You just brought some beautiful succulents from your local nursery or even better online with free shipping. While growing your succulents you have noticed that your succulent soil has a white fuzzy powdery growth in it. That white fuzzy powdery growth in your soil is known as mold, and yes it can hurt/kill your succulents if you do not take action right away.
Don’t panic or worry, moldy soil is very easy to fix, you just need to make sure that you take care of this immediately. By the end of this short and sweet article, you will know exactly how to get rid of mold growing in your succulent soil.
Before we Begin...
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Why Your Succulent Soil Has Mold
Poor Drainage
Your succulent soil most likely has mold due to the soil you are using isn’t well-draining. Yes, when growing succulents, it’s very important to use succulent soil that is well-draining. If you don’t use well-draining succulent soil then there’s a very high chance that mold will appear.
Well-draining succulent soil is much needed when growing succulents because when you water your succulents the soil will dry up the water as fast as possible. This will make sure that no mold has a chance to grow and appear. If you don’t use well-draining succulent soil then the soil will just be sitting in a wet puddle for several days after watering.
This is simply why your succulent soil mostly has mold because it has been sitting wet for several days and not drying. Wet soggy soil that sits for several days gives mold and bacteria a very high chance to grow and appear. This is why your succulent soil has mold.
Overwatering
Now what if you swear that you are using well-draining succulent soil and your soil still has mold. Well then there’s a very high chance that you are just overwatering your succulent. Overwatering is very similar to not using well-draining succulent soil. Overwatering will cause the soil to stay wet and not dry for several days, giving mold and bacteria a chance to grow.
It’s very important to cut back on overwatering and only water your succulents 1-2 days a week or when the soil looks or feels very dry. Succulents don’t need or want too much water anyways, so make sure to stop overwatering so you can protect your succulents and avoid moldy soil.
Why You Must Get Rid of Moldy Succulent Soil
You must get rid of moldy succulent soil because you are putting your succulent plants at risk if you don’t. The mold in the succulent soil is a huge threat to your succulents. This is how succulents get root rot, which is known as the #1 most common reason why a succulent will die. Root rot occurs when mold in the soil eventually travels down deeper to the roots of your succulents. Once the mold/bacteria hits the roots of your succulents it will then attack and eat away your succulents roots. Once this happens then your succulent will get root rot and will start to mold, rot, and die. You will notice your succulent will have mushy leaves and will just lack color and look very unhealthy.
Root rot has occurred simply because of the mold in the succulent soil. This is why it’s very important to get rid of the moldy soil immediately so you can save your succulents from root rot and dying from root rot. It’s best to take action as soon as you see the mold and know what to do.
So how do we get rid of moldy soil and fix
How to Get Rid of Mold on Your Succulent Soil
The easiest and most simplest way to get rid of the mold on your succulent soil is to simply replace the soil and use fresh/new clean soil. You can do this by unpotting all of your succulents and setting them on a surface that will keep them safe.
But first you should consider buying new fresh succulent soil first so you can get this done after you get the soil. Make sure to buy the succulent soil first so you don’t have to wait in between steps for your soil to get in the mail. You just want to make sure you have your soil first so your succulents don’t stay unpotted for too long.
Remember you MUST use well-draining succulent soil when growing succulents. Make sure to buy succulent soil that is well-draining so mold never grows again.
We recommend using Ramsey Succulent Soil.
Ramsey Succulent Soil has the best well-draining ingredients such as sand and perlite. Sand and perlite will make sure that your succulent soil drains quickly and steady so mold never occurs in your soil again. Ramsey Succulent Soil has sand and perlite, it truly helps and will prevent mold from growing on your soil and later on attacking your succulents. Ramsey succulent soil also has seaweed fertilizer in it which has 60 trace minerals and nutrients. The soil makes sure your succulents grow faster, strong, healthier, and of course will prevent mold from growing.
After you have unpotted your succulents and bought your well-draining succulent soil you will then have to clean the succulent pot you were using fairly well. Simply clean it by getting all of the old moldy soil out, and maybe rinsing it off with water. You just want to make sure that no leftover soil is in the pot.
After this then you can repot your succulents back in your lovely pots. Do this by adding soil to the pots and gently planting your succulents back in. For a quick guide on how to repot succulents check out our article.
Only water your succulents if their roots were dry after you unpotted them. If the roots were still moist then do not water them, wait about 4 days until you water your succulents again.
Again, this is the simplest and most effective way on how to get rid of mold on your succulent soil.
Or you can try this:
Let Moldy Succulent Soil Sit in The Sun
If you do not want to buy new soil then you can let the moldy soil sit and dry in the sun. If you want to dry this you simply need to unpot your succulents and put them away on a surface. After that you get your succulent pot with the moldy succulent soil and put it in full sun for 4 days. After each day mix up the soil so every layer of the soil gets a chance to get hit by the sun. This will kill off all the mold and bacteria and will get rid of it. The sun will eat away the mold and easily kill it due to its high rays.
This is a great way but it’s not guaranteed that it will work. There’s still a very high chance that the soil will still have mold in it. If you don’t want to get new soil then this is definitely a thing to try if you want to get rid of mold on your succulent soil.
Preventing Moldy Succulent Soil
Okay let’s say you bought new soil or you let your old soil sit in the sun. We don’t want mold to ever appear in our soil again so let’s try to prevent it. To prevent mold from growing on your succulent soil you must make sure to not overwater. It’s also important to use a succulent pot with a drainage hole, for this will allow excess water to drain out of the bottom of the pot, helping the soil stay dry and not wet.
That’s it!
You now know how to get rid of moldy succulent soil and how to prevent mold from growing on your succulent soil. Best of luck getting rid of the mold and preventing it. If you do want to buy our soil use discount code: Ramsey Soil for 10% off at checkout!