Unless you have a truly black thumb then you are most likely able to keep some sort of plant life alive. Especially something like a succulent, which is already pretty hardy just for the fact that they tend to grow in harsh environments such as deserts (or even your roof!).

Not to say that it is impossible to kill off a succulent. In fact, if you aren’t paying attention to the few areas that they do need extra care in, they can actually be fairly vulnerable no matter how tough they typically are.

Luckily there are a couple of plant parents out there who are more than willing to share their knowledge when it comes to succulents and help us keep from killing the poor things.

Tanner Mitchell just wants to watch plants survive and to do that she has shared her tips for helping keep these hardy plants alive so that even those of us who aren’t particularly skilled can still get their succulent game on.

The very first tip that Tanner has is that you need to see how much light your succulent is getting. Keep in mind that succulents, at least most of them, are meant to grow out in deserts or other areas that get a lot of sun. You don’t have to put them directly in the light (though they probably would not mind), but most succulents need several hours of at least indirect sunlight a day to thrive.

Next, make sure you have drainage. And no, not the thing that comes out of your nose during or after a cold, but rather those nifty little holes at the bottom of your succulent pot so that water can drain out. Without proper drainage succulents are very prone to root rot, and that can be one of the quickest ways to kill off your poor plant.

And finally, you might think that becasue succulents are used to the desert then they need very little water. While these plants don’t need to be watered that often, its true, they do need a full-on dunking every week to couple of weeks. Basically, let the soil dry out completely before getting it soaked through again.