Succulents as the matchmaker, bringing us together to meet, know, and understand one another

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Thanks to the author [Wang Wang] for theoriginal submissionsharing

Submission date: 2018-05-10

Edited and compiled by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Nanning, Guangxi

Lifelong Beauty

 Shocking Pink

Sammi Cheng 

00:00/03:25

First, let me talk about the city where I live--Nanning. A river runs through the city, and we all grew up drinking the water of the Yong River, so it is also called Yong City. Nanning is also a green city, rated as one of the world's most livable cities, and every year it has its own festivals--the Folk Song Festival and the ASEAN Expo.

In recent years, due to the construction of high-speed rail and subways, the roads in Nanning are full of potholes and dust everywhere. Cars honk their horns on the road, electric bikes are as numerous as ants moving house, and at intersections people sing and play guitar. A popular catchphrase here is--heart-black duck.

As far as growing succulents goes, Nanning is a reverse cheat-mode zone. The summer is hot and long, and the best weather of the year is from the end of November to March. So the succulents we grow naturally cannot compare in condition to those in cheat-mode zones, but being able to grow them well and get them through the hot summer is already something to be grateful for.

Succulents are magical living things. Not only can they grow from a tiny seed or a single leaf into a plant, but they can also bring together people who originally did not know each other. There is no distinction of high or low, noble or humble among everyone; for a shared hobby, everyone can become friends who speak their minds freely.

Below I will talk about several friends I met because of growing succulents: Ting Xiaoting, Weird Uncle, Muddled Shrimp, Ou Hao, and others.

Peach Egg is a difficult one to get through summer. After a bout of rain in summer, its leaves often drop one after another.

Ting Xiaoting can be described not only as diligent, but also as crazy. A pregnant woman ten months pregnant, instead of resting properly to protect her pregnancy, was still every day caught in the cycle of buying succulents-planting succulents-selling succulents, walking around with her big belly on a rooftop with thousands of pots of succulents. When she went into the hospital to give birth, just as her son's first cry rang out, the delivery guy's phone call also arrived.

She and I met through a same-city succulent transaction in the summer of 2016. At that time she posted a message on Xianyu about selling succulents, but no one showed interest. I, as the first customer, gave her a lot of motivation and confidence. As a result, she supported growing by selling, and ran it very skillfully.

This Echeveria 'Lola' was from our very first transaction back then. Over nearly two years, it went through the process of overflowing the pot-turning to mush-treatment-sunburn-recovery. It has truly not had it easy.

Bought in the summer of 2016, repotted in December, grown outdoors. In February 2017 it burst into a hemisphere, golden yellow.

In May 2017 the weather got hot. After rain, because the leaves were too densely packed, it got stuffy and began to turn to mush. I quickly dug it out, cleaned away the mushy leaves, sprinkled dry carbendazim powder, and placed it in a ventilated spot with scattered light.

I replanted it. Because its resistance was poor, it still got sunburned even on the balcony. I have been tending it carefully ever since, and I do not even dare to let water touch the leaves when watering.

In December 2017, seeing that it was slowly recovering, I put it on the rooftop to grow outdoors again, and it once more took on a charming orange-yellow color. Although its current shape is not as good as before, being able to be reborn after disaster is already a kind of happiness.

Ting Xiaoting's first succulent--Echeveria 'Chihuahuaensis'. When she was still a beginner, she actually dug up soil from the roadside and planted it for a long time, always keeping it on the balcony, thin and green. Only later, after learning about succulent care, did she switch to gritty soil and move it to the rooftop to grow outdoors. It has always been in good condition, plump and chubby, and has become a non-selling item.

Because the previous succulent-growing place was going to be demolished and rebuilt, Ting Xiaoting, while nursing her baby, did not forget to mobilize her husband, and even her father-in-law and mother-in-law, to open up a new site, and of course our group of good Chinese succulent friends too. The ones assembling were Ou Hao and her father-in-law, with Liang Meiren assisting, while I planted the succulents. This project was quite big, lasting many days. The process was hard, but finally the racks were set up and rain film was laid on top. In order to get the succulents through summer, she really racked her brains.

Enough about her. Below is a batch of the succulents she grows.

This variegated Echeveria 'Lola' deserves a mention.

Last year when Ting Xiaoting was pregnant and had difficulty moving around, she once asked me to go to the rooftop to help plant succulents, and then I could casually pick some to take home and grow. This variegated Echeveria 'Lola' was originally a free gift, in a wilted and droopy state. Who knew that a few months later it would develop variegation? I really misjudged it. Say no more, I want some quiet time. But does quiet time want me?

