Autumn Succulent Checklist: 10 Essentials

These seasonal succulent must-do's are for southern and coastal CA, from the Bay Area south. If you live beyond, please visit my site's Succulent Care By Season and Region page. 

Blue Senecio mandraliscae and aeoniums, from my video: How to Fill Gaps in Your Succulent Garden

In Autumn...

My seasonal succulent must-do's are mainly for Southern and coastal CA, from the Bay Area south. Farther afield? Go to my Succulent Care By Season and Region. 

Feed winter growers: These include aeoniums, aloes, cotyledons, crassulas(jade plants), gasterias, graptopetalums, haworthias, kalanchoes, sansevierias, warm-climate sedums, and senecios. Find out How to Fertilize Succulents on my site.

Take cuttings and replant winter growers (see above). Aeoniums and blue senecios---both of which get leggy and need pruning every few years---make great gap fillers. I show how in this YouTube video.

It's tidy-up time. Don't let dead branches and overgrowth last into winter and spring. When trimming, keep in mind where you want (or don't want) new growth.

Groom echeverias. They've revived and look fine now, as though they're SO over summer. Remove old flower stalks and dry leaves, and behead rosettes atop long trunks. On my site see Refresh Your Echeveria Garden and How to Behead and Replant Echeverias.

Shop for shrub sedums at nurseries. Above is popular Sedum 'Autumn Joy'. Many lovely hybrids are blooming now. Even when dry, flower clusters look good, and they attract birds. In late fall or winter, cut plants nearly to the ground. New growth will follow in spring.

Spray mealy bugs---which are on myecheverias late summer and fall, so likely on yours too---with 70% Isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol.

Spread weed preventer (pre-emergent herbicide). This nontoxic, granulated powder minimizes seed germination. Before the first seasonal rain, sprinkle granules where weeds sprout, especially bare soil in sunny areas.

Treat agaves for snout weevil. Don't assume your agaves won't need it; sadly, weevils WILL find them. Find out how and what to use now that California has banned the most effective insecticide.

Check for ants overwintering in outdoor potted succulents, especially haworthias, gasterias and aloes. A tell-tale sign is soil in the crowns. I add ant spray to water in a shallow tray and set the pot in it.  Why do it that way.

Hose large succulents to remove fallen leaves, dirt, and dust that harbor pests and inhibit photosynthesis. Michelle Slatalla of The Wall Street Journal recently asked me to recommend a garden hose---of all things!---for her lifestyle column. Here's my kink-free favorite.

Wait to plant cuttings and new nursery plants until after the weather cools and the the winds die down.

Scrub white fuzzy bumps (cochineal scale) off your paddle cactus before it spreads.

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