Eden Project horticulturist Colin Skelly shares his top tips to help you successfully grow and care for these intriguing plants.
Yes, succulents can absolutely thrive outdoors during summer! As an experienced succulent grower, I’m excited to share everything you need to know about transitioning these beautiful plants outside for the warm season. With proper care and the right approach, your succulents can flourish in outdoor conditions.
When to Move Succulents Outside for Summer
The timing of moving succulents outdoors is crucial for their success Here’s what we recommend
- Wait until temperatures consistently stay between 60-80°F (15-30°C)
- Avoid moving plants out when temperatures drop below 40°F or rise above 90°F
- For most areas, early to mid-May is ideal
- Use a gradual transition process:
- Start with 1-2 hours outside daily
- Bring plants in at night initially
- Slowly increase outdoor time over 7-10 days
- This prevents shock from sudden environment changes
Best Succulent Types for Outdoor Summer Growing
Not all succulents are created equal when it comes to outdoor living! These varieties are proven champions for summer outdoor growing
Highly Recommended Varieties:
- Sedums (Stonecrop)
- Sempervivums (Hens and Chicks)
- Echeverias
- Aeoniums
- Agaves
- Crassula (Jade Plant)
- Senecio
- Hardy cacti species
Avoid These Outdoors:
- Lithops (Living Stones)
- Haworthias
- Delicate, newly propagated succulents
Essential Care Tips for Outdoor Succulents
Sunlight Requirements
We’ve found that most succulents need:
- 6+ hours of direct sunlight daily
- Morning sun exposure is ideal
- Protection from intense afternoon sun
- Regular rotation of pots for even growth
Soil and Drainage
Getting the soil mix right is super important! Here’s our tried-and-true mix:
- 2/3 regular potting soil
- 1/3 coarse sand, perlite, or grit
- Always use pots with drainage holes
- Elevate pots to prevent water pooling
Watering Schedule
One of the biggest mistakes I see is overwatering Here’s what works
- Water every 3-5 days depending on climate
- Always check soil dryness before watering
- Water early morning to allow evaporation
- Reduce watering if rain is expected
Temperature Management
Keep an eye on those temps:
- Ideal range: 60-80°F
- Protect from extreme heat above 90°F
- Move to shelter if temps drop below 40°F
- Monitor local weather forecasts
Common Challenges and Solutions
Problem: Sunburn
- Signs: Brown or white patches on leaves
- Solution: Gradually increase sun exposure, provide afternoon shade
Problem: Pest Infestations
- Common pests: Mealybugs, aphids, spider mites
- Solutions:
- Regular inspections
- Manual removal
- Insecticidal soap treatment
- Good air circulation
Problem: Root Rot
- Signs: Mushy stems, yellowing leaves
- Prevention:
- Well-draining soil
- Proper watering schedule
- Good air circulation
- Quick action if symptoms appear
Preparing for Winter
Don’t forget about the end of summer! Here’s what we do:
- Start transition indoors when nights get cool
- Gradually reduce watering
- Stop fertilizing
- Clean plants before bringing inside
- Check for pests
- Prepare indoor growing space
Pro Tips from Our Experience
After years of growing succulents outdoors, here are some insider tips:
- Group similar plants together for easier care
- Use light-colored pots to prevent root overheating
- Place gravel or rocks on soil surface for better drainage
- Keep a spray bottle handy for spot cleaning
- Take photos to track plant progress
- Mark calendar for seasonal care changes
Final Thoughts
Growing succulents outside in summer isn’t just possible – it’s awesome! These tough little plants can create stunning outdoor displays with the right care. Remember, every garden is different, so don’t be afraid to experiment and adjust these guidelines to fit your specific situation.
We’d love to hear about your outdoor succulent adventures! What varieties have worked best in your garden? Drop a comment below and share your experience with our succulent-loving community!
Looking for more succulent care tips? Check out our other guides on propagation, winter care, and creative succulent displays!
Succulents: the wow factor
From tree-sized aloes to ground-hugging houseleeks no bigger than a coin, succulents are a real statement plant. Their striking forms and beautiful rosettes have a habit of stopping people in their tracks. And some, like the spiral aloe, have got to be the most pleasing embodiment of the Fibonacci sequence found in nature.
They’re so versatile, too. Succulents look great grown together in pots on a patio, or as table-top decoration; they can give summer borders an exotic feel, or pique interest on a sunny windowsill. Featuring a whole range of colours and textures, from shiny dark leaves and furry greens to powdery silvers and crimson tints, there is a succulent to suit everyone.
The good news is that they’re surprisingly easy to grow. Read on to find out how to care for succulents, which types to grow, and even how to propagate them…
Top tips for succulent growing
A little preparation will go a long way to achieving success; get it right and succulents will provide you with a stunning display and minimal maintenance.
