, like cacti, succulents, and plants that like to be drier will normally fall under the 6-to-10-day range. Of course, this is not always the case.
That’s why you will water your plant then keep track of the water drying progress. Check your plant on day 2 after the water. If it’s still got moisture check again in another 2 days. If your plant is dry after only 2-3 days, then you may need to repot it into a bigger pot. It is drying out too quickly which hints that its root bound.
If on day 4 your plant is 75 percent dry to touch, then you will want to water it on day 5 to 6. If it’s completely dry water on day 4.
If on day 4 your plant is still good, then check again in 2 days. By day 6 your plant should be drying out some. If it is not, you may have your plant in too big of a pot or too heavy of a substrate. Your plants should be drying out by this point.
Now giving a dry period is good too. To do this you will want to let your plant dry out to at least 75 percent then wait 2 days check again and if completely dry you will want to water. If it is still holding onto moisture give it another 2 days and check back in.
Most house plants growing in optimal conditions want to be mostly dry before watering again. I normally water my plants 1-2 times a week during growing season. Thirstier plants will need to be rehydrated about every 4 to 5 days and my plants that retain more moisture I usually hit with water once a week. (during the normal growing season)
If your plants are outside in direct sunlight and it has been extremely hot you may have to check them daily. They may need watering more often during times of intense heat. If they are constantly drying out, you may have to adjust their sunlight.
In summertime lots of my plants live outdoors in direct sunlight and need watered 2 times a week. If I am having to water more often then that, then I will move them into a spot that gets some shade.
Like I say watering plants is an art, not a science. If you are a new plant parent, you will just have to monitor your plants in the beginning until you get the feel for the plants and how often they need water. You’ve got this!
Fertilizing
Feeding your plants is a necessary for optimal growth during the growing season. And depending on the substrate and conditions your plants are growing in; they may need fertilizers year-round.
But to simplify, plan on fertilizing your plants April through October on a regular basis. I could write a whole book on fertilizing plants, but for the sake of this blog post I will spare you all the nitty gritty details and give you the basics.
Simply fertilize your plants with a good quality fertilizer every other watering. I fertilize all of my plants April through October every other time I water them. This works well for me.
Note: there are so many factors that can make this vary. Do some research if you want to optimize your fertilization.
Repotting
We have already covered quite a bit about when and reasons why to repot so I am going to keep this short and sweet.
I normally do the majority of my repotting in springtime. April and May, I will repot, repot, repot so that my plants have room to grow during the growing season.
Some of my plants are good to go through another growing season without needing a repot. if they are strong and healthy, growing at a normal rate, and not rooting out of their pots then they are good until the following spring.
So a good rule of thumb is every 1-2 years repotting your plants.
Expectations to this is if you have baby plants or have brought home a new plant. Then you will need to repot more often until the plant has reached its mature stage.
Repotting tips:
Repotting is a stressful time for your plants so doing these things can help your plant to make the transition less stressful.
Be sure your plant has been watered recently before repotting; it’s not a good idea to repot a dry plant.
Be sure you are not behind on fertilizing
Be sure your plant is in healthy condition
Be sure you are only moving up 1-2 pot sizes
I highly recommend using mycorrhizae when repotting
Check the root health of your plants, but its best to disturb the roots as little as possible
Be sure the new pot and substrate provides stability for your plant
Be sure to check on your plant and keep it well watered after the repot
You may need to water it a little more often for a couple weeks after the repot
Monitoring your plant is much needed post repot
Checking in on it
The best way to reach your plant goals is to keep on top of checking on your plants. If you scout a location and do all of the above, you should make great progress.
However, if you get your plants situated and leave them and go on vacation for 2 weeks, chances are your plants are not going to meet the goals you have set for them.
During the growing season I check on my plants daily. If I miss a day I get right back on checking in the very next day. This may be too time-consuming for your lifestyle.
You don’t have to check in daily like me. I also care for over 200 plants. If you have a smaller plant collection twice a week should suffice.
Documenting Progress
I strongly suggest taking at least monthly pics of your plants. I like to check in and take pics about every 2 to 4 weeks. You will see big changes in a few short weeks if you are giving your plants everything they need.
I love looking through my spring plant photos and comparing them to my fall plant photos. Pictures really do show what is working and what is not for your plants.
Last growing season I did not focus as much on my cacti and succulent collection and because of this I see in my photos that my cacti do not look much different in October photos as they did in my May photos.
However, this growing season I have set these plant goals for them, and I have already recorded significant growth progress in photos.
Don’t forget to pin it!
Researching
Finally, researching is the most important thing you can do when growing plants. I have read so many blog posts, articles, books, and Facebook posts on growing plants.
Social media is an endless resource for learning all about growing plants. If you are new to house plants, I suggest joining a Facebook group where you can learn so much from others.
Also, spending a little time on YouTube can pay off. I have learned even more from following my favorite plant content creators.
Reading about, asking questions, and trying things is worth it to become a better plant parent.
In conclusion, setting plant goals is one of the best ways to learn about growing plants and knowing what does and doesn’t work. Don’t beat yourself up if you have a plant that takes a setback from your goals, it happens sometimes.
But overall, you should have plant goals in place and see your progress.
Let’s grow together as plant parents!
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