Succulent Newbie please help!

[Trixieandkatya]

Hi all, was given some succulents last week and have become a bit obsessed with researching how to care for them. I'm a complete newbie and really scared of hurting them in any way!

I was planning to put them together in one pot, but now not sure if this is advisable. Also, I've read you should not water after repotting, but their soil is really dry and think they maybe showing signs of dehydration. I've bought some cactus/succulent soil mix and a huge bag of pumice, I hope this will be a good mix for them.

So my main questions are...
Should I pot them together or separately?
Should I water them after potting (or maybe dampen the soil a little) or should I water them and wait a little longer to repot?

I've attached some photos of them plus the pot I was planning to put them in.

Ideally, they should be potted separately, as their watering requirements may not be the same. The top left appears to be a pachyphytum (or maybe a hybrid - pachyveria) which is very succulent and might not need as much watering. Top right could be an echeveria, or again, a hybrid (often difficult to tell until they are larger and have flowered). Bottom right is a baby Aloe seedling, which is likely to grow into quite a large plant, and might need more watering as it grows larger. And the bottom left appears to be a sempervivum (photo is a bit fuzzy to tell) which is completely hardy, and prefers to be outdoors.

So, I’d suggest separate potting, using the cactus compost and pumice (good for you getting pumice!) about 50/50, then leave alone for about a week to allow any broken roots to heal, before a light watering - more than a teaspoonful, but not soaking!

It goes without saying, they need as much sun as you can give them, to prevent etiolation (stretching).

@NanTheWiser thank you! I don't want to disturb them too much after repotting, but they do seem very dry and the pachyveria leaves are starting to wrinkle. I'm also anxious to get the tiny ones into more soil as they hardly have any in those pots.

I've been searching all over trying to identify them, it's become my new obsession!

Maybe a light watering now, if they are looking a bit wrinkled, it shouldn’t hurt.

If you are on Facebook, the British Cactus and Succulent society has a group which is very helpful for IDs. I’ve been a member of the BCSS for over 40 years, and often give advice on there. Now the supermarkets (Lidl, Wilkinson’s etc.) sell remarkably cheap cacti which are never labelled correctly, we have many enthusiasts looking for IDs for plants.

www.facebook.com/groups/434020283466998/

@NanTheWiser just opened my bag of pumice and its wet! I'm guessing I'll need to dry it out?

I looked all over the place to find pumice and ended up ordering off amazon, but my only option was to buy 25kg...I don't think I realised just how much that would be! Plus I live in a flat so not sure how I'm going to store it...

That’s a lot! You could take out as much as you need, and dry it out in a tray or similar, as its easier to mix when dry. There are some growers that grow their plants in pure pumice, but that is a more specialised method, usually for much trickier plants, so I wouldn’t advise it. It’s also useful for rooting cuttings if you ever want to have a go.

Plus I live in a flat so not sure how I'm going to store it... Can you get creative? eg take the front panel off the bath, split it into two bags and store one at each end of the bath?

@MereDintofPandiculation I think I'm going to give half of it to MIL who likes gardening, I've heard it's good for a lot of plants. The rest I'm drying out in batches and going to find a big box for it.

I'm planning on slowly creating a little indoor garden over time!

@Trixieandkatya That's a good gardening tradition . If a gardener gives you anything, it's either a) because they have far too much of it and nowhere to put it or b) because they rate your gardening skills and are giving you a bit of a less common plant as insurance, so they can ask for some back if they lose theirs. Beware gardeners bearing gifts!