Succulent lovers, think pots are too expensive? Make your own and save money

Fellow succulent fans, I wonder if you've had the same confusion. They say once you fall into the succulent rabbit hole it's as deep as the sea; once you dive in, it's buy, buy, buy nonstop, and even as your wallet empties you have no regrets, wasting away for your plants.

Whenever I see at the flower market those beautiful succulents and flowers smiling at me, it feels like an addict seeing morphine or drugs, eyes lighting up, unable to stop. Sigh! At times like this, I can only pat my other pockets, swallow the drool about to spill out, and force that urge to possess back down into my belly.

But still, along the way, how do I deal with always yearning for those beautiful flowers and pots? Is there really no balance point between beautiful succulents and money?

Anyone who loves succulents knows that a good succulent needs the plant and the pot to complement each other and bring out the best in each other, and often the money you spend on pots is even more than what you spend on the plants. So along the way I've also been looking for ways to cut costs. Although I tried DIYing and reusing odds and ends before, it always felt a bit too unrefined. Today I finally found a suitable method, so I'm announcing it to the world right away.

First, choose a suitable plaster mold, and prepare plaster powder and water. The ratio of plaster powder to water is 1 to 1. Find a wooden stick and thoroughly mix the water and plaster powder. Stir evenly until it's like the paste you'd normally use for a countertop. Then pour it into the mold. Plaster powder sets very quickly, so keep the time from stirring to pouring into the mold within about three minutes. After filling the mold, remember to lightly tap the sides of the mold with your phone, the purpose being to release the air bubbles in the plaster slurry so they don't affect the result after it sets.

Let it sit for more than four hours; if conditions allow, it's best to leave it overnight. The next day, open the mold, and a beautiful plaster flower pot is done. Let it dry for about three days, and then you can choose beautiful colors and DIY it yourself. Plaster powder is very cheap; generally at a building materials store, 20 yuan can buy 50 jin. That can make about 50 succulent pots. As for the mold, you can buy a ready-made one or make your own using something convenient like a bowl. After it dries, you can paint whatever patterns you like. It's good-looking and fun, and the key point is it saves money.

So, are you drawn in by my method? You get your succulent-growing fix and your hand-painting fix, you save money, and it has its own distinctive style. Why not do it?