Repotting An Overgrown Succulent Arrangement

 

🌸Spring is upon us...the garden is waiting.

In today's blog I will take one of my old potted succulent arrangements that has been sitting outside in the same spot for several months now going through nature's elements, and make it new again.

Feeling Spring around the corner has motivated me to deconstruct this arrangement and while I'm at it, take a few photos and explain to you every step of the way on how to properly clean and repot your arrangement using old and new succulents. Thanks*   

succulent blog by succy crafts

Materials:

  1. succulent cleaning kit
  2. cactus soil
  3. pruning shears
  4. stones
  5. knitting needle

Succulents:

  1. Echeveria 'Dusty Rose'
  2. Echeveria Subsessilis 'Morning Beauty'
  3. Echeveria Pulidonis
  4. Echeveria 'Purple Pearl'
  5. Sedeveria 'Blue Burrito

Procedure... 

succulent arrangement by succy crafts

Time to put on your garden boots and reach for your broom, the days have become longer thanks to daylight saving time, the air is still cool and crisp but slightly more acceptable to be out and about in your garden to get your hands dirty in some beautiful succulents.

I made this succulent arrangement about eight months ago in a nice round hypertufa pot. It lives in my backyard and is provided with bright indirect sunlight all day. The sedeveria has grown top heavy due to its vigorous growth and is now spilling over the planter. The dusty rose has doubled in size as well as the pulidonis that has grown a pup and also a slender stem of beautiful yellow blooms.

sedveria blue burrito by succy crafts

echeveria dusty rose by succy crafts

echeveria pulidonis by succy crafts

echeveria subsessilis morning beauty by succy crafts

sedeveria by succy crafts

succulent blooms by succy crafts

Time to reach for my pruning shears and chop the three sedeverias in half.     

sedeveria succulent by succy crafts

sedeveria #1...pruning your succulents blog by succy crafts

succulent care guide by succy crafts

succulent pruning guide by succy crafts

sedeveria #2...

succulent garden blog by succy crafts

caring for succulents by succy crafts

sedeveria #3...

arranging with succulents by succy crafts

garden blog by succy crafts

I was left with three overgrown stumps with thick juicy leaves for future sedeveria pups. The photos below will show you how to pluck succulent leaves off stems and propagate them in small 2 inch nursery pots. 

sedeveria blue burrito succulent care by succy crafts

Plucking succulent leaves off is easy, simply give the leaf a nice tug to the side and POP it's off! I've noticed that the chubbier the leaf is, the easier it is to pull off and they propagate much faster than the thinner leaf succulent types.

succulent blog with succulents by succy crafts

succulent propagation by succy crafts

plant propagation blog by succy crafts

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I placed a few of my leaves right on top of cactus soil in 2 inch nursery pots and will keep them in a shaded location and wait for them to root, which can take several weeks, once I see the roots growing I will start to mist them with water using a spay bottle every few days. Eventually a new succulent pup will grow from the leaf and fill in the nursery pot.  

succulent plants by succy crafts

Soon I was left with nothing but bare stems. Fun Fact: succulent stems can be replanted in fresh cactus soil and will grow brand new pups from the nods of the stem. Plant nods are the indentations left from a past existing leaf. Pretty cool right?!!👍🏼

Using my pruning shears I digged into the soil and cut the stem with succulent pups growing on it and made sure to leave some fresh roots on the stem for a faster recovery from the shock of being cut off and replanted. The photo below will show exactly what I'm talking about. 

arranging succulents guide by succy crafts

succulent pups by succy crafts

succulents are beautiful blog by succy crafts

I will keep my succulent stem in a shaded bright location and wait for my succulent pups to grow double in size, before snipping them off the stem for future succulent arrangements. 

succy crafts succulent guide

succulent plant by succy crafts

Once I finished planting my sedeveria stem I cleaned off all of the stones from the planter...

succulent top dress by succy crafts

repotting your succulents blog by succy crafts

After I cleaned off the stones I cleaned under all of the succulents and plucked off the wilted dried up leaves. I also snipped off the succulent bloom from the pulidonis. 

cleaning succulents by succy crafts 

how to clean your succulents by succy crafts

garden cleaning guide by succy crafts

spring cleaning guide by succy crafts

garden spring cleaning by succy crafts

succulent blooms by succy crafts

clean your succulent planters by succy crafts

After I pulled the dead leaves, I started to gently pull out the remaining three succulents from the planter. 

planting succulents by succy crafts

echeveria pulidonis by succy crafts

cleaning succulent plants by succy crafts

succulent cuttings by succy crafts

Now with nothing left but old soil, I dumped it into the trash and washed off my planter and filled it with fresh cactus soil.

