Succulent Transplanting Diary: A Record of the Whole Moving Process

Foreword

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Thanks to the author [, Yali] for the original submission and sharing

Submission date: June 4, 2018

Edited and compiled by: Encyclopedia Jun

Location: Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province

I started growing succulents in my senior year of college, and it has been more than two years now. Watching them go from a few pots to dozens of pots and then to hundreds of pots, I have a lot of feelings in my heart.

When I first fell into the hobby, it seemed that the twists and turns of this succulent-growing journey were already destined. Our dorm room had only one small window, so I could only put the succulents on the windowsill edge and look at them many times every day. Back then I did not understand how beautiful succulents could be when they colored up; even when they were bright green, I was overjoyed.

This one was taken specially with them all together as a "family portrait."

Red Crane and Sedum rubrotinctum, I have kept them until now, and they are also veteran-level succulents. The others mostly died, or else grew bigger and were sold later. These two photos were taken last autumn; this year I did not take separate photos of them.

After about half a year of growing them in the dorm, I graduated, and the succulents moved with me. If conditions were lacking, I tried to create them, and just like that I found wooden boards to build shelves for growing succulents. The conditions were hard, but that did not affect the fun of growing succulents.

A few could also be placed on the windowsill edge of the warehouse.

The place where I opened a shop was in the mountains, and from the end of October it began to go below zero, so the succulents had to move again. I discussed it with my sister and started moving the succulents. So all the succulents were transferred to my sister's balcony.

It was obvious that the troop had grown a lot. Looking now at the old succulents, they really looked too pitiful to bear. Fortunately, they lived up to expectations and have turned out pretty well so far. Winter indoors is hard to endure. In the mountain valley, from the end of October it goes below zero and the temperature does not recover until April of the following year. Half a year of winter really makes people unhappy.

Every day I watched the weather forecast, wondering when the temperature would rise and when I could grow them outdoors. On April 26, they were all moved outside for outdoor growing. The more I grew, the bigger my ambitions became. This place had relatively short sunlight, only four or five hours a day, so I began thinking about changing locations, to somewhere with longer light hours and a spacious area.

It was time to show how important my boyfriend was. He found the place, and he and a friend helped me move the succulents. After that, we also bought a rain shelter, plastic film, and shade netting, not missing a single thing, so we could get through summer with peace of mind.

The healthy color of summer, bright green.

After enduring July and August, they immediately became beautiful in September. Seeing these changes, I felt that all the previous trouble of moving the succulents around was worth it.

Good times did not last long. Winter in the mountains really comes early. After National Day, autumn rain continued endlessly and the temperature approached zero, so it was time to move the succulents again. My boyfriend went through the trouble with me every time. His car was requisitioned by me to haul succulents, and for those few days we occupied the elevator every night.

Succulents in the rain have a special charm of their own.

The freezing weather was cold enough to kill, yet I still carried them home trip after trip. When unloading at the community entrance, I spread them out, and passersby all took a few glances, thinking I was selling succulents. And so, moving them little by little over several days, they finally returned to the balcony.

Compared with the balcony in 2016, the scale in 2017 was much larger again, and more shelves had to be set up. Bottom-watering was truly exhausting too; usually it took more than two hours to finish everything.

As the weather gradually warmed up, I started the outdoor-growing routine again. Because I reopened the shop, there was no place to grow succulents, and only a barely usable small spot on the rooftop, still on the fourth floor and rather dangerous, so for the sake of growing succulents I made do for the time being.

The windowsill was requisitioned by me again, and even the radiator was not spared. These places were used for succulents that had just been potted. Watering once every few days along the edge of the pot made them establish very quickly.

During that time the shop was being renovated, and I did not let the carpenter off either. During breaks he helped me put together a few shelves, and when it was done I painted them myself, done!

There was no place to grow them in my own shop, so I set my sights on the roof of the neighboring shop, and after much trouble moved all the shelves and succulents over there. Unexpected storms arise. The neighboring shop was sublet, and negotiations with the new owner failed. I was absolutely devastated and could only change locations again.

Moving, moving, moving again, trip after trip filling the car.

Did you think that was the end? Impossible. Since this was destined to be a journey of constant trouble, not having trouble was impossible. This terrace had very good conditions, 360-degree all-day sunlight, and ventilation on the third-floor rooftop was first-rate. However, since it was not my own home, it was inconvenient to check on the succulents and they could easily be stolen, so I could only use it temporarily.

The ultimate succulent move. This time the place was the rooftop of the small warehouse at the employee's home, with all-day sunlight, good ventilation, and theft prevention. The only downside was that it was somewhat far from me, but for the sake of growing succulents I endured it; going back and forth a few times counted as helping digestion. I was honored that my boyfriend's car was once again requisitioned by me. It took three trips back and forth to finish, including the flower rack, rain shelter, and all sorts of odds and ends!

More than 20 of these fruit crates were moved. The small ones were okay, not very heavy, but the large ones were heavy themselves and held a lot of succulents. One crate weighed dozens of jin, and that guy huffed and puffed while moving them. Sometimes he also complained a bit that I grew too many, saying, I am not unsupportive of you growing succulents, I hope you grow them carefully, all beautifully, not indiscriminately.

I also understand that all this trouble is really tiring. Growing succulents makes me happy, but creating a burden for others is not what I want. Starting this summer, I began to restrain myself, hoping succulents would not become a sweet burden.

I thought that one day I would have my own "peach grove," round and pink, but after growing them for a year I found I could not do it, so I could only take it slowly.

I once bought a Sirius, a beginner who did not know quality, and it turned out to be an Echeveria agavoides hybrid. Whether this one is Sirius I am not sure either, but as long as it looks good, that is fine.

Big Red Lip, with several little pups, one I especially like.

Echeveria agavoides

I had to have an Aeonium too. Last year I followed the trend and bought a large Aeonium shaoixiu, and as the green faded it began to turn into a rosette.

An old-stem peach egg, grown for two years, with more heads and shorter leaves.

Big lumpy one, full of bumps and hollows, but I like it too.

Flower stalks like little lanterns.

Through all kinds of trouble, the succulents became beautiful and gained his approval. That is enough. On the road of growing succulents, I will keep causing trouble...

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