Weird Uncle? What is so weird about him?

Weird Uncle was introduced to me by Ting Xiaoting in the summer of 2016. At that time he had a tiny succulent shop at Yonghe Flower and Bird Market. He worked during the day, and sold succulents at night and on holidays. At first I thought they were a married couple.

Let me first talk about what is weird about him. It turns out that in university he was actually into cosplay. If not for the limits of gender, he might now be making it in the anime world instead of the succulent world.

First, let's compare two photos and burn your eyes a little?

I want to ask, what are you trying to do by drawing your sword? Can you cut down the mealybugs on the leaves with one strike?

Time spares no one. Clearly a beer sufferer.

Over two years, he has kept drinking beer, kept playing with pesticides, and kept the shop open. He has already expanded from the original one small shop to three shops plus one dedicated to selling pots, and he also has a small hillside for growing succulents.

The thinking of a weird person is not something ordinary people can understand. A shop selling succulents is decorated in bar style, which can be called unprecedented and unmatched. Still, this is quite nice. This place has become our gathering spot. When free, we go sit there, drink tea, have meals together, and exchange tips on growing succulents. It is quite pleasant. You know, life is not only about the immediate drudgery, but also succulents and eating and drinking.

Is this a bar or???

The pot shop

Is there a little girl living in his heart?

Decorated so flamboyantly, is he selling alcohol or succulents?

The stunningly beautiful Echeveria 'Orange Monroe', grown fully outdoors through sun and rain. The Nanning weather suits growing this one.

The bewitching Echeveria 'Allen', full of charm

Weird Uncle's wife can also paint pots. Do the painted pots and Pachyveria 'Clavifolia' go well together?

The first time I saw Echeveria 'Hakugi' about to bloom. Even before blooming, it is already so imposing

The shop's prized Aeonium 'Cyclops', already taken by the pretty girl Long Rourou in the group to decorate her new home.

The aloof little Hui Hui does not play with succulents, does not like being clingy, and loves to think. Is it often wondering~why is my owner so weird?

One night several months ago, it disappeared for a few days with no trace. Could it have gone to meet an internet friend? I really want to know what social app it used.

When it came back, there was a light drizzle, and it looked exhausted in body and mind. Do partings always have to happen in the rain?

Now it has become a mother and given birth to five kittens.

This is a lucky cat. Assessment complete.

Muddled Shrimp, whom I met during a group buy in 2016.

The reason she is called Muddled Shrimp is that she often forgets things. I cannot remember how many times she left her purse in the shop. What is deadly is that her husband actually hit it off with Weird Uncle at first sight, eventually became his teammate, often played games with him, and even pulled him into the succulent chat group.

Once, when Muddled Shrimp was chatting with others in the group, she forgot her husband was also in the group. When she mentioned losing more than one thousand yuan worth of succulents because of pests, her husband, who had been quietly observing, jumped out~you spendthrift woman, you lied to me and said they were just a few yuan! Muddled Shrimp immediately complained: I told you not to pull him into the group!!! Everyone burst out laughing.

Even so, her husband still supports her in growing succulents. Recently he teamed up with Ou Hao to build her a shelter using angle iron.

If her husband did not support her, would he be willing to go to the garbage pile to pick up flower pots for her to grow succulents?

Echeveria 'Blue Powder' really is so blue

Muddled Shrimp is very skilled at growing Cotyledon orbiculata 'Ping Pong', growing it into a purplish-red color. I just cannot do it

The bear paws really grab at your heart

Ou Hao is a person with very strong hands-on ability and likes helping others. Last year when he entered the hobby, he took the high-end route, specializing in growing Dudleya and Aeonium, so we call him Hao. He usually likes repotting succulents.

Shamate-style look?

White Chrysanthemum originally had only twenty or thirty heads, and now it has split into forty or fifty heads. What a gain

According to him, the mop water from upstairs killed a clustering Aeonium 'Zhiyangrong'. Life is so difficult. Guard against fire, guard against theft, guard against close girlfriends, and also guard against upstairs. Liang Meiren in the group also had oil from cured meat being dried upstairs drip onto her Echeveria 'Shuxi', and the leaves all fell off the next day. After hearing my suggestion, she immediately applied Dakning, and now it has sprouted again.

So, while balcony growers manage ventilation, rain protection, and sun protection for their succulents, they also need to pay attention to what is happening upstairs and take timely measures to avoid causing harm to the succulents.

