Cheap And Easy Containers For Succulents (Easy To Get Around Your Place)

If you’re anything like us, you come home with some new succulents every few weeks and wonder, where in the world am I going to put them? Finding space for your ever-growing succulent collection or keeping enough pots on hand to house them all can be challenging.

Today, we’ll show you how to make planters from things you already have around the house. You’ll never run out if you know how to make pots from everyday items!

We’re also going to give you lots of DIY hanging planter ideas so that you can save space and fit as many succulents as you want in your home. Which, if you’re as addicted to succulents as we are, is dozens and dozens!

Choosing Soil for Succulent Planter

Soil is the primary determinant as to whether your succulent will be healthy. This is, of course, the case with all plants, but succulents are a bit more sensitive to the soil. Many inexperienced people make the mistake of going to the store and buying any soil or mixing soil without considering the unique needs of this particular type of plant.

The substrate on which you grow your succulents should be more porous than the ordinary soil for typical plants. It should also be loose enough to allow for aeration and for the roots to penetrate the soil easily. Some shops have a specific potting mix for succulents. These mixes are usually more porous and loose than usual.

While the above are the general characteristics of the soil for succulents, there are usually some subtle differences between succulents. Some succulents are adapted for more fertile soil, while others do best when growing on rocks. You need to choose the ideal soil on a plant-by-plant basis.

Choosing Succulents

A lot concerning the succulents to plant in a particular planter depends on a few factors. A more detailed guide on choosing succulents for a planter would be needed when you want to put more than one type of succulents in a single planter.

Having different types of succulents in one planter is one way of getting the best out of your succulents due to the variety. Succulents in the same planter will grow off the same substrate; therefore, the substrate’s composition is vital. Also, factors such as temperature, sunlight, humidity, pests, and diseases must be similar.

Moreover, you should keep succulents of different heights in the same planter. Some people call the ideal situation for this arrangement thriller, filler, and spiller. The taller succulents in the planter are the thrillers; they are above all else and therefore more visible. The shorter plants are referred to as fillers. They fill in the gaps where the leggy, tall succulents have left. The shorter succulents will grow under the shadow of the taller ones. Thus they can’t be the type that prefers direct sunlight, nor can the spillers.

Seek colors that complement each other to create a beautiful mosaic. The easiest way to do this is to keep plants whose colors are nearest to each other on the color wheel.

Different Container Ideas For Making Succulent Planters

You can make planters from all manner of discarded things in the home. Some of these planters are suitable for the indoors, while others are suitable for the outdoors. The following are some planter ideas you can implement at home.

1. Bird Cage:

A birdcage is usually ideal for vining succulents because it works best when hanged. Get a few of the plants, position them in the cage, and hang them strategically. They are best for the outdoors.

2. Dug our log:

This planter has a natural vibe. Take a piece of love and dig it out vertically. Put your substrate inside the dug-out part and grow your succulents inside.

3. Pipes:

you can put the smaller succulents inside pipes and create a plumbing-like planter hanging on the wall. The combined pipe and succulents will make a lovely decoration for your home.

4. Words or initials:

You can make wooden troughs in the shape of letters to spell a specific word or initials and then plant succulents in them.

5. Vertical planter:

You can create a vertical planter using a box filled with little pots or a well-designed wall where you can plant specific succulents that are ideal for the orientation necessary to grow on a vertical wall.

6. Book Planter:

Desk-top planters can be made more authentic by making them in the shape of a book. Take a piece of wood, shape it into a book and create a hole to put the substrate and grow the succulents.

7. Embroidery hoops:

If you do embroidery, you can create something that can hold the succulents indoors or outdoors, depending on the design. Be as creative as you want to.

8. Candle holders:

You can take a few candle holders and keep them together to make a planter. Remember to consider the plant size when growing them in this planter. Only plant the smaller ones in the candle holders.

9. Upcycled shower caddy:

Keep the plants in their various pits and position them on your strategically positioned caddy.

10. Wooden boxes for a vertical garden:

Make several identical wooden boxed and nail them on a wall. Plant succulents in the neatly arranged boxes, and you will have a perfect succulent wall.

11. Metal Colanders

I think that metal colanders are the perfect up-cycled planters for succulents! Colanders already have a ton of drainage holes that will keep your plants from getting waterlogged, so you won’t need any special tools to turn them into suitable planters. Plus, they’re super cute, great for outdoor use, and country chic!

All you’ll need to make this DIY planter is a metal colander, spray paint, some coffee filters, succulent soil, and succulents. If you want to turn your colander into a hanging planter, you’ll also need a flower pot hanging kit.

12. Coffee/ Tea Cans

Almost everybody has empty coffee or tea cans lying around the house. Turning them into succulent planters is a snap, especially if they already have designs on the outside. We like to use tea cans in particular because they almost always have pretty logos on them like these tea cans!

