Hi Succulent People,
I started my collection a little over a year ago. I realized that I had too many to keep inside. They weren't getting enough sunlight and I was running out of room for them. So I decided to get a greenhouse. All my plants were good for the first week, but now they aren't doing so good. They are very dry and every time I try to water them, the soil is bone dry by the next day. I don't know what to do. Any advice is greatly appreciated. I wanna keep my babies healthy. Thank you.

@KitKat0098, Where are you in Arizona? If you're near Phoenix, it's way too hot in the summer to use a greenhouse unless you can add AC or a swamp cooler. Many of the larger greenhouses do that. The temps in an un-cooled greenhouse can quickly fry most plants and you wouldn't want to be in there either.

Otherwise, your cacti and succulents would do fine in the greenhouse during the winter and could all go outside in summer. Some of them might have to be in summer shade. My husband made a pergola covered with shade cloth for our Scottsdale yard and the cacti did much better both summer and winter. Prior to that some had frozen and some had sunburned.

@plantmanager I live in Page AZ. It doesn't get super hot here (95-105 in summer). I don't have a big greenhouse, but it's a good size at 10x5. Do you know of any way to cool a smaller greenhouse? I am trying to use a drip system to wet the ground and raise the humidity and cool it down, but it isn't really working.

I wish I did know a good way to cool. My NM greenhouse gets to over 100 with all the vents and doors open.

If your water isn't too hard you could use a misting system that goes off 3 or 4 times a day during the summer. I tried that but our water turned the plants and walls white.

A long time ago I saw a greenhouse that had one end wall of cloth, and drippers from above kept the cloth wet and they used fans outside, blowing the air from the wet cloth into the greenhouse.

Probably your best idea is to have a shade area outside and keep your less hardy plants in the greenhouse all winter. My daughter has a greenhouse in Texas and her greenhouse was getting to 130 so she can't use it in summer at all.

@plantmanager Thank you for the info. I'll see what I can figure out.

You're welcome, let us know if you figure it out. I might be able to use it too. My plants survive the high heat, but I'd rather have it cooler for me to work in there.

Southern climates and greenhouses just won't do well in summer. I agree with Karen as she has had hands on in your climate.

Here I move everything out in summer and still place most of it in the shade.

I keep shade cloth up in the greenhouse year around. If I recall, it was 60%.

A suggestion to keep your plants hydrated. I place them in trays with a shallow lip. Then I water the trays so the plants draw water from the bottom of the pot. When they have become hydrated, I can easily dump the water from the tray. It takes less effort and prevents water or soil splashing on your succulents.

Good luck...