My succulents have colored up: the transformation from bare-faced to light makeup

Follow

Follow the Encyclopedia · Meet Beauty (WeChat ID: duoroubaike)

The main text begins:

Thanks to the author [Qianjin Daxiaojie] for theoriginal submissionsharing

Submission date: April 12, 2018

Edited and compiled by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Haikou City, Hainan Province

When I first encountered succulents, they were not stunning.

In March 2015, my mother, who loves flowers, bought me a pot of Sempervivum tectorum (hens and chicks) and a cactus. She said they looked very cute, were called succulents, and told me to try growing them.

My mother hoped I could share a hobby with her, so she always bought a bunch of green plants and would divide some for me, teaching me to pinch off the tips and fertilize. I found it troublesome, and the green plants she shared with me often faded away along with their fallen flowers after the blooms withered. Even so, my mother kept persisting, until she saw this pot of lazy-person plants at the flower market. Truly, no one knows a daughter better than her mother! However, at the time, I was not interested in them at all.

Found it scrolling back through my Moments - the first pot of succulents

Because I did not pay much attention, thinking I could just water when the soil was dry like with green plants, they passed on within a few days. Wasn't it said that succulents are lazy-person plants and very easy to grow? I refused to believe it, so I looked up some care knowledge, but at that time it was only superficial - I only knew to water less and give more sun. Things like ventilation, soil, and temperature differences I never considered at all, let alone that they could get pests and diseases.

After that, for a period of time I bought several common varieties one after another. I went through black rot and turning to mush. After a large-scale mealybug infestation, the succulents either died or were damaged. At that time I thought these guys were too hard to grow, even harder than green plants! For the few surviving succulents, I just thought I would first keep them from dying and worry about the rest later.

Photo one above, what the Echeveria chihuahuensis looks like now. One head withered away along with the Echeveria 'Daehojin' in photo two, and the remaining one is striving to bloom

Photo three above, the Echeveria 'Blue Bird' today. Back when I did not know how to care for it, I let it get leggy......

Photo four above, is it Sedum adolphi (yellow) or Sedum adolphi (green)? It has colored up a bit, but with this shape, should I repot it?

Photo five above, I forgot its name. I have been keeping it on a water-restricted regimen, so it is a bit flat

In the winter of 2017, I became addicted to livestreams on a certain shopping platform. While wandering through various livestream rooms, I discovered livestreamed succulents! Intuitive, cheap, and the thrill of snatching auctions...... It was truly meeting the right succulent at the right time! My real plunge into the hobby began from then on...... I joined various succulent groups, followed various succulent official accounts, and learned all kinds of succulent care knowledge, with more enthusiasm than I had for the college entrance exam back then!

Below, please allow me to show off the results of my learning ※^_^※

My veteran Echeveria elegans (moon shadow), water-restricted until it colored up and the leaves grew shorter

This is what it originally looked like, a face full of forgive-green, haha

This red ruby is also a veteran. Now it has grown a bit messy and chaotic. It used to always be the legendary forgive-green, and I restricted water until it colored up. My sense of achievement exploded, haha

Veteran Echeveria runyonii 'Topsy Turvy', it never colors up, but it is especially good at producing pups

The Pachyphytum 'Peach Beauty' I bought at the flower market. Since I brought it home I have never watered it, and during this time it has only drunk rainwater twice

Because the name was beautiful enough, I brought it home. From Yunnan to Hainan, it suffered from not adapting to the climate and lost its color! But we are not afraid - the care knowledge was not learned for nothing: ready-made granular soil to serve it, the sunniest spot to provide for it, water given on demand...... Our Echeveria 'Xiuyan' finally revealed its most beautiful appearance! Although it is no longer in a bouquet shape

The Echeveria 'Qiluo' cristata that a big expert in the group helped me pick out, like a ball of flame

This red ruby seems to have been bought at the end of 2015. Anyway, it stayed green for two summers, just kept being green, green until I thought it was impossible for it to turn red, until March of this year

Here are a few sets of comparison photos

Linghun

When it first arrived

Luyi

Pachyphytum 'Peach Egg'

Is this Echeveria 'Christmas'?

Echeveria 'White Phoenix', single head turned double head

Why is this Echeveria 'Pink Blue Bird' coloring up while consuming leaves from near the center of the rosette?

Hamburger

Cuican, when it first arrived it had blood spots, now I have grown it into liver color

Frank

Echeveria 'Orange Monroe' and Echeveria 'Ebony'

The Aeoniums

The first Haworthia cooperi. If it gets through the summer well this year, I will find it a companion.

Echeveria 'Orange Monroe' big persimmon

When it first arrived it was quite pink and tender

Has this Echeveria 'Ebony' developed blood spots?

Taurus, is it also called Romeo? On December 9, 2017, it settled down in the beautiful coastal city

On February 10, 2018, in the coldest and gloomiest season, it put on red attire

On April 6, 2018, it adapted to the coconut breeze and sea charm, gradually shed its red attire, and prepared to become a fresh and elegant little thing

Finally, a family photo!!! I once saw in a group that everyone was forwarding a national succulent color map, and Hainan was marked with the forgive-green color. I once asked a host in a certain livestream room how to grow beautiful succulents in Hainan, and she said that in Hainan you should just not grow succulents, just focus on typhoon prevention...... Fortunately, I accidentally joined a united and loving group. Whenever I encounter a succulent-growing problem, whether it is the group owner or group members, everyone tells everything they know and says all they can, teaching you without reservation. In this group, I learned: no matter whether you are in a cheat zone, a free-shipping zone, or a forgive-green zone, as long as you put in care, the succulents will return you a true heart and show you their beauty!

Advertisement ADVERTISEMENT

This article has beenexclusively authorizedby the author to WeChat official account: Succulent Plant Encyclopedia (ID: duoroubaike). The content of the article does not represent the views and stance of the official account

- Review of last issue's wonderful pushes -

- Encyclopedia featured articlesrecommended -