GARDENING SUCCS
You say "obsession" like it's a bad thing.
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Flue Planters!

4/16/2015

 
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When my mom and I were on our latest expedition to Cactus Jungle, we also hit a salvage yard in Berkeley, Urban Ore.  We were hoping to find some new pots, and found little in that regard (though my mom did score a pretty cool one).  It turns out that pots come in all the time, but someone who works there usually snags them, plants them with something, and sells them for three times what the pot would have gone for alone.

Anyhow, among the random items in the salvage yard were these chimney parts (flues?) for $5 each.  They're about two feet high, quite heavy, and...  I had a vision!  Actually, I had a couple of them. One involved removing the black rubber and metal things that are strapped onto the bottom of the clay cylinders, then planting the cylinders into the ground at various heights and angles.  I still think this would look cool.  

But I decided to go with the incarnation you see here.  Since the chimney things are hollow, I was going to put them somewhere, fill them with dirt, and plant agaves in them.  Then my partner pointed out that this would be (1) a waste of dirt that (2) would make them hard to move from one place to another, should I so desire.  She asked me to try putting plastic pots in them instead.  After some trial and error, I was able to find a pot that fit into each one.  

I took each pot out of its flue, 
planted an agave in each, then covered the top with wet sand (in order to have some top dressing that wouldn't fall off when they were planted at an angle).  Then I pushed the pots into their respective, perfectly-fitting flues.  From left to right: agave americana, agave stricta, and agave "Joe Hoak."

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I thought about arranging these in various ways, but my partner liked them best lined up in a row, which she says makes our deck look like a ship.  I say: okay, cool.  Not bad for a $15 find in a salvage yard, eh?



Guerilla Gardening: One Year Later

9/23/2014

 
Last August, I did a little post about guerilla gardening--that is, planting plants on public or pseudo-public property.  Many of my guerilla gardening attempts failed--frost killed off my haworthias in front of the post office, and overaggressive pedestrians demolished the crassulas I stuck into a planter bed.  But one of my efforts paid off particularly well.  I hadn't thought about this little echeveria for some time, but I remembered it today and dropped by.

On the left is a photo from the day I planted it last August.  On the right is a photo I took today.  Doesn't it look happy?  Seeing the pictures side by side totally made my day:
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For good measure, here's a closer-up shot:
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Crimes Against Nature (VIEWER DISCRETION ADVISED)

8/21/2014

 
Recently, my mom was in Home Depot, where she spied something truly horrific--something no human being, and certainly no lover of succulents, should ever have to witness.  I hate to share this picture with you, because you won't be able to purge the image from your mind.  But I'll share it as a public service.  People need to know.  What you see below is, in fact, nearly a dozen spray-painted succulents that I believe were aloe aristatas before they were defaced.
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At first, I thought: those big-box store people are ridiculous.  They'll try anything for a buck.  But no one will like this or think it's a good idea.  Such tomfoolery will never catch on.   After all, not only does spray-painting beautiful plants plainly desecrate them, but it makes them look weird and unnatural. 

Also, I'm no botanist, but I'm pretty sure that covering a plant with paint will inhibit its ability to breathe, and thus to live.

Then, partly to reassure myself, I googled, "spray-painted succulents."

This was a mistake.

Had I not googled "spray-painted succulents," I never would have known that there is, in fact, a whole cadre of online craftspeople and wedding planners who are positively bursting with enthusiasm at the idea of defacing these drought-tolerant gems of the plant world.  I would have remained innocent, optimistic, naive.  But no more.  Since misery loves company (and since I can't feel adequately aghast unless others are aghast, too), I'll share some of my least favorites.
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To the left, you can see the dubious creation of whoever writes momadvice.com.  She advises that painting succulents can add a "pop of color" to plants.  

Uhhh... 
Sure it does.  In much the same way that the gentleman to the lower right added a "pop of color" to his face.  Or that unwanted graffiti adds a "pop of color" to downtown buildings.

To add insult to injury, momadvice.com's paint job is shoddy, especially the blue faucaria (what was going on there!?).

Here are some others that I hate.
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This dum plant waz soo boring n green till I maked it painted now its rad yeah!
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Cakktuses r stupid so I spray painted them 4 u
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We luv suklents together so sparklee and glitteree whee!!!
Take a stand, my dear succ-er friends.  This nonsense has got to stop.  (Or at least leave a comment below telling me you're as aghast as I am!)

Addicted to Propagation!  And Growing from Seed!

8/6/2014

 
As regular readers of Gardening Succs are no doubt aware, I have developed quite an affinity for the stacked crassulas--the chunkier and rarer, the better.  I have also developed an addictio--er--an affinity for propagation.  The natural marriage of these two affinities has resulted, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the following:
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From left to right, the rows are: (1) c. deceptor; (2) c. deceptor; (3) c. columella; (4) c. marchandii; (5) half c. barklyi and half c. moonglow; (6) c. emerald; (7) a "catch-all" row that includes c. hirtipes, c. ivory pagoda, c. coralita, and a couple of others; (8) c. deltoides and c. namaquensis.  I used a mix of half organic potting soil and half dry stall (aka pumice), since this simple soil cocktail has done me well in the past.