how to clean your succulent planters by succy crafts

succulent design by succy crafts

Time to redo my planter!! Starting with my Echeveria 'Dusty Rose'.😁

echeveria dusty rose by succy crafts

I create a hole off center to the right and gently tucked in my succulent, anchoring it down by pressing down on the soil around it.  

planting succulents by succy crafts
arranging succulents by succy crafts

Time to use my cool air blower and blow the water and dirt off my succulent. 

garden cleaning kit by succy crafts

My Echeveria Subsessilis was planted next...echeveria subsessilis morning beauty

I tucked my morning beauty right next to the dusty rose and cleaned the soil around my planter using my brush.

succulent cleaning brush by succy crafts

succulent planter blog by succy crafts

Next up...my Echeveria Pulidonis!

how to plant succulents by succy crafts

garden planting blog by succy crafts

cleaning my garden blog by succy crafts

Sometime I use a knitting needle to clean debris in between my succulent leaves 😅 it gets the job done!

potting succulents blog by succy crafts

how to pot your succulents by succy crafts

It's already looking pretty...

succulent garden blog by succy crafts

Time to clean my pruned sedeverias, I gently pop off enough leaves to leave about 1 inch of the stem bare. You know what that means, more leaves to propagate! 

how to grow succulents by succy crafts

succulent propagation blog by succy crafts

how o propagate succulents by succy crafts

succulent spring cleaning blog by succy crafts

spring cleaning blog by succy crafts

how to keep your succulents healthy blog by succy crafts

Once my sedeveria's were cleaned, I tuck them here and there into my arrangement. You may have noticed that I didn't wait for my freshly cut sedeveria stems to dry and seal before replanting.

Because my stems are still fresh I will refrain from watering my new arrangement for at least 1 week, to help the fresh cut stems settle into the new soil and dry a bit.

The reason why I wait to water my arrangement is to avoid root rot on my freshly cut sedeveria stems. Freshly cut succulents (cuttings) are prone to rot or bacteria entering into the stem tissue. Waiting for your stems to dry and seal before replanting will give your succulents a better chance to grow healthy.

I did it for the sake of showing you the finished product for this blog. 😉 Though I have planted fresh cuttings on several occasions and have had great luck, by waiting to water them after planting. 

garden design blog by succy crafts

succulent photo blog by succy crafts

succulent photography by succy crafts

garden photo blog by succy craftsdesigning with succulents by succy crafts

Take a look! All my original succulents are newly planted, though as I have pointed out, there are two spaces or "holes" I would like to cover with two new succulents... 

repotting my succulents blog by succy crafts

I think another pink succulent will be a great addition to this arrangement since Spring is only a few days away it's totally appropriate!

I chose a small Echeveria 'Purple Pearl'.  

ecehevria 'purple pearl' by succy craftspotting succulents blog by succy craftsguide to potting succulents blog by succy craftssucculent plant blog by succy craftssucculent arrangement by succy crafts

The second new succulent I chose for this Spring arrangement was another Echeveria Subsessilis 'Morning beauty'. I often repeat succulents in the same arrangement, sometimes less is more*

echeveria succulent by succy craftsarranging succulents by succy crafts

The planting is done! I love it*💖

spring succulent arrangement by succy crafts

The finishing touches are next, a bit more of clean stones that I bought at my local Home Depot to fill in odd holes, it will also give it a more desert look with a soft touch. I carefully tuck the stones under the succulents to fill in the rim of the planter and in between the succulents.

top dress for succulent arrangements by succy crafts

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succulent air blower by succy crafts

succulent planter by succy crafts

My new succulent arrangement is officially done Succy Crafts Style* No more overgrown dirty succulents in this planter! I'm extremely proud of my new creation. Thank you for your precious time* May this Spring bring you many garden moments and more beautiful succulents of course! Thank You & ENJOY*🐝

Photo Shoot 📸 

At Succy Crafts we absolutely love to photograph our succulent garden and new creations. So here we goooooooo...! 

blog about succulents by succy crafts

Echeveria 'Dusty Rose' succulent by succy craftsecheveria pulidonis by succy craftssucculent container garden photography by succy craftsmixed succulent arrangement by succy craftssucculent varieties by succy crafts

Thanks again! Until next time my garden friends*💚

*Blog and photos created by Mel Zuniga*

 

 

 

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6 comments

Thank you so very much for the lessons in planting! I will use this as a “plan to go by”!

Melanie Parkett

Thank you so very much for the lessons in planting! I will use this as a “plan to go by”!

Melanie Parkett

Thank you so very much for the lessons in planting! I will use this as a “plan to go by”!

Melanie Parkett

I like how you did the step by step tutorial. I know how to propagate succulents but with your tutorial I learned more from it. Thank you Mel Zuniga.

Bernadette Delrosario

I like how you did the step by step tutorial. I know how to propagate succulents but with your tutorial I learned more from it. Thank you Mel Zuniga. Bernette Angelo

Bernadette Delrosario

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