After enduring the challenges of winter and rain, the Peach Egg succulent made a successful comeback

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Thanks to the author [Morning air] for theoriginal submissionsharing

Submission date: 2018-05-12

Edited and compiled by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Changzhou, Jiangsu Province

Everyone has a Peach Egg (Graptopetalum amethystinum), and I am especially fond of them too! I fell in love with Peach Egg when I first got into succulents in the autumn of 2017, loving her delicate beauty and soft pink hues. But she cannot withstand wind and rain and fears the cold; cold and rain will strip away her beautiful outer coat. At the end of November I was carrying my succulents around chasing the sun, December was spent growing them outdoors in the countryside, and in January southern Jiangsu had consecutive heavy snowstorms so they came home and stayed indoors for half a month! Early spring arrived in February, so I quickly plucked off the dead leaves and eagerly waited for spring to return, but the spring rain followed right behind, with five rains in one go. After March 10, the weather in southern Jiangsu gradually cleared and temperatures slowly rose, and Peach Egg truly welcomed her spring. April had so much extreme weather - you could go through spring, summer, autumn and winter in a single week. Walking on eggshells through it all, we welcomed the lovely month of May. Would Peach Egg make a successful comeback?

On November 3, 2017, I bought 10 small single-head plants and grew them in thumb pots for controlled growth

Two small double-head plants from another seller

After they settled in, I started sunning them, sunning them, sunning them. This is a photo from November 15

Another week later, they colored up a bit

Because my home is on the second floor, from late November there was basically less than 3 hours of sunlight. For a while I carried my succulents around chasing the sun, but eventually it was too troublesome, so I thought of the rooftop at my mom's place in the countryside...

During the days in November sunning on the rooftop, they once looked as lovely as pink peach blossoms!

December 17, winter arrived, and before they had time to be beautiful they shed their pretty outer coat

December 26, the cold air arrived, and the succulents had to be brought indoors

Bringing them indoors means fading color. Winter is here, learn to control water!

The last trace of color also faded. Thank you for not going dormant, still growing despite the cold!

In January there were two consecutive heavy snowstorms, and Peach Egg's condition kept deteriorating. All I could do was control water and wait for the bottom leaves to naturally be consumed.

Whenever there was sun, as long as it wasn't below minus three degrees, I'd quickly take them out to sun, and bring them back home at night. But there was insufficient sunlight (5 hours of sunlight on the sixth floor)

On February 4, 2018, early spring arrived, so I quickly tidied her up, plucked off the two bottom layers of dead leaves, and gave a thorough watering. Who knew the heavens wouldn't cooperate - more rain and more temperature drops. Fine! Back indoors again!

Because of the thorough watering plus a rain, and afraid the potting soil would freeze, I turned on the air conditioning, hoping the potting soil would dry out sooner!

On February 23, the sun finally came out and temperatures rose. After being tidied up, Peach Egg had gotten plump and was looking quite presentable

Two more sunny days

From February 25 to March 3, four rains in one week! Who says spring rain is as precious as oil? Peach Egg faded! Outdoor growing is good, but you can't control the weather yourself!

Another rain at night, plus this one makes five rains in total

March 4 was sunny, and the weather forecast said more rain to come... It felt like I was about to break down!

On March 11 the continuous rain finally stopped, and Peach Egg welcomed several more days of clear skies ahead

After being nourished by the rain and welcomed by warm sunshine, Peach Egg finally shook off the long gloom, and made a comeback 4 days later!

Because there was less than 8 hours of light, on March 17 Peach Egg was moved back to the countryside for outdoor growing. All the photos below record Peach Egg grown outdoors in the countryside.

During Qingming Festival I went back to my hometown to see the succulents, and Peach Egg looked impressive - you could say everyone who saw her loved her

In the two weeks after Qingming Festival there was more rain and more temperature drops. There was widespread rain and temperature drops across the country. Peach Egg walked on eggshells through April and even faded in color. Below is a photo from April 26. Here I pay tribute to my fellow succulent growers in southern Jiangsu - growing succulents is truly not easy, every day you're watching the heavens' mood! But we still keep going together

With more rain, Peach Egg looks puffily plump

After trembling through April, we finally welcomed the most beautiful month of May, and Peach Egg's beauty turned everything around. Below is a photo from May 1

May 6, spring in Jiangnan has abundant rain, three days of sun and two days of rain. Peach Egg finally managed to sun herself red, and one rain would fade her again

Every weekend it must rain, like an unbreakable curse

The following are all the most recent photos before this article was submitted (May 12). I rested for two days on the weekend, and it rained again! But at this point Peach Egg, having been polished by time, has a mature beauty, calm and steadfast in the rain!

I reorganized them a bit. To get them safely through summer, Peach Egg still has to come home (this year's summer I plan to let them transition in an air-conditioned room). It wasn't easy raising them to grow up, and I don't want them to die on the road through summer!

Attached is a photo of Peach Egg's soil mix: granular material to peat 7:3. For granular material you can use volcanic rock, diatomite, or perlite. For peat you can use imported growth-type coco peat soil

To sum up, because Peach Egg photos appeared in my previous submitted article, fellow succulent growers who read the article asked: how can Peach Egg become plump and round?

First: grow in a small pot for controlled growth. Small pot controlled growth is because it's easy to control water;

Second: granular proportion. To get plump and round, granular material must make up at least 70 percent;

Third: watering. Wait until the bottom leaves are consumed before giving a thorough watering. If you water before the bottom leaves are consumed, then the leaves that first absorb their fill of water will be the bottom ones, and only after that the newly grown leaves. The newly grown leaves won't absorb enough water and will grow into oval or flat elongated shapes. So to prevent the bottom leaves from absorbing their fill first, you must patiently wait for them to be consumed. Best is when even the second-to-last layer of leaves is wrinkled and can't recover even with a thorough watering - that's when you give a thorough watering. At that point the ones that first absorb their fill of water will be the newly grown leaves at the center. Plump and round is just around the corner!

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