Succulent plants

What Is The Difference Between A Succulent And A House Plant?

What exactly is a house plant and what is a succulent? If you are keen on getting to know the meaning and scope of these two things, then you are perhaps in the right place.

There are many people who could be growing house plants or succulents without actually being in the know as to what they are growing.

Hence, we thought it would be a good idea to know the differences between the two for the benefit of our readers and other stakeholders.

What Is Plant?

When we talk about a house plant, we are referring to any plant that can be grown indoors or plants that can be adapted for indoor growth.

There are many such house plants and many of them are grown inside the warmth and comfort of homes, though the weather outside may be quite cold and may also be below freezing cold, there are many house plants that grow quite well inside the homes.

However, we need to bear in mind that most houseplants that we see growing in our homes have a few things in common. They are either from tropical climates or they have been brought over from climatic zones that are not too far away from the tropical climates.

These plants need dry weather and warm conditions to grow compared to other plants that may require moisture and other weather conditions that are not exactly too warm.

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What Is A Succulent?

Succulent plants are perhaps directly related to the word succulent. Succulent is generally referred to any food that is tender or juicy. Hence, when we talk about succulent plants, the meaning of succulent is further extended to these types of plants.

They are special types of plant that store water in their stems, leaves and in many cases both these parts of the succulents have water in them.

There are different types of succulents, cultivars and species under the broad category of succulents. They also come in some breathtaking assortments of colors, shapes, sizes. They also have some unique features. They could range from beautiful flowers to spines and much more.

However, we need to know a few things about succulents. For example, cacti are classified as succulents because they store water. However, at the same time all succulents cannot be a part of the cacti family. Succulents can adapt and grow in different places.

They are found in seaside cliffs, arid deserts, steamy and hot jungles, and even mountains that are cold. There are some types of succulents that may just melt and get converted into mush, when they are exposed to too much freezing temperatures.

However, on the other side of the spectrum, you also could come across tough and strong succulents that can survive in the toughest of cold climates in the northern part of Canada and further to the north of this country.

Hence, it would be pertinent to mention that there could be many home plants that could be succulents but on the other hand not all succulents may belong to the category of home plants.

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How To Identify The Difference Between a Home Plant And a Succulent?

This is a common question that comes to our mind when we come across home plants or succulent. It does require some bit of understanding and we hope that the next few lines may help our readers to get some basic information about the differences between the two.

Children in particular, would like to get some satisfactory answers for the above question. We hope we will be able to offer the right differences between the two for the benefit of our readers.

Look at moisture content. As mentioned above, the biggest differentiating factor between home plant and succulent is moisture content.

Succulents are known to be packed with moisture and the water is stored in the stems, leaves, roots and other such places. They have the capacity of surviving without water for many weeks and months. However, this is not the case as far as cacti and other houseplants are concerned.

These plants require regular watering because of their inability to store water beyond a few hours. These houseplants get their water from the roots, make use of them and they again have to look for water the next time around.

However, this is not the case as far as succulents are concerned.

They have the inbuilt capacity of storing water in different parts such as the leaves, the stem, branches and of course the root. Hence, this is one of the main things to be kept in mind when it comes to choosing between a houseplant and a succulent.

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Attributes To Differentiate Between House Plant And Succulent Plant

Succulent trees have leaves that are fatter. This is again with a reason. It helps the leaves to store water and this also perhaps explains why succulents grow quite well in arid, dry, cold as well hot climates.

On the other hand houseplants can help keep your indoors beautiful provided you are able to ensure the right source of water from the roots. Houseplants also can grow wonderfully well in low light of homes and they belong basically to the tropical group of trees.

They do not need too much light and even if the environment and climate inside the home is warm, they can grow quite well. However, this may not always be the case with succulent plants because they would need enough water in the soil so that their roots are able to absorb it and pass it over to the different parts of the plants including leaves, stems, branches and capillaries.

Succulent need more light and they usually wither away in darkly lit homes where there is not much of ventilation. Hence, this is also a major difference that one should bear in mind when it comes when you choose between a houseplant and a succulent.

At the end of the day, there is no doubt that both succulent and houseplants make excellent decorative options for your home.

But you should keep a few things in mind while growing them inside your living room. We are sure that the above difference would have helped the readers to understand what sets apart succulents from house plants.

Understanding this difference may perhaps help the plant and succulent lovers to grow the right kind of plants taking into account special requirements and needs.

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