Following a brutal, early-September heat wave, I tackle common, post-summer succulent concerns. See them in my new six-minute video: Post-Summer Care for Succulents (6:49).
Video: Post-Summer Care for Succulents
It's a candid, warts-and-all, behind-the-scenes, damage-control assessment. You may notice that my garden is not quite the Eden I showed you six months ago in Debra Lee Baldwin's Idea-Filled Succulent Garden (15:00).
Yet as sad as many of my succulents look (perhaps yours do too), I have good news: These are resilient plants. Follow my simple suggestions and---if they're still breathing---your succulents will likely bounce back.
Diagnose and fix post-summer succulent concerns
Numbers in parenthesis indicate where these topics appear in the video.
Scorched tips (0:52). The method I demonstrate for pruning Agave attenuata works for winter frost-burn, too.
Sunburn (1:32 and 4:59). I show you preemptive measures, but once the damage is done, there's not much you can do except trimming.
Echeveria with edema, mealy bugs
Echeveria edema (1:46). Shading my echeverias during the heat of the day helped most of them, but unfortunately not all.
Mealy bugs (2:05). These lint-like pests snuck up on my echeverias when I wasn't looking. I immediately dosed them with alcohol.
Sunset jade with shriveled leaves
Shriveled leaves (2:49). Succulents naturally draw on stored moisture to survive dry spells. No worries, leaves will plump when it rains.
Yellow stems and burned patches (3:08). These can be serious, but it depends. My dragon-fruit cactus surprised me.
New plants, wrong location (3:18). Looks like I need to redo (and rename) my "mangave terrace."
Dead-looking aeoniums (4:31). It's tempting to yank them, but wait! Take a closer look. They may merely be asleep.
Hose-watering opuntia
Keeled-over paddle cactus (5:29). Oops. Guess it needed more hydraulic pressure (i.e. water).
Cochineal scale (6:16). Another sneaky pest! I take a two-for-one approach: While hand-watering opuntia, I blast off the bugs.
Cochineal Scale on Paddle Cactus, What To Do
White fuzzy lumps on paddle cactus are cochineal (coach-en-ee-al) scale, a parasite that pierces the plant’s skin and consumes its juices. It’s used to make carmine dye.
Late Summer Succulent Care: Six Essentials
These six late-summer care essentials for succulents come from my own experience with growing hundreds of varieties for decades. In my inland Southern CA garden, late summer heat can do as much damage than midwinter frosts. Below is what I do routinely every year.
No-Water Succulents for Southern California Gardens
Certain readily available succulents not only get by on rainfall alone, they’ll grow in nutrient-poor soil and can handle searing sun and frost. No-water succulents for Southern California gardens that are native to the Southwest and Mexico include dasylirions, agaves, cacti and yuccas. They thrive from south of the border to the Bay Area and…
Succulent Pests, Large and Small
Common succulent pests, diseases, and problems include agave grease mite, aloe mite, ant infestation, aphids, black spots, cochineal scale, deer, desiccation, etiolation, frost, gopher, hail, mealy bugs, mildew, rabbit, rot, snails and sunburn. Also find out how NOT to deal with a skunk!
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