How to Replant Succulents Successfully

There are a few reasons why you would want to replant your succulents and in this article, I’ll talk about each of the reasons and share tips on how to replant successfully!

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Whether you’ve been growing succulents for years or you’re just getting started there is always something more to learn!

I remember when I first got interested in succulent plants and how overwhelmed I felt with all there was to learn.

But the more I’ve learned the more I’ve realized how easy it can really be and that I was really just overthinking it!

As long as you know the couple basics such as not overwatering and planting in a good succulent soil mix, everything else should fall into place.

How to Replant Succulents

First, let’s go over a few of the most common reasons why you would replant your succulents, to begin with.

1.) You bought succulents and need to transplant them into the ground or into a pot.

2.) You propagated succulents and want to plant them.

3.) Your succulents are outgrowing their current pot.

No matter what your reason is, if you follow all the tips below your succulents should grow beautifully!

Step 1: Remove all the dirt from the roots.

Whether you are transplanting the succulent from another pot or digging it up from the ground, it’s important to remove the dirt.

It’s really common to buy succulents that are not planted in potting soil suited for succulent plants.

You’ll often buy a succulent and then when you take it out of the pot all the soil is stuck to its roots like in the picture below.

If it isn’t well-draining soil stuck around the roots the soil will eventually stay wet for too long which can cause root rot.

Step 2: Break up roots if needed.

Sometimes when you remove a succulent from a pot it will have huge root balls that are all bunched together.

If that’s the case it’s perfectly okay to break them up or even remove some of the roots before replanting.

Step 3: Choose a pot with drainage or an area in the ground with well-draining soil.

If you’re going to plant your succulents in a pot the most important thing is that it has drainage holes.

If you find a pot you love but it doesn’t have drainage you can drill your own. Learn to drill your own drain holes here.

Or if you’re feeling really creative you can even build your own succulent planter box!

If you plant your succulents straight into the ground just make sure it’s an area suitable for the succulents you plant. Such as in the shade, full sun, partial sun, etc.

And make sure the soil is well-draining.

You don’t want to plant straight into the ground if you have clay soil because that holds onto too much water.

Step 4: For potted succulents, plant in a good quality succulent mix.

You can buy an already mixed succulent soil such as Bonsai Jack Cactus & Succulent Mix or Superfly Bonsai Succulent Mix.

Or you can even make your own succulent soil.

Step 5: Plant complimenting succulents.

By this, I mean planting succulents together that require similar needs.

If the succulent requires full sun but you want to put the pot in the shade on the porch choose a succulent variety that prefers shade, such as String of Bananas.

If you want your succulents to be indoors choose indoor varieties such as Panda Plant and Zebra Plant.

Or if you want your succulents to be in full sun choose a sun-loving variety such as Blue Chalk Sticks.

There are so many types of succulents out there to choose from that all require different needs but with just a bit of research, you can find ones that will work perfectly for you!

If you’re a zone 9b gardener be sure to check out The Best Succulents for Zone 9b here!

Succulent Care Tips

Once you replant your succulents the right way following all the steps above, you’re more than halfway to success!

But the tips below are just as important so that your succulents can continue growing healthy and beautiful!

1.) Water Deeply Versus Just Misting

It’s pretty common to see people just misting their succulents with a spray bottle but that’s really not effective.

The key is watering deeply and infrequently versus just a mist all the time.

2.) Get On a Watering Schedule

For the most part, succulents are drought tolerant and they store water in their leaves which means they don’t need to be watered often.

An underwatered succulent can almost always recover, but an overwatered succulent will turn to mush.

So the best thing to do is to start off by only watering every 2-3 weeks, working your way down to possibly once or twice a week to test out what is needed.

This will all change depending on the weather as well.

For example, in the summer when it’s blazing hot you can usually water 2-3 times per week and be good.

But in winter you may only need to water once a month.

3.) Treat Pests Immediately if Spotted

A common succulent pest is a mealybug and if you come across them it’s important to get rid of them as soon as possible!

You can learn how to spot and kill mealybugs here.

Learn more in my YouTube Video below!