Since entering the hobby in 2016, I have walked all the way over the corpses of succulents, from a complete beginner who knew nothing to someone who understands watering, soil mixing, and care. Only I myself understand the hardships involved. Growing succulents requires keeping a calm mindset, being able to withstand tests, and enduring loneliness. Being able to appreciate it changing from ugly to beautiful, and also accept it changing from beautiful to ugly, living is itself a kind of happiness.

The first pot of succulents I bought from Weird Uncle, Echeveria 'Ice Age'. Over two years, two of them died one after another, and one remains.

I planted some companion plants beside it to comfort its lonely heart.

Cotyledon papillaris is blooming, each flower like a little red bell. Really pretty. Suddenly I feel this jar I picked up goes very well with it

The changes over more than a year, has it gained a sense of layering, well arranged?

I only started growing Aeonium a little over a year ago, with few varieties and a small number. I relatively like Aeonium 'Halloween', Aeonium 'Zhiyangrong', and Aeonium 'Copper Kettle'. In the end, is it not just poverty that limits my actions?

For Aeonium bought online, I generally trim the roots a bit, then apply Dakning to the stems, using more medicine where there are old scars, then let them dry for more than a day and pot them in moist soil, placing them in a spot with scattered light and ventilation. After a week, I water a little. Before they are established, absolutely do not let them get rained on, to avoid leaf drop and stem rot.

How do you tell if it has established? Observe and find that it looks more energetic than before, no longer excessively consuming leaves, and the leaf center turns green again. These are signs of establishment. Lift it with your hand, gently lift the stem with your hand, and feel whether it has the resistance of gripping the soil. If so, it has established. Or touch the stem with your hand, and if it no longer wobbles east and west but has a kind of rebounding strength, then it has established. Do not buy Aeonium in April or May. When the weather gets hot, rooting is really difficult.

The rainy season in Nanning has arrived, so I do not dare to grow them outdoors anymore and have moved them back to the balcony for care.

For Aeonium soil mix, you can use maifan stone, volcanic stone with coarse sand, fine sand, coal cinder, coconut coir, rice husk ash, with more sand. You can also use crushed weathered rock instead of other grit, and it works quite well. You can separately mix a little fine sand, coconut coir, and peat soil around the root area, then fill in the rest of the mix. This helps with rooting.

Weathered rock granules dug back from a mountain dozens of kilometers away, carried all the way down the mountain. Was it easy for me?

Burn it with fire to avoid insect eggs. After rain or watering, it can be used.

Rice husks bought from Taobao, burned and then mixed into soil for use. Good stuff

Add fermented pine needles and rice straw into the soil mix, so the soil is less likely to compact and can also become fertilizer, making it closer to a natural medium. You know, wild succulents basically grow in gravel, weathered rock fragments, and places with broken branches and dead leaves. Do they not still live just fine?

These are weathered rock granules dug back from the mountain, moist but not wet, very easy to use,

Last year I noticed the stem was shrinking, so I immediately applied Dakning, and it stopped spreading

This year I scraped off the old wound and found that the wound had healed. Although the woody stem is exposed, the problem is not serious.

Continue applying Dakning as a preventive measure. Do what one can and leave the rest to fate. That is all I can do.

Pinching the growing point of Aeonium. Personally, I think choosing the growing season in November is most suitable. Pinch off five to six leaves around the leaf center, then apply dry carbendazim powder. After about ten days, buds begin to burst. Pinch too little and it remains a single head; pinch too much and it leaves scars. If successful, in generally two or three months it grows a lot.

The main head is still there, with a ring of side buds. So delightful.

Below is one where too much was pinched, so there is no main head. The one above was pinched well, and it both regrew a main head and burst out a ring of side buds.

Finally, a comparison picture. Last year's Aeonium 'Zhiyangrong' was so tender and green, at that time I really wanted to take it to the red-light district to lose its virginity.

In March this year I changed it to a bigger pot and found the roots were very strong and had already filled the pot.

Photographed on May 8. Because the rainy season has arrived, I did not dare to go against heaven, so I moved it back to the balcony.

Last year's Aeonium spent the summer on the balcony, maintaining ventilation in the environment. They were all fine, with no leaf drop. A southeast-facing balcony, with sunlight until around one in the afternoon, and a little water every half month. When the weather was too hot, I moved them into the room to blow a fan. By the end of October, once given heavy watering, they began to wake up and grow.

Because of our shared love for succulents, we came to know and understand one another. This is a kind of fate. I believe stories like this are happening more or less all over the country, because in a country that loves succulents there is no distance. As for us, we do not demand that the succulents we grow be any particular way. As long as we ourselves are happy, that is enough. Just be ourselves.

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