Many gardeners choose to grow succulents in pots in a conservatory or greenhouse, so they can be moved in and out as the seasons change, to avoid frost damage. However, succulents can also be grown outdoors all year where conditions – or dogged refusal to accept defeat – allow.
A south-facing wall with free-draining soil is ideal, and the use of shelters and horticultural fleece will allow many succulents to survive even hard UK winters. Many can cope with quite cold conditions, being used to extreme temperatures in their native ranges – but do take care to not let them get waterlogged in winter.
If you want to grow succulents indoors, you’ll need a really bright location, such as a windowsill. While some succulents grow leggy if grown indoors for long periods (Echeveria and Aeonium), others have evolved to thrive underneath other larger plants, so can deal with being inside in an airy spot. Succulents suitable as house plants include: Crassula ovata (jade plant), Aloe vera, Haworthia fasciata (zebra plant), Gasteria and Kalanchoe tomentosa(panda plant)
Despite being adapted to drought and high light levels, many succulents grow in quite shady spots in their native ranges.
The ideal place for them at home would be a bright spot that gets sun for most of the day, but you should keep an eye on your plants on hot days.
Some succulents can even scorch in strong sunlight, especially in conservatories or greenhouses, leading them to close up their rosettes for the summer and become dormant. Artificial shading can help prevent this heat stress.
Succulents’ tolerance for drought means they can be safely left while you go on your summer holiday. That said, they will appreciate regular watering in dry summer weather. The general rule is to allow the pot to get quite dry and then thoroughly re-soak the compost. With good watering and shading you should be able to extend the natural growing season of many succulents beyond the shoulder months of the summer.
The amounts of light and water that a succulent gets throughout the year can have dramatic effects on a succulent’s colour. In winter, they are quite green, but as light levels increase, coloured forms take on their darker tones. When stressed by lack of water, even green succulents take on red, pink and yellow tints. Often this is when they look most dazzling. That’ one of the delights of growing succulents, but can also make you wonder if your label is correct!
As a rule of thumb, plants stay restricted to the root space given to them. Even an Echeveria or Sedum that would normally grow quite large will quite happily hold at a smaller size when planted into a smaller pot. But remember: for that exotic effect in borders you need big plants, and for this you need big pots!
In the wild, many succulents grow at high altitudes with heavy rainfall, but with rapid drainage too. Others have evolved to survive in very dry environments. Recreate this natural habitat when potting up by adding a third of coarse sand, grit or perlite to two-thirds of compost.
If keeping plants in a pot over winter, change the compost in spring. Do this by lifting the plant out of its pot, knock most of the old compost off the root ball and replant. This is especially important for plants in small pots.
Where plants have become leggy, a length of stem can be buried and it will root easily.
If a plant becomes too tall or you’d just like to propagate more, cut off a rosette with a 10cm stem, insert it into some gritty compost and it will root easily.
This is best done in late spring or early autumn. Some succulents produce offsets or ‘pups’ by themselves, which develop into new plants.
With attractive markings and an usual wavy leaf edge, this species is a bit hardier than some succulents, its native habitat being the mountains of Tenerife. Watch out for winter rotting in the UK. Full sun.
This cultivar gets the ‘cyclops’ name from its one large rosette with a dark green centre. It can reach 50cm across on a stem up to around 1.5 metres tall. Full sun.
Perhaps the best known Aeonium with flat rosettes, those of the tabuliforme can grow up to 50cm in diameter in favourable conditions. Partial shade.
A hairy-leaved succulent with a silvery, shiny appearance featuring rosettes 20-30cm across, Echeveria pulvinata is available in many different cultivars. An easy succulent to propagate, as it offsets freely. Full sun.
A structural Echeveria that can grow quite large (around 30cm diameter by 20cm height) and in certain cultivars has a beautiful red tone. Full sun/partial shade.
This trailing succulent is also known as burro’s tails and is really useful for pot displays. It trails indefinitely and offsets, and also grows new plants freely from its leaves. Full sun.
With a stunning spiral leaf structure, this aloe is accustomed to cool, moist conditions from its native mountainous Lesotho, making it a great candidate for UK gardens. An endangered species, it is hard to obtain from seed, but is becoming more freely available through tissue culture carried out in labs. Full sun/partial shade.
A fantastically structural succulent, the large fan aloe is ideal for potting up inside a conservatory or greenhouse, as it’s happy outside during the summer, but needs winter protection. Full sun.
A native of the southern Alps, this species is the only succulent that is fully hardy in the UK – although it will require good drainage. It also spreads easily, so can cover a lot of ground! Full sun/partial shade.
Commonly known as the rat-tail Crassula, this succulent is great fun. With its unusual structure it looks particularly good as a textural contrast when planted in pots with other succulents. Full sun/partial shade.
How to Bring SUCCULENTS Outside Correctly for Summer – Top 3 Tips
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