When you receive a box of succulents, you should open it at once. Not that you will not! You will be eager to see the contents. The plants will be in immediate need of air and light. Be careful that the light is not too intense for a few days. Avoid putting them in direct sun. Remember that the plants are succulent. They have evolved to resist evaporation from leaves or bodies and will not wilt like ordinary plants. Light and air are more urgent, immediate considerations than water.
Put the plants in a warm, bright place for a day or two and you can, if you wish, pot them up at once in well-draining potting soil. Light spraying now and then may help if the weather is hot and dry but avoid this in cold or damp weather. Let indications of a new growth guide when to begin regular watering and weather conditions, plant size, and type of the plant.
Remember that cuttings without roots will not take water up without roots. For cactus cuttings without roots, larger cacti have more reserves to draw on and will not likely make roots as soon as young small ones. Therefore, it is wise to plant these rootless larger plants in extremely porous gritty soil, which will dry out within a few hours of watering. Or you can put a little water in the pot saucer now and again, which will be taken up into the soil in the lower half of the pot so that when roots form, they go down looking for that moisture. In the meantime, they are not sitting in soaking wet soil and tending to rot.
For plants with roots, pot in moist soil and watch for life signs before starting a regular watering program.
Move the plants or cuttings gradually into the light they need, some eventually into full sun. If you do not know if the plants need full sun, keep them in a very bright place, out of the full sun, until you find out what light each plant needs.
Source: theamateursdigest.com
Links
- Succupedia: Browse succulents by Scientific Name, Common Name, Genus, Family, USDA Hardiness Zone, Origin, or cacti by Genus