How to Transfer a Mini Succulent into a New Container

How to Transfer a Mini Succulent into a New Container!

Simple and easy to do!

For this blog/tutorial, we are using a succulent in a plastic square 2" container going into an approx. 2" round container.  If either container is smaller or larger, you will simply need to add or lose some soil.  Let's get started. 

We recommend giving your succulents a nice drink of water the day or two prior to transferring.  Dry soil can crumble and make a mess.  Wet soil will bind together better and makes it a little easier to pull from the container.  Also, give the container a few squeezes all the way around, this helps break the sides from sticking as it pulls out.  Gently wrap your fingers around the underside of your succulent (Do Not pull on individual leaves, be gentle!!)

Once you have all or most of your succulent and it's soil out, you'll gently place it into it's new container(home).

Depending on sizes, it may fit right in or it may not.  Going from a square to a circle means you need to help out the corners by lightly pressing them down.

I'm doing this with one hand as the other is holding the camera, but you get the point!

Do this all the way around.  If you need to use a pencil, the eraser end works well, anything that helps get the soil down is ok, just be gentle going all the way around until the soil line is a little lower than the edge/rim.   If you really want to get fancy, you can add some decorative sand, gravel, rocks etc. on the top if you don't want to see any soil.  Doing this is a good idea especially when putting a smaller plant into a much larger container, it helps keep it from looking like it's drowning in a sea of dirt!  For similar size containers, not really necessary unless you want to.

This is also a good time to tidy up any damaged or dead outer leaves, just gently pull them away and toss.   Succulents naturally lose their outer/lower/older leaves, it doesn't mean your plant is dying, it's just basic succulent maintenance!  Also, if your succulent is a little too big, you can gently pull away outer leaves and either toss, or put aside and many will begin rooting in a month or so, see our "Leaf Starters"!

All done at this point.  We don't recommend transferring too early prior to an event as once they have been all completed and ready to go, you don't want to water them and have soil go over the sides or get water spots on their new homes.  We recommend our succulents arrive 7-10 days prior to events, this should allow you plenty of time to do the transfers, these 2 took less than a minute each to complete!  Invite some friends and  family over, open a beer, bottle of wine, or soda and make it a party!

The shelving sets are from Shirley's Shelving, they do awesome work, from small racks to giant ones you can sit back on!  Tell them we sent you!   http://www.shirleyssimpleshelving.com/

The cute white plastic containers come from Jorge at  www.piantastudio.com

Also check out our container upgrades when ordering.

*** a few questions we are often asked about transferring into new containers:

Do they need drain holes?  Small container do not.  The key is watering, water when dry, never if wet.  Also don't fill it up like a lake, you'll see the water soak into the soil and that's plenty.  On larger containers, drainage holes are useful to help with "drainage" but if your decorative pots do not have them, laying a bed of gravel/rocks etc. at the bottom will help keep the soil from getting too wet, but watering again is the key point, water only when dry.   1x a week is fine on small containers if dry, 1x every 2-3 weeks on larger containers. Obviously if you are well acquainted with your plants, you can do more often or less, but always remember "Water only when dry, never if wet"!

Do I need special soil?   On smaller containers, not so important, sometimes soil gets displaced during shipping, pinch it up, sometimes you need a little more for transfers, any type will do, but understand that succulent/cacti soil is made to help drain water out/dry quicker vs houseplant soil that is made to hold moisture in/dry slower.  So just remember the watering rule and evaporation on small containers will help you out here.  On larger containers, 6" and bigger, you should consider buying or making proper succulent soil.

Cheers!