Succulents rank high on my list of cool, must-have house plants. It’s no surprise because they are simple to manage and they’re very forgiving, especially if I occasionally neglect to water. This article provides information on five easy-to-grow succulents which I regard as low-maintenance treasures.

Succulent leaves have intriguing shapes, colors and textures. They can be smooth, hairy, wooly, chunky, rubbery, spiky or slender. Colors range from silver-blue to green, white, violet-gray, red-green, and pink, white and green.

Another interesting attribute is their weird shapes. For example, the genus Lithops includes plants that are called “living rocks” or “stone plants” because their leaves look like small pebbles with smooth flat surfaces. There are many others that are just as fascinating.

Succulents Defined

The word ‘succulent’ refers to several groups of plants including cacti, aloe, crassula, kalanchoe, haworthia, sansevieria, sedum and echeveria, among others. Many have curious common names: donkey’s tail, crown-of-thorns, Christmas cactus, pearl plant, flaming Katy, panda plant, and hens-and-chicks.

Pink Star (Cryptanthus) is a tough, durable plant. The leaf colors intensify when it’s grown in a south-facing window with bright light.

Photo by Nina Koziol

Their native habitats provide clues about what they require to thrive indoors. For example, some succulents grow in desert and semi-desert environments where the conditions are exceptionally hot and dry during the day and very cold at night. Rainfall in these environments is sporadic. The plants have adapted to these harsh conditions by storing water in their leaves, stems and roots.

Other succulents grow in tropical jungles. An example is Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), which differs considerably in appearance from desert cacti. It grows on tree branches, rocks and on moss. In some mountains of South America, succulents only get moisture from moist air.

 How to Care for Succulents

The first step is to place them where the light is bright. 

• Succulent Planting Tips. Some garden centers sell bags of potting mix designed for cacti and succulents. When plants outgrow their pots, I pick a container with a diameter two inches larger and repot them using fresh soil-less potting mix.
• Succulent Watering Instructions. Pots need drainage holes in the bottom and a saucer underneath to catch runoff and protect furniture. Unlike my other houseplants, succulents get watered from the bottom of the pot instead of the top of the soil. I take the plants to the sink, fill up the saucers with water and set the plants on the saucers. After a few hours, I empty the saucers. Most of the water has been absorbed by the potting mix. However, you can simply take the pot to the sink and water the plant from above, letting the excess drain out of the bottom. Avoid getting water on the leaves or stems. If the leaves on your succulents are turning yellow or falling off, you may be over watering them.
• How Frequently Do Succulents Need Water? Water them once a week in spring and summer, and twice a month in fall and winter. They’ll reward you with a fabulous, carefree display. Their ability to hold water in the leaves is a plus — you won’t have to water them as often as other houseplants. But, overwatering succulents is detrimental — it causes roots and leaves to rot.

My favorite five easy-to-grow succulents:

Jade Plant (Crassula)

 Jade plants are one of my favorite succulents—they look good, they need little care and they are very durable. I’ve grown one for more than 20 years and it just gets bigger and better. That small potted plant is now a little 3-foot tree with multiple trunks. Jade plants are easy to grow with a half-day of filtered light from an east- or west-facing window. I water only when the top inch or two of potting mix is dry. If you overwater these plants, the leaves will turn yellow and drop. They will also drop if you don’t give them enough water. Test the top inch or so of the potting mix to determine if it’s dry. I water my jade plants once a week until the water runs out the bottom of the pot and then I empty the saucer. 

Pearl Plant (Haworthia)

Practically indestructible! The thick, tough pointed dark green leaves have white bands, stripes or dots. Depending on the cultivar, the leaves can be purple-bronze, orange-bronze or yellow and chartreuse. Plants occasionally flower in winter, sending up a long, wiry stalk with tiny white flowers. (I cut the stalk off once the flowers fade.) Water Pearl plants when the top of the potting mix is dry to a depth of 2 inches.

Kalanchoe

A very pretty plant even when it’s not flowering, Kalanchoe has thick, scalloped, dark green leaves. In late fall and winter, these attractive little plants bear large clusters of flowers in bright shades of pink, orange, red, white or yellow. Water the plants whenever the top inch of soil becomes dry. If plants need repotting, I do it in early summer. This is one succulent that prefers direct sunlight, so place it in a south, west or east window. During summer, I place the plants outside in a bright, but shady spot and bring them back indoors before the first fall frost.

Kalanchoe is a long-blooming succulent with pink, orange, white or deep rose flowers.

Photo by Nina Koziol

Hens and Chicks (Echeveria)

Hens and chicks form small rosettes of leaves that look like lotus flowers. Depending on the cultivar, the leaves can be rose-red, dark reddish-purple, lavender, powder blue or mauve. Give them bright sunlight and the leaf color intensifies with red, pink, bronze or purple. Plants can be 4 to 6 inches across and they sprout tiny rosettes on stems, which are the “chicks.” I separate the chicks from the “hen” and pot them up for more plants. Water them when the top inch of potting mix feels dry. 

Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera)

Although they’re not quite like their desert-dwelling cousins, Christmas cacti have fabulous tubular flowers that appear in fall and winter. They do best in bright filtered light and are more drought tolerant than many houseplants. From spring through summer, I water the pots once a week to keep the potting mix lightly moist. In fall and winter, I water about every three to four weeks. Because these plants like higher humidity, I mist them with a spray bottle, especially during winter when the indoor air is dry. Christmas cactus launches into flowering mode in fall when the temperatures begin to cool and the sunlight decreases.

Displaying Succulents

For special occasions, I’ll move small pots of succulents into a long, narrow basket and place it down the middle of our dining room table. The plants are a conversation piece and have transformed many non-gardening friends into succulent aficionados.

While some succulents are hardy here in our zone 5 garden outside of Chicago, those in my houseplant collection are not. By mid-May, the threat of spring frost is over and I bring my plants outdoors and set them in a shady spot where they’ll remain until September.

In the fall, I break off stems of succulents and use a glue gun to attach them to a pumpkin for a tabletop decoration.

Photo by Nina Koziol

In the fall, I like to decorate pumpkins with pieces of succulents. There’s no fuss with carving the pumpkin. I simply use a glue gun to attach pieces of “sheet moss,” which is available at garden centers and craft stores, to the top of the pumpkin. Next, I break off a few pieces from my succulents and glue them onto the moss, where they’ll remain for a month or two. They get an occasional spritz of water to keep the leaves from drying. A bonus—they sometimes send little roots into the moss. When the pumpkin is ready for the compost pile, I can pick off the rooted succulents and pot them up to give away.

You can find many succulents at garden centers, big box stores and food stores. They’re typically sold in small size pots that are perfect for windowsills. Treat yourself to a few of these little treasures and see how they brighten up a room or two.

Zebra Plant (Haworthia)gets its name from the stripes on its leaves, which can be green, red or brown. Grow them in a window where they get a few hours of direct sunlight.

Photo by Nina Koziol

Additional Sources of Information About Succulents

The Plant Lover’s Guide to Sedums. Brent Horvath. Timber Press.

Cacti and Succulents Handbook: Basic Growing Techniques and a Directory of More Than 140 Common Species and Varieties. Gideon F. Smith. Fox Chapel Publishing.

Success with Succulents : Choosing, Growing, and Caring for Cactuses and Other Succulents. John Bagnasco, Bob Reidmuller. Quarto Press.

Cactus and Succulent Society.