Succulent soil simulates the natural conditions
Most succulent species thrive in desert-like conditions with lots of sun and little rain. The soil in its habitats contains only a small amount of humus. Inorganic, mineral components such as sand and stones dominate here. Specialized succulent soil is therefore offered in specialist shops with a different composition than conventional potting soil. If you would like to mix the substrate yourself, the following recipes have proven themselves in practice:
- Standard mixture: half of the pricking or potting soil and one mineral admixture
- 60 percent cactus soil, 20 percent seramis, 20 percent quartz sand
- 30 percent leaf compost, 30 percent peat, 20 percent lava granulate, (10.95 € on Amazon *) 20 percent pumice gravel
also read
- Mix the succulent soil yourself - how does it work?
- Good drainage properties are important for rock garden substrate
- What is the perfect cactus soil made of?
For the cultivation of large succulents, we recommend adding loamy garden soil to give the substrate additional stability. For the cultivation of leaf cacti, such as Schlumbergera, from the tropical rainforest, the humus content may be slightly higher.
The ideal substrate should be dimensionally stable and at the same time well permeable. At the end, do a stability test to put these two key criteria to the test. To do this, take the succulent soil in one hand and press it together. This pressed shape should only hold the substrate in place for a moment and then fall apart as soon as you open your hand.
Tips
With the addition of simple soil additives, you can transform fat, nutritious garden soil into permeable, poor succulent soil. So that hardy succulents thrive outside in the garden, mix in a handful of quartz sand, fine-grain chippings (€ 12.80 at Amazon *) or lava granules as part of the planting process.
