A succulent does not want much from you. That is the first pleasure.
1. The dry week
You can go on a week-long trip in July and return to find your succulents essentially unchanged. They have no urgent news. They have been holding their water.
2. The dust
A soft cotton cloth, once a month, a gentle wipe across the flat of each leaf. The leaves look better afterwards. You feel useful.
3. The south-west window
Most flowering plants want a morning eastern window. Succulents want the hot west, the bright south. They are the only plants who will thrive there without tiring.
4. The pebble top
A layer of small washed stones on top of the soil solves three problems at once — it prevents the soil from crusting, it keeps fungus gnats from laying eggs, and it looks considered. The cost is three dollars, once.
5. The stolen rosette
If a stem ever breaks off, set the piece on dry soil. Wait two weeks. It will root itself. You will have a new plant.
