Exploration and Insights Shared on the Journey of Growing Succulents

Follow

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

Main text begins:

Thanks to the author [Linjia Xiaozhu] for theoriginal submissionsharing

Submission date:

Edited and organized by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Qingdao, Shandong Province

I fell into the succulent rabbit hole around May of last year, and I can't remember exactly how it happened anymore. It was already getting hot by then. When you first fall into the succulent rabbit hole, that feverish desire to collect every single variety is something everyone has surely experienced deeply, and even summer can't stop it. At the beginning of growing succulents, I knew nothing about them. I relied solely on the succulent-growing knowledge the seller sent along with the plants, and I followed it strictly, afraid that a single oversight would cause this little life to wither away.

Since I'd started growing them, it definitely wouldn't do to let my knowledge lag behind, so I searched everywhere for learning websites and groups, desperate to find an organization. I joined a group-buy group and followed along with some group purchases, but everyone was just pooling orders together and didn't really exchange care experience. There were some succulent articles on Taobao, but after reading them I found there was too little useful content, too vague and general. Then I downloaded a succulent app, and there I was lucky enough to meet my Sister Ping. After a few exchanges, I discovered that her husband is actually from my hometown, and from the neighboring village no less. Isn't that quite a coincidence? Sister Ping is amazing at growing succulents. She barely tends them and they're just gorgeous. She's absolutely what people nowadays call a succulent master.

I've digressed. Let me get back to my beginner-to-advanced journey. As summer arrived, I was growing more and more succulents, and the soil was all ready-made granular mix bought online. The light at home wasn't good, so my husband made me a shelf and put it outside on an unused air conditioner external unit, and put up a shade net, so they could get sun until around one or two in the afternoon. Every day when I went to work and came home, I had to climb up a ladder to check on them. Perhaps because we're in greater Qingdao, and in the suburbs with strong winds, after a whole summer only about eight or ten died, and those were all ones I'd killed by watering them with my own meddlesome hands.

After it got cold, I moved them all to my mother-in-law's yard. Her yard is enclosed, so the sun basically can't get in. The daytime temperature was still okay, and at the coldest times it could drop below zero at night. I watered at noon on weekends, and I found they were still growing, with no cases of freezing to death, and no etiolation either. The problem came during the days of the first lunar month. Before the fifteenth day had passed, I saw the sun was really nice, and ignoring my mother-in-law's warnings, I moved them all up onto the flat roof. Now they'd finally get to bathe in sunlight. That same day I watered them all, and at night the temperature dropped below zero, frostbiting a lot of them. I hurriedly moved the frostbitten ones down, and after they recovered for a few days I moved them back up, and then they got frostbitten again. After going back and forth like this several times, they completely breathed their last.

After that they got rained on, and even though I covered them with plastic film every night, a third still froze to death. What a lesson written in blood! So here I'm telling everyone to take this late-spring cold snap seriously and not to harbor any wishful thinking. Later I concluded that although the temperature often dropped below zero, if I hadn't watered them and they hadn't gotten rained on, things probably wouldn't have been so tragic. Even if a few died, they would definitely have been ones whose root systems had never grown well to begin with.

During this period, I started following Succulent Plant Encyclopedia, and it was like finding a treasure. Not only did I read it every day, I also went through all the past articles, reading and bookmarking as I went. Spring has really arrived in Qingdao now, and I've been busy repotting. Here's another tear-and-blood lesson: to save trouble, I changed the soil without trimming the roots at all. I kept thinking they'd settled into their pots, but later after watering I found the leaves were still wrinkled, and some had even grown aerial roots. With a gentle tug they came right up, and when I pulled them out to look, the roots had all rotted. So I warn my friends, do not cut corners for convenience. It's best to do it right in one go.

Summer is about to arrive, and I hope my darlings can all make it through the summer safely under my efforts this year and stay with me for a long, long time. I've rambled on so much, now come and take a look at my beloved plants! (Many of these succulents were gifts from Sister Ping, so there are some I can't name. If any of you recognize them, please leave a comment and tell me!)

Don't know the name, a gift from my Sister Ping

Can't remember what it's called, my Sister Ping says this pot has the most character, so cool and aloof

Is this Peach Blossom? Sister Ping gave me several and I'm face-blind

This is the same variety as the one above, right? It feels like they look the same

Swan Lake?

Echeveria 'qiluo', looking forward to it growing into a big old stem

Jade Cup Dongyun, it feels like there's a waxy layer on the surface, so beautiful, isn't it?