If you’re using a plain tin can that doesn’t have any kind of design, though, you can decorate the outside to give it a more polished look. You can paint it a fun, bright color, or use Mod Podge to attach patterned scrapbook paper to it. Before you plant your succulents in your finished can, make sure you drill a drainage hole or two at the bottom. Pots without good drainage can cause your succulents to rot.

If you want to hang your finished coffee cans, you can use a long piece of twine to tie them together. Line up your cans right next to each other and wrap the twine around them one at a time, tying a knot to secure each one as you go. Once they’re all connected, you can hang them up on your wall using a nail or a Command hook.

When you plant your succulents, make sure to pack the soil in nice and tight—the cans will hang on their sides, so the soil could spill out if you don’t pack it in well enough.

MAKE SURE TO ALSO READ:

• How to Easily Create Driftwood Planters at Home (DIY)
• Top Terrariums for Air Plants- Different Types Of Planters
• 6 Best Marble Planters for Succulents

13. Mugs

Staying with the coffee theme, you can turn coffee mugs into planters for succulents. They look adorable on kitchen counters and windowsills. Any kind of coffee mug will do, but we like to use these cactus mugs because they’re super adorable!

Before you plant succulents in your mug, you’ll need to drill a drainage hole in the bottom. Drilling holes in ceramic is kind of tricky, so check out this video if you need some help!

If you want to save some space, you can hang these mug planters up. You can hammer some nails into your wall and hang the mugs on them by their handles. Lightweight coffee mugs like ones made out of aluminum can even be strung together using twine and hung from a Command hook.

14. Ladles

The weather’s turning warm, so you’re probably not using your soup spoons much… why not repurpose one of them into a beautiful succulent planter?

If you’ve never heard of this DIY project before, it might sound a little weird! But a popular trend right now is to use soup spoons or ladles as hanging planters for succulents. You would think that a ladle would be too small to house a plant, but small succulents seem to grow in them just fine. We’ve even seen people load up their spoons with several succulents to create lush arrangements.

If you have ladles with curved handles, you can put up a clothesline in your home or garden and hang them from there. If your ladle has a hole in the handle, it can be hung on a nail.

15. Rain Boots

Can you tell that we love rustic, country chic planters? Rainboot planters will add tons of Southern charm to your front porch no matter where you live. Grab an old pair of polka-dotted rain boots, a pocket knife, succulent soil, and some succulents, and get ready to DIY!

DIY Succulent Planters

There could be many ways of making a succulent planter. The following is just one of them.

Material You’ll Need

• A container to hold the substrate: This could be a wooden trough, a metallic trough, or any of 15 container ideas mentioned above. Ceramic and terracotta pots are the best for succulents, so you might want to use them. Your pot should have drainage holes at the bottom to allow water to drain off quickly.
• Substrate: get the ideal soil for succulents. It should be porous and loose.
• Pebbles or stones: These are optional; sometimes, you can line them at the bottom of the container to increase the porosity of your soil.
• Succulents to fit in the planter: Each succulent should be in its pot.

Instructions

1. Pick the most significant plant and keep it at the center. This is the focal point around which you will grow all other plants.
2. Place the plants around the focal point while still in their posts and experiment with positioning until you are sure which position suits them best.
3. Expose the succulent’s roots and plant them in the plater according to your established positions.

How To Care For Succulents in Your DIY Succulent Planter

The above is my instruction for creating a beautiful, flexible succulent planter at home. This part will tell you how to take care of your succulents the right way when it’s in a homemade planter. The following are the general conditions under which to grow succulents:

#1. Sunlight

Succulents love sunlight. Some of them prefer direct sunlight, while others are susceptible to being scorched by sunlight, and you should keep them under shade but where there is plenty of light. Expose your succulents to enough sunlight, and you will enjoy how they bloom. Some of the color on the leaves intensifies due to exposure to sunlight. Monitor the intensity of sunlight when planting outdoors, even for plants that love direct sunlight.

For a more detailed guide on this, visit: Do Succulents Need Sunlight? How Much Sunlight Do Succulents Need?

#2. Temperature

Temperature is the one area where the needs of succulents vary considerably, especially where low temperatures are concerned. Some will die within hours of snow exposure, while others thrive in it. It is noteworthy that most succulents aren’t cold-hardy, but their ideal temperatures vary widely from one plant to the other. You need to determine the temperature requirements for the plants you have in your planter. We mentioned earlier that they need to be within the same range for ease of management.

Find out what temperature can succulents tolerate & a list of heat-tolerate succulents >>

#3. Water

Watering is always a sensitive issue when it comes to succulents. Overwatering causes the roots to rot and eventually die. Although the plant generally requires little water, you will need to water it more often in hotter seasons than in colder ones due to evaporation.

How do you know your plant requires to be watered? The topsoil dryness test is always an effective method of knowing whether your plant requires some watering. Insert a finger into the plant’s soil or potting mix to feel whether or not the top two inches of the soil is dry. If dry, your soil needs more water since moisture from the previous drink has dried up.

