Whether or not you grow succulents, 99% of people have believed this rumor

Wherever there are people, rumors tend to appear, and the succulent community is no exception. We often see all kinds of labels online or elsewhere, claiming that succulents can produce oxygen, block radiation, absorb toxic gases...

The claims are very appealing, but are tiny succulents really that magical? Let's take a look.

Rumor 1: Succulents can block radiation

Whether online or in physical stores, I believe many succulent lovers have seen a label like this when shopping for succulents,"Radiation-blocking potted plant."

The claim that succulents block radiation has become a major marketing selling point for many merchants, and people firmly believe it too. If you don't believe it, just ask the auntie next door "what blocks radiation," and 99% of the time she'll give you these answers: "cactus," "cactus ball," "succulents," "small green plants"...

But in fact, this "radiation-blocking" function is really just something merchants tacked on to attract customers. Succulents are not nearly as impressive as you think!To this day, no reliable literature or authoritative institution can prove that succulents can block radiation!

PS: The rumor that succulents can block radiation originally came from a study in the 1980s by the Swiss Earth Biology Institute in Chaudonna, Switzerland. Researchers gathered a group of white-collar workers who often suffered from headaches and fatigue, placed a pot of cactus beside the monitors on their desks, and two years later found that these people's headaches and fatigue symptoms had disappeared.

Later, some busybody suggested that it was probably because the cactus absorbed the rays released by the monitors. This claim was easily believed by people and has been passed down to this day. However, that study never measured changes in electromagnetic radiation intensity around the monitors at all.

And since cacti are a member of the succulent plant family, this was further extended,and some merchants labeled succulents with the ability to "block radiation." Then almost all small green plants were also labeled with a "radiation-blocking" function.

Rumor 2: Succulents are lazy-person plants and very easy to care for

Saying succulents are lazy-person plants is only relative, because compared with raising other plants or animals, raising succulents is indeed much easier, and if the number is small, they are more convenient to care for. But once the number grows, caring for them is not so simple.

Moreover, different varieties of succulents have very different habits. Some like moisture, some like dryness. Only by understanding them deeply can you care for succulents well.

Rumor 3: Succulents are suitable for placing on office desks or growing indoors

This is definitely wrong!After growing them, you will know that succulents are truly not very suitable for placing in offices or growing indoors. Their places of origin are generally desert regions and so on, and the growth of succulents depends heavily on sunlight.

Many friends must have also encountered this problem: the succulents just bought are brightly colored and plump, especially beautiful, but after taking them home or placing them on an office desk for a period of time, the succulents become green and ugly, and for a while you feel like you bought a fake succulent.

One factor causing this result may be watering too frequently, and another is lack of ventilation and light. With long-term indoor cultivation, insufficient light, and poor ventilation, succulents will begin to stretch out and flatten like a big pancake,so if you want to grow succulents on an office desk, be sure to remember to take them out to get some sun.

Rumor 4: Succulents can purify indoor air

This is of course also false! Give you a lever, and you can pry up the entire Earth, but what about giving you a toothpick?

Although plants photosynthesize and can absorb carbon dioxide to produce oxygen, our succulents are so small, so don't make things hard for them!

To create selling points, some merchants often give them all kinds of labels. Besides blocking radiation, purifying air is another one, but in fact this has no scientific basis. For purifying air, we generally have two expectations: one is absorbing dust, and the other is absorbing harmful gases.

1. Absorbing dust: Succulents are all very small, and even at most they cannot absorb much dust. Moreover, they do not actively absorb it; dust simply falls onto them freely, and growers still need to clean off the dust. This air-purifying attempt fails.

2. Absorbing harmful gases: We all know about plant photosynthesis. Simply put, under visible light, it is the biochemical process of converting carbon dioxide and water into energy-storing organic matter and releasing oxygen. Since they are all rather mini, how much oxygen do you think they can produce?

Moreover, photosynthesis requires a sunny environment to proceed. Usually indoors cannot provide sufficient sunlight for photosynthesis; instead, the plants will carry out respiration. So the greatest function of succulents is decoration and healing, not purifying air.

Rumor 5: When watering succulents, you must not water the leaves, or the powder will fall off

Saying that you must not water the leaves of succulents also has a reason.If in summer the residual water droplets on the leaves are not dealt with promptly after watering, and then the plant is placed under blazing sun, the leaves are easily sunburned, causing irreversible results.

Therefore, when watering, try to avoid watering the leaves, or use a bulb blower to blow off the residual water, or use an electric fan to dry it.

In addition, the powder on the leaves is waterproof, so there is no need to worry that the powder will fall off. Even if it is accidentally rubbed off normally, it can grow back, as long as there is a suitable environment and temperature difference.

Rumor 6: Succulents will not dry out and die even if not watered

This is absolutely nonsense. Although most succulents originate from relatively barren places,which also makes them very drought-tolerant, this does not mean succulents do not need watering. Succulents still need water.

Even in their places of origin, there is a concentrated rainfall once a year to satisfy their need for water.Since we have brought them home, we should not be "stingy." Give them at least some water. If water is not supplied in time, the succulents will die right before your eyes!

Rumor 7: Variegated succulents are so beautiful, buy one

Variegated succulents are very beautiful, but also expensive. Some people with ulterior motives have learned to use so-called variegation medicine to stimulate succulents into becoming variegated, but this kind of variegation is only fake variegation. It is different from true variegation and also cannot last.

Now on the market, the variegated succulents we can buy for a few dozen yuan are almost all variegation produced with medicine. Especially for novice succulent growers, you must keep your eyes sharp when buying.

Rumor 8: Put succulents in the refrigerator to create a temperature difference

In the past, I saw people trying to put succulents in the refrigerator to create a temperature difference so they would color up as quickly as possible, but this method also needs to be used cautiously. After all, your refrigerator and someone else's refrigerator have different temperatures, and it is also not ventilated. Do not try it blindly.

Most friends probably already fell for the first rumor, right? Is there anyone who has not fallen for a single one? Raise your hand!