Stop Killing Succulents and Listen to This Episode Instead

Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care

Maria Failla- Happy Plant Lady and Author of Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness

Education, How To, Health & Fitness, Mental Health, Home & Garden, Leisure

4.8 • 883 Ratings

🗓️ 24 June 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Have you ever killed a succulent and then felt like you were completely doomed as a plant parent? That was totally me about eight years ago. I brought succulents home because everyone said they were the easiest, most foolproof plant. Yet I still managed to kill them. Naturally, I spent a lot of time thinking I was just a plant killer. However, I eventually learned that succulents aren’t fool proof. And if you’ve had your heart broken by one (or five), it might not have totally been your fault. Maybe it just wasn’t the right plant for you! Or you just needed a few key things to learn about how to keep succulents alive.

So I invited my plant friend and the succulent queen of Indiana, Abby Perry of Abby’s Garden Parties, to talk about the real reason so many people kill succulents, what they actually need, and how to figure out if they’re even the right plant for you.

In this episode, we learn:

[03:16] How Abby became a succulent expert
[07:14] The #1 mistake: overwatering
[08:47] What makes a plant a “succulent”?
[09:56] Cacti vs. succulents
[12:26] How to water succulents
[14:59] Grow lights and why succulents need strong lighting
[15:25] Wind River Chimes
[17:12] Espoma Organic Cactus Mix
[20:51] Low, medium, and high light succulent suggestions
[22:05] Does your room have enough light?
[25:19] Care tips for Strings of Things
[26:26] Color and succulents
[27:37] Etiolation: what stretching means in succulents
[30:52] Fertilizing your succulents
[32:42] How to water succulents in terrariums with no drainage
[34:01] The most common mistakes in succulent care
[35:36] Best succulents for each plant parent type
[42:15] Where can you find Abby online

Mentioned in our conversation:

Want to know the best succulents for your lifestyle and lighting situation?

Check out the full show notes and blog here!

Follow Abby:

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Wind River Chimes

Go to windriverchimes.com and use code GROWINGJOY to receive free engraving on your chosen wind chimes.

Espoma Organic

Visit espoma.com to find your local Espoma dealer or check my Amazon storefront.

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

Join the Bloom and Grow Garden Party Community Platform & App AKA the plantiest and kindest corner of the internet! Get your FREE 2-week trial here!

Take the Plant Parent Personality Quiz (Get the perfect plants, projects and educational resources for YOUR Lifestyle)

Support Bloom and Grow Radio by becoming a Plant Friend on Patreon!

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Have you ever killed a succulent and then felt like you were completely doomed as a plant parent?
0:04.7	That was actually my experience eight years ago when I was a plant killer and stopped trying to care
0:10.1	for houseplants because I couldn't keep succulents alive, even though everybody talked about
0:14.2	how succulents were the foolproof plant. Well, that happens to not be the case and is one of the
0:19.2	reasons why so many people have their hearts
0:21.9	broken about house plants just because they didn't choose the right plant or they didn't have a few
0:26.8	key things set up for that succulent to thrive. So today, we're talking to my plant friend and
0:31.9	the succulent queen, Abby, of Abby's garden parties to set the record straight about why succulents actually aren't a foolproof plant,
0:40.2	but are very easy to care for when you have a few essential things that they need to thrive.
0:44.4	Abby even does a planty matchmaking session at the end of the episode to pair your plant-parent
0:50.1	personality with the ideal succulent for you.
0:52.3	So stay tuned.
0:53.1	It's a great conversation.
1:01.0	Welcome to the Growing Joy with Plants podcast, where we not only learn how to care for plants
1:05.7	successfully, but how to simply and affordably use our plant babies to cultivate more joy in our lives by doing so.
1:12.6	I'm Maria, former plant killer turned happy plant lady, author of Growing Joy, The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness,
1:19.0	speaker, podcaster, and most importantly, your new best plant friend. On Growing Joy with Plants,
1:24.3	you'll find conversations about house plant care, gardening tutorials,
1:27.8	and wellness through the lens of plants.
1:30.1	Plant care is self-care on growing joy.
1:39.1	Hello, plant friends. My name is Maria. I am here to help you care for plants and grow
1:42.9	joy. And today we are talking
	...

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