The reverse cheat-zone glory only lasts a few months

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Text and photos: Curator

Located in Mianyang, Sichuan, in northeastern Sichuan, a place that barely sees any sun all year round and is humid and rainy. Thanks to the large temperature difference in the open-air mini greenhouse, the succulents finally colored up early. In a good mood, showing them off!

After growing succulents for three years, I finally discovered that succulents are a type of plant that you cannot completely ignore, but also cannot manage down to every last detail. Overmanage them, and it is easy to kill them; undermanage them, and in a reverse cheat-zone like ours they will not achieve any color. Grasping the right degree of management is quite important.

Olivia

White Rose

Pauliana

Peach

Biyulian

Sichuan is too big; the same province has several different climates. Xichang and Panzhihua in southwestern and southern Sichuan belong to the cheat-zone... We (Mianyang) belong to the kind of climate where one day of sun makes us happy for a long time. Mine colored up one after another; after about a week the coloring was fairly obvious. The main reason was that in mid-December we had a rare stretch of four or five consecutive days of sun, and during those days the coloring was especially fast. When the big environment is bad, you can only work hard to improve the small environment. I made many efforts to get the succulent-growing environment I have today. Otherwise, with the conditions here, we could only barely enjoy them in spring.

Harry Butterfield

Red Gem

Hóngzhīyù Jǐn

Firestick

Although Mianyang, Sichuan has little sun, because I grow them outdoors, light is not lacking. Just because the sun does not show its face does not mean there is no ultraviolet at all. Also, I usually control watering quite strictly, and the succulents are basically in a state of thirst, so they do not easily stretch. My succulents are all in a sub-healthy state, pitifully abused by me, and I hardly give them any water. However, the humidity inside the greenhouse is always off the charts, so I am not worried they will dry to death.

Chihuahua

Laur

Lawrence

Green Claw

Green Claw Hybrid

Miranda

You must create an outdoor-growing environment as much as possible, that is, give them as much light as possible. Then, on that basis, work hard to increase the day-night temperature difference and do controlled growing (less water), and it becomes easier for them to color up nicely. If you can, in an open-air environment, artificially create a small greenhouse to increase the temperature difference, the coloring will be even better. With a small greenhouse, you do not need to try too hard to get a temperature difference. A plastic greenhouse like mine does not have strong insulation; at night the temperature is at most one or two degrees higher than outside, but once the sun comes out, the heat easily gathers and the temperature inside the greenhouse rises to around thirty-some degrees, so the temperature difference comes naturally. The succulents in my greenhouse have better color than those grown purely outdoors. In past years, ours clearly only became beautiful in April, but this year the succulents became beautiful early.

Nana Little Hook

Lemon Rose

Qiluo

Pansy

Tang Yin

Peach Egg

Dance of the Sunset Clouds

Ebony

Xiuyan

Here I should forcefully insert a little ad for a plastic greenhouse... Too bad there isn't one...

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