photo credit: Abigail @ http://livingthegraylife.com/
We at Magnolia Thyme are so blessed and excited about the support we’ve received from everyone so far- thank you! We’ve had lots of questions about plant care and I’d love to give you just a few tips as you begin caring for your plants.
Light
Succulents LOVE indirect light. In order to keep the gorgeous coloring of your plants, keep your arrangements by a window that has a good amount of light entering, but doesn’t get too hot. If you remember, try to turn your plant every few days so it doesn’t begin to stretch. If you notice your plants starting to lean or stretch a certain way- it needs some more light because it’s searching for it. If you don’t have a window that provides enough light or you are in an office with no window, do not fear! You can find small effective grow lights on Amazon.
Water
Succulents need water, but not very often. The method that has worked best for me is using a wooden skewer (yep, like what you use for making kabobs!) to check the soil every 3-4 days. I place the skewer into the soil- if I pull out the skewer and the soil sticks to the skewer it means there is enough moisture, and the plant isn’t quite needing a drink of water yet. If I pull out my skewer and it comes out clean with barely any soil and no moisture, it’s time for a drink! It’s super important to remember that the foliage of succulents doesn’t like water and they don’t want to be sprayed- the most effective way to water your succulents is to use a syringe and to water at the base of the plant near the roots into the soil. Majority of Magnolia Thyme arrangements do not have drainage holes- so it’s imperative that you do not overwater- that’s a pretty sure way to rot the succulent quickly. If you accidentally overwater, remove your plant from the soaked soil, remove any foliage that may have begun rotting (it’ll look yellowed and soggy/squishy), and repot the plant into dry, fresh cactus/succulent soil (no other type of soil will work, trust me). On the other hand, if you notice the foliage of your succulent starting to shrivel or pucker, it’s telling you it’s time for a drink as well. Just remember with watering, that less is better- be conservative and watch the plant- it’ll tell you what it wants.
Air Plant
Air plants on the other hand, get their moisture and nutrition directly from their foliage (enter: cute mister!). Air plants actually do really well with a good soaking for 20 minutes and then air drying them upside down for a few hours every 10 days or so, but Magnolia Thyme air plant arrangements don’t allow that very well unless you want to remove them weekly and re-glue them all of the time, which also isn’t super great for the plants to be handled that often and have heat reapplied. The best way to care for them is to spray the foliage really well 2-3 times a week and ensure that all of the water drains from the air plant. Water sitting inside of the air plant will cause it to rot. They also like indirect light as well.
I hope this information has been helpful for you! I’ll be posting additional care tips in the future over here at the blog! If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Happy Planting!