This one is a Chihuahua, right? Sister Ping gave me several, and there's also a three-headed one with blood spots. I found it hasn't settled into its pot yet, so it's off recovering. Next time I get a chance I'll show you all

Xiaomixing, it's colored up

The crayon has colored up too, hoping it becomes a big cluster. I had one before too, already frozen to death. Let me cry for a bit

A big cluster that Sister Ping gave me. I trimmed the roots and broke it apart. Looking forward to the day it fills the pot, just thinking about it is lovely. This clay pot was for making Buddha Jumps Over the Wall; my husband found several and drilled holes in them for me, feels great

The Snow Claw I grew myself, I think it's pretty nice, pinkish, and I've pinched off flower stalks batch after batch

Orange Monroe, grown big by me, I really like the color

Ruby, it faded these past few days from watering plus consecutive rain

Thick-leaved Moon Shadow, it's grown quite a bit, and there are little pups at the bottom too. I didn't repot this year, I'll wait until it fills the pot

This Green Claw was a gift from Sister Ping, beautifully conditioned

026, when Sister Ping mailed it to me it had dried down to sticks. After reading Master Ming Sha's article, I used the white vermiculite I bought to get it to root, and now it's grown a bit

Paper Pinwheel, this is one of the only few succulents that got frostbitten without dying. It's sprouted lots of little offshoots at the bottom. I didn't dare repot or change the soil, I'll wait until autumn! The dark one next to it is a Pansy. If not for the bit of growth still showing at the leaf center, I'd have given up on it

Tang Yin, my husband's favorite succulent. He bought himself a big thick-stemmed one, and it didn't die in summer or winter, it died in the late-spring cold snap. I bought a small one again, and it's already settled into its pot

Baby Fingers, a gift from Sister Ping, plus one I already had. When repotting I found its roots weren't good, so I trimmed the roots and planted them together

Lipstick and Black Sandalwood Juice, bought as tiny "booger seedlings," and they've grown quite a bit. Seedlings grow visibly and recover from transplanting quickly, so I'd rather buy small seedlings than old stems. Old stems are too hard to get to root, and at one point I doubted whether I could even grow succulents at all

Morning Dew, bought online from a local greenhouse. Perfume, bought in the same batch as Morning Dew, both very small, but growing quite well

Ivory, a beheaded seedling, rooted in white vermiculite, already settled into its pot, with pups at the bottom. Double-headed Helena, tiny, I just love raising them from small

Romeo and Juliet, loving each other and growing together, next to them are some leaf propagations

Chocolate Line, it's grown a bit. Back then I bought two for seven yuan each, one with six leaves, and each lost one leaf while settling in. Now it's chubby and so cute

Double-headed Cheese, from a group buy, around 20 yuan. I pulled off all the lower leaves for leaf propagation, and it's started sprouting heads at the bottom, but I can't bear to stress it, so I can't get it as round and plump as other people's

This is a leaf-propagated Egg Yolk Milk, back then a single leaf cost twenty or thirty yuan

Orange Snowball, hasn't grown much, maybe because the pot is small, but it's plump and quite cute

Leaf-propagated Peach Egg, there are some more I didn't photograph, back then I bought them at one yuan per leaf

Is this Gaosha zhiweng? A big cabbage for sure, right! Back then the seller told me they'd accidentally applied variegation-inducing chemicals, and refunded my money. I'm still not sure whether this is chemically induced variegation. It's growing very sturdy and healthy

A small old-stem Lily Lili froze to death, but instead the one my daughter pinched off for me and I casually stuck in the soil survived. Should I thank this little rascal?

Thousand-Buddha Hands, it's sprouted lots of pups, and I didn't repot this year either, but the leaves are always a bit deformed. I don't know if it's a sign of disease

Actually there are many, many more, beautiful and ugly. This is my first submission, so I'll post these for now, and if I get the chance I'll post some others.

For soil mix, at first I bought ready-made, and now I've started mixing my own. My husband washed a lot of coal cinders for me, and I bought granules online: black volcanic rock, red volcanic rock, rainbow stone, plus vermiculite, coconut brick, peat, using whatever I have on hand. Anyway, it's more granules and less peat. When planting I add a bit of little white medicine, all learned from Succulent Plant Encyclopedia, so I won't go on about it. The most important thing is that I've always wanted to join our greater Qingdao succulent organization but haven't been able to. I hope the Qingdao succulent family, after seeing this article, can open their arms and accept me. Finally, I wish everyone's beloved plants a safe passage through summer!

Advertisement ADVERTISEMENT

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

- Review of last issue's highlights -

- Encyclopedia featured articlesrecommended -