Not too long ago I started getting into plants and got my son (6 yo)his first juniper bonsai (which I think didn’t survive the winter 😕). Since then when he goes plant shopping with me, I get him a succulent so he now has a few. In general, which succulents lives the longest (like a decade). I’d like a plant we kept together so he can look back to it a few yrs down the road.
This is a combo of what I have.
by OkNews8776
6 Comments
A lot of succulents can live for multiple decades – the slower growing ones stay close to the same form over the years, and the faster growing ones will get leggy and may need pruning. Basically anything that doesn’t make a death bloom (agave, sempervivum) but even those make lots of pups that are clones of the original.
That said, and I mean this with the best of intentions, you should work on your succulent keeping methods first since that is going to be the main deciding factor on how long your plants live. I see that some of them are in the original substrate from the nursery, and it looks like they’re in pretty low light conditions. These things often lead to poor growth, rot, and etiolation.
This is snarky I admit – but here goes – the ones that live the longest are in the right soil and are not overwatered.
Thank you – I grew and sold thousands succulents, which always went home with a care sheet. My door was always open to past buyers with “Problems”. Eighty percent of the time they either overwatered or replaced my gritty mix (admittedly odd looking) with something from the nursery.
Copiapoa cinerea and adeniums live a lonnnng time. Hundreds of years. Not sure what plant holds the record though
Since the other comments have mostly answered already, I’ll just say that succulents are surprisingly easy and hands-off once you get the conditions right. I wouldn’t worry too much about picking species based off longevity or anything like that.
Since you said you’re more of a tropical plant person, I’ll call the !beginner bot just in case there’s anything on the wiki that you’d find helpful
They all can. Literally can outlive you if you treat them well.