Care of Succulent Wall Art

Water and light are the most important elements for succulents to complete their photosynthesis process, therefore, is essential to take into consideration the recommendations for irrigation, lighting and landscape maintenance so that your living frame looks beautiful and healthy:

Watering

  • Water in the shade and preferably at the end of the afternoon.
  • Use rainwater, settled or boiled water. If you are going to use settled water, the water that comes from the tap must be left to rest in a container for at least 6 hours, so the plants do not receive chemicals.
  • Avoid wetting the foliage and necks of the succulents, for which the succulent pad must be removed from the frame to be placed in a container with water (rain, settled or boiled). The water in the container must be at the height of the pad but without covering the foliage.
  • The pad should be left in the container with water for 10 minutes, so all the substrate that contains the moss pad is hydrated.
  • Then remove the pad and gently drain all the water that is inside the pad, without shaking it until no more water drains from the pad.
  • Let the pad rest for approximately 2 hours on a surface before relocating it again in its respective frame.
  • The leaves of the plants that live in the frame have the capacity to store water so they do not require frequent watering, for that reason during spring and summer it should be watered twice a month. In autumn, it should be watered once a month. In winter, you should water once a month or every 40 days, depending on how much you use the heating. During winter succulents and cactus go into a state of hibernation where their energy decreases, so they do not grow and do not flower; therefore, you should reduce the frequency of watering.

More tips

  • It is important to note that if you use too much heating in winter and the place where the living frame is located becomes very hot, you should continue to water it as frequently as in the summer or spring.
  • Another way to know if the living frame needs water is to touch the pad and observe the plants. If it is completely dry, you need to water it, and if you still feel a lot of humidity, you do not need to water it immediately.
  • The secret to watering succulents is to understand that they can survive in a moderate absence of water, but it is difficult to save them from water excess because their roots rot.

Lightening

  • Our living painting should be located in an interior and bright space near a window.
  • Succulents need many hours of natural light, however, it is good not to expose them directly to sunlight as they can burn or stain, for this reason we recommend identifying which could be the ideal wall to hang your living work of art.
  • Signs of lack of light:
  • Etiolation: Stems stretched or deformation of the natural shape of the plant
  • Slow growth
  • Loss of color
  • Loss of spots or pigmentation characteristic of some

Landscape Cleaning & Maintenance

  • Our painting is alive, so its stems and leaves grow, and this makes it necessary to prune and cut in order to keep it at the same size. It is important to do it without fear and with delicacy, what you cut will then grow back thanks to the implementation of the care tips.
  • With the stems and leaves that we cut, we can carry out botanical multiplication, which is nothing more than reproducing the same species that we cut.
  • Maintaining your living frame will involve establishing a relationship with the plants that are there, so every time you water it, it will possibly be the ideal time for you to observe each succulent more closely and determine which plants need cutting or which ones, on the contrary, you want to let grow.
  • As time goes by, you will establish a conversation between you and each of the succulents that make up the composition, a relationship that will help you connect with your own being.

Nutrition

To extend the life of your terrarium, you must follow the recommendations previously detailed for watering and lighting. You also need to add nutrients to the substrate such as magnesium, phosphorus and potassium, since over time the succulents and cacti absorb them.

When the leaves of the succulents start turning from green to yellow, it is a clear indication that the plant needs nutrients. However, the recommendation we propose here is to have a nutrition routine, which should begin 6 months after acquiring your terrarium and continue every 2 months afterwards.

Try to make the nutrition routine coincide with the spring season since this is the time when the plants come out of their hibernation process and begin to flower

The nutrition routine involves watering the following way:

  • Use banana or egg peels. If you use banana peels, you should cut them into small pieces with clean scissors. It is suggested to wash the scissors with soap and water and then finish the disinfecting process with alcohol.
  • The peels you decide to use should be placed in a transparent container with rain, boiled or settled water, which you can close and let rest for 8 hours.
  • Then remove the peels you have used.
  • Perform the corresponding irrigation as previously explained using the water containing all the nutrients that succulents and cacti need to extend their life.