Several major laws in the succulent world, how many do you know?

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Images: Qingmeng

The succulent world is a magical circle. Those laws that apply in life turn out to apply just the same in the succulent world.

The Barrel Law

The Barrel Law means that how much water a barrel can hold does not depend on the longest stave, but on the shortest stave. It can also be called the short-board effect.

The law of succulent arrangements is that whether succulents planted together in a dish garden survive easily depends on the one that is least tolerant of light or the most delicate, so succulents with similar habits grow better when planted together.

The Law of Attraction

The Law of Attraction, also called the "law of attraction," means that when your thoughts are focused on a certain field, the people, things and objects related to that field will be drawn to you.

Back then, as a beginner grower, just having entered the succulent hobby, I was full of immense interest in everything related to succulents. Whenever I had spare time, I would look at beautiful succulents, learn about growing them, chat with fellow succulent lovers and share growing stories and feelings, and I never tired of it.

The Diderot Effect

The Diderot Effect was discovered by an 18th-century French philosopher named Denis Diderot. The Diderot Effect is a common "the more you get, the less satisfied you feel" effect: when you have not obtained something, your mind is calm, but once you get it, you are not satisfied.

People always love to pursue perfection. Once they reach a certain stage, they want everything to match and be even more perfect. Since I fell into the succulent pit, I immediately fell into the pot pit too. My succulents are so beautiful, I must pair them with a good-looking flower pot. So I fell into the endless loop of buying succulents and buying pots, then buying succulents and buying pots again. This succulent looks great, buy, buy, buy! This pot really suits it, buy, buy, buy!

The Herd Effect

The "herd effect," also called the "bandwagon effect," is the phenomenon in which an individual's ideas or behavior change in the direction of the majority because of the influence or pressure of a real or imagined group. It shows as adopting the dominant ideas and behaviors in a specific or temporary situation (following the trend) and accepting long-term dominant ideas and behaviors (conforming to customs and habits).

This phenomenon also exists in the succulent world. Growing succulents is a process of continuous learning; no beginner knows how to grow succulents from the very start. Having just entered the hobby with no experience, you have no choice but to closely follow in the footsteps of the succulent masters. The master's soil mix method, learn it! The master's watering method, learn it! In short, everything related to succulents comes down to one word: "learn."

The 80/20 Rule

The 80/20 Rule, also known as the 80/20 law, Pareto's principle (law), also called Pareto's law, the law of least effort, the principle of imbalance, and so on. It was discovered by the Italian economist Pareto at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. He believed that in any group of things, the most important ones account for only a small part, about 20%, while the remaining 80%, although the majority, are secondary, which is why it is also called the 80/20 Rule.

In the succulent world, it shows as this: you give 80% of careful care but get only 20% in return. But when you grow your succulents outdoors with little care, often you give 20% and get 80% in return. Yet for succulent lovers, an outdoor growing environment is the hardest thing to come by; 80% of succulent varieties are not yet understood, and only 20% of succulents are well known to the public. That is because the world of succulents is simply too vast.

Murphy's Law

The original statement of Murphy's Law is this: if there are two or more ways to do something, and one of those choices will lead to disaster, then someone will definitely make that choice. Murphy's Law is the famous conclusion he made, also called Murphy's Law or Murphy's theorem, and it is a common saying in the Western world. The fundamental content of Murphy's Law is: if something has a possibility of going wrong, no matter how small that possibility is, it will always happen.

Succulent lovers certainly do not want their succulents to have a series of problems such as pests and diseases, but succulent pest problems always occur. Just like in summer, whether you want it or not, there will always be cases of succulents developing black rot.

The Crocodile Principle

This is one of the rules of economic trading techniques, also called the "crocodile effect." It means: suppose a crocodile bites your foot. If you try to free your foot with your hands, the crocodile will bite your foot and your hands at the same time. The more you struggle, the more you get bitten. So if a crocodile bites your foot, your only option is to sacrifice one foot, somewhat similar to a tiger in a rage biting off its own paw.

This rule applies in economics and applies just the same in the succulent world. When your succulent develops black rot or root rot, no matter what variety it is, as long as an irreversible disease appears, you must deal with it as early as possible, remove the rotten part, and avoid the disease spreading.

The Veblen Effect

The Veblen Effect means that consumers' demand for a good increases because its price is higher rather than lower. It reflects people's psychological desire for conspicuous consumption.

On the market, ordinary succulents costing dozens or hundreds are all great value, but many people always pursue expensive ones. Expensive goods are always popular, but those ordinary ones, when they look beautiful, are no worse than the expensive ones.

The Labeling Effect

When a person is labeled with a word or name, he will manage his self-image and make his behavior consistent with the content of the label.

Succulents like Echeveria 'Little Red Riding Hood' and Echeveria derenbergii are labeled this way as dying in summer, and then they all died in summer. Black Prince and Dongmeiren are labeled as ordinary varieties, and then they have always been bought and sold as ordinary varieties.

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