Cactus soil and cactus fertiliser are good choices for succulents. If the Palm Leaf Oxalis has not gone dormant, you can feed it at half the strength of any fertilizer that you usually use. Mix one tablespoon of fertilizer with a gallon water to apply it. Poor and compacted soil will prevent roots from reaching valuable minerals and water. Several people have tried taking cuttings from the leaves and stems and rooting them in soil, but they only ended up drying instead of forming new plants. Most gardeners recommend that Rhipsalis should be repotted in high-quality soil.

While many succulent species might not be safe to handle, there are some that have healing and medicinal benefits you will want to keep close by. Both the cholla and the prickly pears cacti species have weak stem joints. The cacti group has so many different species, you're bound to encounter pleasant surprises from time to time. There are more than 1700 other species. The story gets even more interesting when you add rare and exotic specimens to the mix. After the cold season ends, you should sow your seeds in a well drained mix.

Margee Rader, a reader of my book Succulent Container Gardens, came up with the idea for this year's mini tree. A glass jar lid sort of looks like ice, but any container will do including a flowerpot. The cutting will look more tree-like if it is kept in a small container. The tighter-packed arrangements look more polished than their spaced-out counterparts. This is because the pot already has flowers. It should appear as if the succulents are coral reef fauna and undersea flora. Succulents need fresh air and breezes that keep pests from settling in.