I live in east central Georgia,Close to Atlanta.Currently we are having temp in the 3 digits it's 104 now,The high is suppose to be 108.There is a heat advisory as well as an active notice of record reported ozone action.They're advising some people to stay inside because of the air quality.Today is the beginning of this heat wave,it's only going to get hotter.

I know succulents like full sun & can take the heat,but this is very hot temp's and you take into account the heat index it raises temps for us.But a lot of plants like humidity.How does the humidity with plants work? How will the succulents hold up under the high temps & humidity?Isn't their natural habitat hot & dry without the humidity
In my current conditions i am watering my succulents in small pots every 2 days to keep them going.The ones in larger pots I am having a hard time knowing when to water.The leaves on my elephant bush started turning yellow & the leaves are soft and are wrinkled so I watered it. It does seem the elephant bushes are having the hardest time,they need more water and the leaves are turning yellow and falling off.The jades seem ok, they to dry out in 2 days or less but it doesn't seem to be affecting them yet, they get water every 3-4 days..Do i need to soak these plants?literally in a bucket let them sit to soak up water for 3-5 minutes,instead of pouring water into the pot because I'm not sure the water isn't running down the sides between medium & pot.

Sorry i babble thank you all for any help or advice or even a good web site of info that'll help!!

Sorry to hear about your awful heat temps

Whenever we get the triple digit heat, I try to water my succulents twice a week either very early in the morning or at sundown. I have never soaked them in water regardless how hot it is. We do not have high humidity here, and get lots of cross breeze which I think helps the succulents, plus we get into some dappled shade at the hottest part of the afternoon. Is there a way you can provide them some shade and more ventilation. That may help them endure. Usually the succulents would begin dropping their leaves, but that is to be expected, it is trying to adapt and conserve the moisture loss, especially during the day.

thank you Tarev,

I never have soaked any of my plants either but i have heard people say every so often they do it to make sure the plants soil is getting wet all the way through and the root ball isn't staying dry & not getting enough water.But they were not talking about succulents.

I can move them under a small tree were,they will get a little shade for a while when the sun gets in a certain spot. Watering some of mine only 1 or 2 times a week,I would be scared I'd loose my elephant bushes the most.Do you know if they take more water or need more shade or simply always need some shade?They have to be watered more often here in the heat,i water as i think they need it mostly it's the elephant bush and sometimes my pencil tree,it's in a small pot as is the donkey tail. My jades are doing good i think i have them in a real good potting mixture.


i hope this picture is clear enough you can see how wrinkled the leaf is,they are also soft not thick like they usually are.If the temp.& humidity are so high can the leaves dehydrate if it not getting enough water to replace what is being lost from the leaves during the day?

My elephant bush is in a part sun/part shade area, so even if it gets the awful heat it survives, I just notice that they seem to go dormant, which I think is a coping mechanism to conserve their resources.

I have a similar plant that is wrinkly right now, but I am ignoring it, just following its usual regimen. But then again, we have different humidity conditions and my potting mixture is different from yours. From what I have seen with my wrinkly succulents, at times, they do that, then once favorable conditions return, they will plump back, but I still observe not overwatering, that is still a major root rot situation in the making, since their rooting system is very shallow, and they can only absorb as much. The roots really need to dry out too. So I think for now, find them some shade or create the shade like under an umbrella or an old curtain as shade. There is a topic on the gardening tips thread discussing home made shade. See if it is something you can do.

I remember we did have a week long of extremely hot hot triple digit heat in 2006, I think we went to 107 very dry heat, even under shade it was just too hot for any of my plants, succulents or otherwise, so I ended up having plants with burnt tips, but as the weather improved and cooled, the plants recovered slowly. Just one of those days where Nature has the trump card.

speaking of potting mediums.I am trying to find a good one for my succulents and so i have my succulents in different soils.I have one mix that is drying out to quickly and i mean it gets bone dry even the roots,in no time even before this heat wave now it's unreal.I have some in a mix that's holding up great in even this weather but stays wet to long other wise,i have to water it very sparingly.I'm going to have to re-pot them when it cools off this fall.

Have you used Schultz and miracle-gro cactus mix,to be able to compare the two.I have noticed miracle-gro has changed their cactus mix,it's not the same as what i used last year,it's been improved a lot.


Thanks a lot and you have a great day!!!

No, I have not used those..so far I have been using Super Soil Palm and Cactus mix, it is the one carried by our local Home Depot, most of the other stores carry just smaller bags, which is not enough for my use When I use my cactus mix, I add some more perlite with it, to lessen compactness, and if it is just a small plant, I make sure the container is really smaller and shallow.

I am in Jacksonville Florida. We see these temps July-September and sometimes longer combined with high humidity. I have found Echeveria do best in morning sun with water 1 to 2 times a week unless we are getting rain. Most of my succulents get shade by noon or shortly after. I do have some that get afternoon sun only they also do well. All of my succulents do great in the heat and humidity except for Sempervivum (but still trying to make them work here also) In my opinion, for most succulents, protect them from direct sunlight during the hottest part of the day (filtered shade) and they will do well in the heat and humidity.

Good luck.

Andrew