A Succulent Lover in the Great Northwest: The Journey from Balcony Grower to Greenhouse Owner

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The article begins:

Thanks to the author [Zhu Wang Mumu] for theoriginal submissionsharing

Submission date: 2018-04-11

Edited and compiled by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Jiuquan City, Gansu Province

Ever since I accidentally fell into the deep pit of succulents, I have not been able to pull myself out. I do not know how many died in my hands for the sake of succulents, or how many I ruined. I have been growing succulents for 2-3 years now! Actually, I cannot be considered some great expert. It is just that after so many deaths and so much ruining, I slowly picked up a little experience. From a balcony grower to a greenhouse owner, I hope to find some friends to discuss things together with!

I have already forgotten when these started! At first I went pretty hard and got a whole lot in one go, and all at once I became a clueless balcony grower. Leaves and such, whatever I liked, I just went for it. I did not look at forums to learn at all! I just kept buying, buying, buying.

This is my first mixed arrangement. I did not know whether they could be planted together. I just did it for looks, and only in the end did I realize it was just a room full of green plants.

Sigh, all kinds of green. At first, for succulent soil, I just bought finished products directly. Seeing merchants say all sorts of good things, I bought without hesitation! The succulents were also picked on Taobao.

Mature succulents could no longer satisfy my ambition, so I started trying sowing for the first time. When the seedlings came up, I was so excited inside. But I also bought a lot of fake seeds. I just looked at the pictures and thought they were pretty, with no idea whether they were real or fake, and I wasted a lot of money!

This pot of Sedum sieboldii is an exception. At that time, the succulents were dying in all sorts of ways, and the sown seedlings, after sprouting, had no experience behind them and also failed in all sorts of ways. At that time I really wanted to quit the hobby, but seeing other people's succulents looking unbelievably beautiful, I could not help myself. So it went on like this: die, buy, die, buy again, all kinds of vicious cycles. This pot of Sedum sieboldii was originally just thrown into the bedroom! I could not even be bothered to care for it. Once, when I was inadvertently cleaning up the mess, hey, how did it suddenly develop such good color? I was so delighted inside, taking photos of everything, holding it and looking at it every day. Thinking about it now, I feel really silly.

Not long after getting into the hobby, I met a great expert. At their home I saw this pot of Echeveria laui. At that time the price of Echeveria laui was still reasonable, but not cheap either. Out of love for succulents, I bought it without hesitation! I did not care whether I could keep it alive or not. Anyway, if I liked it, I bought it!

Just like that, more than a year slowly passed. In the blink of an eye, I do not know how many succulents I had bought. The windowsill at home could no longer hold them, so I bought shelves. The shelves were filled too. There was really no other way, so after discussing it with my family, I modified the railing outside the window. Suddenly there was a lot more space, and I could wreak havoc with peace of mind again! This pot of Echeveria laui also grew a lot under my careful care, and it had already filled the pot! Suddenly I felt that there had still been progress!

This is the first hydroponic succulent. At the time I heard it could be grown hydroponically, so I boldly gave it a try. It seemed pretty good. I thought it would grow leggy, but it was very cooperative and did not grow leggy!

Slowly I got to know many succulent friends, and visited greenhouses of all kinds. At that time there was only one somewhat larger greenhouse around here. I went to the greenhouse and bought this Graptopetalum amethystinum, and I liked it incredibly much.

Time actually passes very quickly. In the blink of an eye, two years had passed. The varieties of succulents I kept also began to gradually advance toward slightly more expensive varieties. But my ambition was too great, and being a balcony grower could no longer satisfy me. I started planning to rent a greenhouse together with friends. After discussing it, we acted at once. Finding a place, choosing a greenhouse, laying bricks, setting up ground planting, we fussed around for nearly a month! At last we had a little place of our own.

For the sake of looks, I wholesale-bought several hundred pots of Sedum japonicum and arranged them into letters. Hehe, everyone recognizes them.

Ground planting initially completed.

At the time I did not know what to plant either, so I brought the cycad and pineapple from home and planted them too!

In the blink of an eye, half a year passed, and the ground planting was almost full. I did not even feel that so much time had passed! Without comparison, I would not know what it originally looked like!

Sedum japonicum has already grown so much that it has buried my letters and become one whole patch!

With a greenhouse, the succulents' colors also gradually began to show, though they are still far behind those in the cheat-mode regions.

Here is a close-up of Sedum japonicum.

The Kalanchoe tomentosa 'Golden Girl' also gradually put on red fingernails.

The Sedum pachyphyllum I had grown for a long time finally developed good color too! It still feels very, very beautiful.

The beautiful Graptoveria 'Blue Apple'.

I do not know when I suddenly fell in love with fasciation, but I never expected the prices would be so high. Still, I could not help myself, so I had to spend money and buy fasciated plants. But I never expected that once I started, there would be no stopping at all! My money!

The beautiful candy fasciation.

Keep buying.

When I saw this pot at the time, I liked it incredibly much, but the price was also ridiculously beautiful. After a long ideological struggle, the succulent defeated the banknotes, and just like that, swish, it flew into my hands!

You can see that this Monanthes also became fasciated!

In the course of a year, my Graptopetalum amethystinum also turned into an old-stem amethystinum. The shape is not bad, right! Haha.

This is my first submission. I am not good with words, and I do not know what to say. I just wanted to share the feelings of getting into the hobby. I do not dare to talk about experience either. I always feel that I am still far behind and that there is still a lot I need to learn. I hope to get to know some succulent friends and discuss the experience of growing succulents together! Please forgive any shortcomings.

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