What is everyone's opinion about putting stones/pebbles on top of the soil of potted indoor succulents? I was thinking about it to keep the bottom leaves off of the soil, as that doesn't seem too healthy to me, but I'm worried that the stones may just hold in too much moisture in the soil. Thoughts?

The only benefit of stones, is that it prevents rot for ground hugging succulents. Other than that, it's not necessary, and only ornamental.

Aeonium2003 said: The only benefit of stones, is that it prevents rot for ground hugging succulents. Other than that, it's not necessary, and only ornamental.

It does a bit more than that for me, though still not necessary. It keeps a potted plant cleaner. Mine are generally outdoors when it's warm enough and a stone mulch avoids soil splashing on the vegetation. More useful IMO is that a layer of stone on the potting mix keeps the perlite from floating out. I do some immersive type watering and it helps prevent potting mix escaping and floating out .

It makes the top layer of soil more available to the plant, it serves as a sort of armor for the soil (as Donald describes), it keeps down the growth of algae and moss on top of the soil, it looks nice. Top dressing is a personal choice really (beyond the role it plays in insulating dead lower leaves from soil, which is increasingly necessary for Semps and a few plants in that family), but I use top dressing pretty much always.

The downside is if you use too much rock (too thick a layer) you run the risk of blocking the exit of water from the container by evaporation, provoking rot and essentially entombing the plant. My goal is usually a layer not much more than about 1 rock thick, enough to hide the soil from view but not a lot more than that. And I usually use light, porous rock. Chunky pumice is great because the water can pass right through the rock.

I do it because I use a very airy soil mix. 75% coarse pelite and 25% cactus soil. The mix is not pretty to look at, so I cover it with small stones.
I have 2 sizes, I like the larger one best.

elgecko said: I mainly grow Haworthias and can not believe I did not think to start a thread like this.

I've mentioned before how I'm a sucker for variegated plants, so here's some pics....

elgecko said: Found a few more worthy of having their pictures taken.... even if they are not variegated...

For me its about weighing down the pot mostly so it doesnt topple or fall due to weight or wind

Thanks everyone! I will keep an eye out for a porous type of stone. I'm still worried about some of my lower hanging plants, like the semps, getting rot in the lower leaves, but I'm also still worried about retaining too much water as drainage has been a problem for me. So maybe some small breathable rocks would do the trick.

Clay pots are the way to go if you're worried about root rot/overwatering.

purpleinopp said: Clay pots are the way to go if you're worried about root rot/overwatering.

I've ordered some, and they are on the way. Should be here tomorrow.

Birony said: Thanks everyone! I will keep an eye out for a porous type of stone. I'm still worried about some of my lower hanging plants, like the semps, getting rot in the lower leaves, but I'm also still worried about retaining too much water as drainage has been a problem for me. So maybe some small breathable rocks would do the trick.

Just avoid soluble calcitic stones or salt bearing or serpentinite.

Aquarium gravel is about the only option around here, or just perlite, which I don't use. I love the aquarium gravel in my mini gardens, but my regular pots of succulents are too full of plants to see the soil surface. That's my way of not "looking at dirt."

I use pumice, perlite, akadama, kanuma, chicken grit (insoluble crushed granite) crushed lava rock, clay rocks..either one of those or combination as top dressing.
The irregular shape/porous holes of these top dressings still allows water and air to get to the root zone, and it does help protect the base of my plants and the rosette leaves from touching wet media too much..especially in winter, if we are lucky to get rain, with the colder temps it takes time for the media to dry out properly.

It does add aesthetic clean look around the plants, so I always have at least one type of those gritty stuff on hand, lately it has been pumice, just a thin layer on top is more than enough.

If I do not cover that visible soil, chances are during cold wet weather days, it will easily kill the roots since they grow quite shallow, without extra top dressing they are exposed to more cold air. It is nice during warm weather days, they do not mind, except of course during excessively hot days..having the gritty stuff ready on top, I do
not worry they are staying too damp wet in case I may have to step up watering. ..but very hot or very cold air is tough on those shallow roots, especially on the limited space of containers. Such is the inherent limitations of container gardening. So whether I plant succulents or tropicals in whatever type of container..one of the ways to protect the base of the plant and its roots is to have some gritty material added in the mix and as top dressing as well.

Different when planted in ground, those roots can go further down some more..protecting itself as it goes.

Thanks everyone, that is all very useful information. Gives me an idea of what to look for and what to avoid.