How I Make DIY Succulent Soil... and You Can, Too!

Stacy Davis
by Stacy Davis
7 Materials
$25
30 Minutes
Easy

Succulents are a guilty pleasure of mine. Once I start buying them, I can’t seem to stop myself. I made the rounds from Home Depot to Walmart and finally Lowe’s. I bought a few at each store. I felt like all seemed to be similar in price and quality. Then I went looking for pots. I had trouble finding some that expressed my personality. I wanted owl flower pots. I finally found them on Amazon and when I hit add to cart, up popped "frequently bought together", 5 succulents. Whaaat! Amazon ships live succulent plants? Yes! They ended up being my favorite succulents. You can see them in this tutorial. So, after I had so many succulents to replant, I decided to try my hand at mixing my own succulent soil.

Here are my supplies for reporting my succulents. Coarse builder sand, perlite and potting soil. You will also want some gravel or decorative rocks as a top coat. Not a requirement, but I do like how it looks. I bought pea gravel, white marble chips and black sand. I bought some large bags of gravel because I knew the extra could be used around my yard. I have to say the white marble chips were my favorite topper. Such a pretty contrast to the succulents.

Here is my recipe. 3 parts potting soil, 2 parts coarse sand and 1 part perlite.

I bought succulents from all over. These were from Amazon. They arrived in perfect condition.

Ok, I loved them already but this note telling me the great lengths they go to to make sure everything gets to the location in the best possible condition.... wow! And Plants for Pets, too. icon icon

I am in love with these owl flower pots. So cute! They ended up being too small for this project but rest assured using them is in my future. icon

I used a cement mixing tub from Home Depot to mix the potting soil, sand and perlite.

Next, I chose a flower pot to put in the soil. Even though you see the bottom of the pot now, you won’t in the end.

Next you arrange you succulents to your liking. Since I was trying for a “pot in a pot” look. My flower pot was a vase and then I tried to arrange my succulents to look like a bouquet.

I added the bright yellow topped succulent for some interest.

I continued to add my succulents, moving them back and forth in the soil.

When all your succulents have been planted then you can add decorative rock, gravel or sand. I am adding white marble chips and I thought they were stunning.

I was really pleased with how it turned out.

I have them displayed by my front door. They are a nice change of pace. I am hopeful that their desire for less watering 💦 and my habit of forgetting to water my plants will be a perfect match. I once saw a meme that said, “I just wanted to let you know if you ever need to have a plant killed, I the person for that job.” Yes, that would be me. icon

Has anyone else seen the “succipotinapot” challenge? There are some very creative people out there using teapots and tea cups and showcasing so many other great ideas. What is your favorite one?

I am really tempted to switch the aloe Vera looking one and the yellow one but I am not sure that the marble chips will look as nice as they do now. So my advice is this, take a good moment before you put on your last layer of gravel. Changes are easy up to that point.

Ok... Spoiler alert... this is a long video by a newbie to doing videos. I wish I had changed the camera view when I was planting the succulents, so if you want me to redo the planting portion of the Video, just comment. If I get a lot of comments, I’ll redo it. Also, when I talk about propagating succulents, I said, "let it heal for 3 to 5 days..." I read in another tutorial, to let it heal for at least week and don’t water until it has roots.

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  3 questions
  • Lessie.sims48 Lessie.sims48 on Jun 07, 2019

    HELLO.....JUST NEED TO KNOW IF YOUR PLANTER POTS HAVE A DRAIN HOLE IN THE BOTTOM...OR DO YOU NEED A DRAIN HOLE...????

  • Lovesunique Lovesunique on Jun 07, 2019

    In the past I have not had luck with succulents. I think it must be the soil I used. Also, do succulents require a lot of water. Can they sit out in the hot sun with minimal watering? Thank you!

  • Liudmila Liudmila on Jun 16, 2019

    Ні! Where can I buy such owls?

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2 of 16 comments
  • Deborah Deborah on Jun 07, 2019

    I think they’d be fine!

  • Shirley Shirley on Jun 14, 2019

    Stacie, that succulent with the yellow top is a grafted cactus. All cactus are succulents, yes, but they are a bit different from the others, usually less tolerant of water, and the grafted ones may be more tender to excess heat. I'm sure you are aware that not all succulents, and few cacti, are winter hardy.

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