I would love to propagate larger cuttings, but for many of these (especially c. barklyi, which I love but can't find in the US--can anyone help me?!?), I only have one or two tiny little plants from which to take tiny little cuttings.  In some cases (e.g., c. namaquensis), I've basically decimated my only plant in the hopes of propagating more.

Why, you might ask, am I propagating these stacked crassulas?  Am I hoping to start my own nursery?  Sell online?  Guerilla garden stacked crassulas up and down the California coast in the hopes that they'll overtake our ubiquitous ice plant?  The answer, of course, is that I have no idea.  I am propagating these plants because I really, really like them, and I want to get good at propagation for reasons that elude even me.  Such are the mysteries of the human mind. 
I've also been growing from seed again.  As you might recall, I had moderate success last year with growing haworthias from seed.  (I'll post pics of those sometime.)  I decided to try again with a variety of types, and using techniques I learned from this fabulous book.  I had no luck with crassulas and little with agaves and echeverias.  However, after a few months, some types were doing well enough to transplant, as you can see in the picture to the right.  Various mammillarias look good, as do haworthias.  I am also excited about the astrophytums, which are in the center row in this pic.  I've had two astrophytums in the past, 50% of which perished under my care, so I'm interested to see if I can keep these alive.
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Creative Top Dressings to Showcase Your Succs!

4/1/2014

 
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Pebbles, sand, and rocks are all common "top dressings"--that is, materials spread on top of the exposed soil in a potted plant.  In addition to making an arrangement more colorful and decorative, top dressings have the practical effect of making plants easier to water, keeping moisture in, and preventing leaves from touching wet soil, which can lead to rot.

But conventional top dressings can go for as much as $5-$15 for a tiny bag!  So in this post I thought I'd share some of the top dressing "hacks" I've discovered through other succ-ers' recommendations, as well as my own experimentation. 

The first place to look is in your very own kitchen!  Small objects with interesting textures make the best soil covers.  As you can see in the picture to the left, I've combined raw peanuts with an aloe seedling.  Be sure to use unsalted peanuts, since salt will change the ph level in the soil and can actually kill a plant.

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In addition to peanuts, I've experimented with wasabi peas (successful, and makes for some fabulous color combinations--just be sure to get the msg-free kind, which you can find at Trader Joe's), water chestnuts (which look cool but tend to decompose within a few weeks), M&Ms (yellow ones look especially nice, and the candy shell keeps the M&Ms in tact, so no worries about melting), and chia seeds (which were fabulous until the second watering, when the seeds began to sprout).

As you can see in the picture to the right, larger items can work as well--the key is to make them bold and bright.  For this composition, I've chosen kumquats.  I made this back in October because I thought the bright orange gave the aeoniums an autumnal feel.  The kumquats don't decompose because being placed directly on soil causes them to "chlorophate," meaning that they retain their shape, smell, and color.

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You might recognize this next plant from my last post, where I mentioned that it was labeled as "Euphorbia sp."  I've come to suspect that this was a mislabeling, since it does not seem to contain the trademark milky white "sap" for which euphorbias are known.

In any case, though, it's a lovely plant, and I think it's made even lovelier by the addition of discarded pharmaceutical pills.  Because I didn't know if the chemicals would harm the plants, I didn't place the pills directly on the soil.  Instead, I first sprinkled a layer of conventional jade pebbles.  Then I scattered random expired pills on top of the pebbles.  The result may not be for everyone, but I think it's both colorful and whimsical!

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I know this next suggestion is going to be a little environmentally controversial, but I'm going to put it out there anyway: plastic wrap.  Not saran wrap--I'm not suggesting you go out and buy plastic specifically for top dressing; that would be wasteful.  Instead, whenever you order anything from Amazon, just save the plastic insulation that comes with it. 

And I know what you're thinking: but I'm supposed to recycle!  Yes, sure, I know.  But you can think of this as a form of recycling.  The only caveat I should mention is that water runs off of the plastic, so to water plants with plastic top dressing, just lift up the plastic, water, and put the plastic back on.

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This last one is going to strike you as a little weird, and perhaps even a little gross, but hear me out, succ-ers--not only does this work, but it's good for your plants.  If you have a dog or a cat and feed them hard kibble, take just a small handful and spread it atop the soil of any potted plant.  It has kind of a cool texture, and an effect similar to lava rock--but I haven't gotten to the best part yet.

Most high-quality dry pet food is supplemented with vitamins and minerals to keep our furry friends healthy.  Water helps these vitamins and minerals act as fertilizer.

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After multiple waterings, the kibble will begin to soften and decompose.  It may look a little gross at first, but over time and multiple waterings, it will turn lighter in color and form an attractive "crust" over the top.

The picture to the left is the same plant and the same kibble top dressing from the picture above, taken after six weeks of once-weekly waterings.  To achieve the clay-brown hue you see in this composition, I prefer to use Iams.  If available, choose a low-sodium variety with mineral supplements.  (It's healthier for your pets, too!)

So what do you think, succ-ers?  Have you ever tried any of these creative top dressings?  Maybe you have some suggestions of your own?  Did you read this all the way through without remembering that it's April Fool's Day?  Haha!!  Gotcha!
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