But are they? Probably not but for me the answer is hands down yes! They check all of the below boxes for me (and yes there are plenty of traditional houseplants that check all or most of the boxes as well).

• Watering is very infrequent and won’t croak if you miss watering it once
• Prefer no help from me
• No humidity to low humidity
• Stay small and don’t need repotting every year usually
• Can go on a 3 week vacation/holiday and most succulents wouldn’t even show a sign of being thirsty

What they make easier for me in those areas they require a lot in another area which is lighting. They need 6+ hours of direct light to remain compact and display their beautiful colors. In addition, succulents and cacti need very well draining potting mix and putting them straight up in soil with no inorganic materials to assist in drainage and aeration will increase the chances of the plant dying from overwatering/root rot as the soil isn’t drying out fast enough for these types of plants.

I live in a state that sees all the seasons and have a couple south facing windows – but knew they couldn’t be there all year around, so I decided to put them under grow lights instead of natural light to simplify things. Even after getting grow lights some succulents still needed more than that! That doesn’t even include cacti……..

I had to play around with the light requirements for different succulents – some will need less than others so I learned to enjoy the ride and get used to being the Red Queen and behead if they stretched too much or give away the ones that needed more lighting then I could give them. The LED light bar can work somewhat for certain succulents but will require putting the plants within 4-6 inches from the light vs if I bought a grow light with a lot higher PAR/PPFD readings the plants could sit further away and thrive!

I bought one cactus and knew the grow lights I currently have were not going to keep this little guy happy so I began to research and bought a bigger, badder grow light – it wasn’t cheap but definitely not the most expensive on the market. Then I added about another $30 to DIY to mount it in my entry table how I imagined it.

That is another problem with succulents or cacti indoors – for a good grow light it’s not exactly cheap and there are no grow lights that I found that would incorporate well into my furniture or be considered a pretty focal point if needed so you end up DIYing things to make it look pretty and the cost adds up.
Succulents are great for small spaces because they’re not super fast growing and just small in general which is great for me as they fit in the space I want them to be in and I can have a lot if I wanted. 

Overall cacti and succulents are easier than regular houseplant to me because I’m not chasing the sun and worrying they’re gonna stretch once I figured out the lighting situation, the rest fell into place. They need well draining potting mix and high lighting to be at their best form and colors. Some succulents do well in a window ledge but others will desire more and it’s a trial and error method to figure out what works for each plant. I love succulents as they really do their best with me cheering them on from afar and that’s perfectly fine by me. And they don’t mind a little under watering from time to time either which is fantastic, ahaha.