Succulents Fail at Costco

This is my first blog post, and I’d like to make it light-hearted and fun!

Have you ever noticed the succulents that Costco sells are funny-looking?

I’ve never seen healthy succulents at Costco. Each time I’ve seen Costco have them for sale, they look sad and strange. I was there a few days ago, and I had to take photos because they were in such bad condition.

This photo shows three echeverias. None have the pretty rosette shape that an echeveria should have. Their older leaves are elongated and flattened down– almost curving downward. Their newer leaves are small in proportion. These are signs that these plants are not getting enough light. Their older leaves flattened out to increase their surface area to absorb as much light as possible.

Also the one on the right has some dark and wet leaves, which are signs of overwatering. Those leaves will be rotting soon.

You can’t even tell which species of echeveria they are. They might be Echeveria ‘Lola’ based on the shape of their leaf tips.

The winner was this echeveria. It has three etiolated and stretched heads growing! This is because its original head (its apical meristem) got damaged. The plant still had life in it, so it grew three heads. You could say that this one is unique!

So to recap, why are they disappointing? These succulents are not getting enough light inside the warehouse, so they are etiolating and stretching. Their soil probably retains too much moisture, which leads to overwatering (as seen in the photo of the 3 plants), which leads to rot, which leads to death. Overall, it sets new owners up for failure as the plants are unrecognizable, aren’t receiving enough light to thrive, and end up dying from overwatering.

If you were curious, they were selling for $19.99 for a set of 3 potted succulents. The concept and price is great, but the execution is not.