More details about watering: How Often Do You Water Succulents? The Complete Guide On Watering For Succulents

#4. Soil

Succulents do well in well-draining soil; waterlogged soil can quickly kill them. If you are going for a commercial pottage, buy cactus or succulent soil commercially. The planter is vital in ensuring your soil will be well-drained. It should have several draining holes at the bottom because the water that gets to the soil must get out to avoid waterlogging. The one aspect of soil in which there might be wide variance is pH. Some succulents have no preference, while others do well within particular pH ranges.

Read more about succulent soil: A Thorough Guide On Succulent Soil (Soil Mix DIY Recipe & FAQs)

#5. Fertilizer

Succulents are usually drought-resistant, but some need more nutrients than others. Most of those that need feeding require it only in their growing seasons. Never feed a succulent during its dormancy. Most of them are dormant in winter, but some sleep in summer. The best fertilizer is usually liquid and diluted to half strength, but again, needs vary. The flowering season is another time when the plant needs fertilizer.

#6. Repotting

Succulents in your planter may outgrow it, making it necessary to move them to a bigger pot. The frequency of repotting is usually determined by how fast the plants in your planter grow. Also, you may repot to give your plants more nutrients through a fresh, richer substrate.

#7. Pruning

You prune your succulents to keep them healthy and looking good. How you prune depends on the succulent. You can thoroughly prune some of the larger plants, such as euphorbias. One can cut off up to 60% of their foliage, and they still bounce back. You need to be more careful with others, though, because too much pruning can lead to their death.

The succulent’s toxicity, or lack thereof, is another determinant of how you prune. Euphorbias, for example, produce poisonous lumber; you need to be appropriately kitted to prune them. Some succulents need virtually no pruning except for removing dry leaves and branches.

Learn more: How To Trim/ Prune Succulents Successfully (A Complete Guide)

#8. Pests and Diseases

Succulents cut across the plant kingdom. Some are non-toxic, while others, such as euphorbias, are toxic. The toxicity makes euphorbias resistant to some the pests such as deer, rodents, and other animals. However, all succulents are vulnerable to more minor pests of the insect variety. Aphids and mealybugs are the most common, but spider mites and fungus gnats may also affect your succulents.

#9. Protecting Your Succulents

Prevention is the best pest control method for your succulents. If you can get the pests to stay away from your plant, your plants will be healthier and your work easier. The following are some preventive measures you can take.

1. Keep the plants healthy: Strong and healthy succulents may be able to repel pests naturally. If, on the other hand, pests attack a healthy plant, they won’t affect it too badly since it can withstand the onslaught. As recommended, you can ensure the plant’s fit by feeding with well-balanced fertilizer for succulents. Also, ensure the soil is rich and well-drained to keep root rot at bay.
2. Prune the plant: Dead leaves are one of the bugs’ favorite hiding places—they lodge and breed there, especially when there is moisture. You can protect your plant from attacks by cutting off the dead leaves. Cutting off these dead leaves prevents air from flowing freely through the plant, making the conditions unfavorable for bugs.
3. Keep the plant dry: When watering your succulents, always direct the water to the soil. Having water on the leaves makes them susceptible to mealybugs and scale. The succulent’s vulnerability is even more significant to bugs due to humidity being even more remarkable when the plant’s leaf structure is such that the leaves are allowed water to lodge. An excellent example of this situation is Graptopetalums which typically form rosettes. Water-filled rosettes encourage the bugs to make a home on the plant.
4. Don’t reuse affected medium: Don’t compost infected leaves because there may be survivors or effs that find their way back to the plant when you feed the plant with compost. Also, don’t use soil from affected plants to repot your succulents.
5. Use systemic pesticides: Unlike their contact counterparts, systemic insecticides/pesticides get into the plant and poison it against the bugs so that they don’t survive or reproduce when they attack the plant. Pure Neem Oil is made from the neem plant. Therefore, it is entirely natural and not harmful to humans. It repels all the bugs from the inside as a systemic pesticide.

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We have compacted 27+ commonly-asked questions about succulent in 1 single article. You can visit the page here and feel free to contribute any question that you have 🙂 Happy planting!

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Final Words

We hope this post has inspired you to roll up your sleeves and create some awesome succulent planters from scratch. We can’t wait to put our succulents in that cute cactus mug and our old rain boots!

Enjoyed learning about Household Items You Can Use as Succulent Planters? If so, you’ll enjoy the ebook about Replanting Practices to Keep Your Succulents Safe. With this ebook, you’ll find more detailed answers to help your succulent grow even better! With thousands of succulent lovers enjoying our ebooks, you don’t want to miss out on what works the best to grow your succulents.

Which DIY are you most excited to make? Let us know in the comments below. Happy planting!