Succulents: A Year of Co-Habitating with Nature (A Collection Update)
About a year ago, I bought my first succulents on a whim. I wanted a little piece of one of my favorite places on earth (the Oxford Botanical Garden) in my undergrad dorm room and purchased six succulents in two terra-cotta window planters. Since then, I've learned a lot about succulents, had some ups and downs, and expanded my collection. I'm living my 10-year-old self's dream and slowly accumulating a jungle inside my apartment.
First up are my two original planters: these are my Panda Plant, Baby Toes, and Ghost Plant. My Panda Plant seems to be doing pretty well—there's a new offshoot growing under the bottom stem! However, as you can see, my Ghost Plant is very etiolated (elongated, stretching towards the light). That was the effect of moving from Kentucky to Minnesota, where the winter came quick and the sunlight is mostly a gray reflection off the snow. My Baby Toes are noticeably missing from their original planter. I replanted them after they started dying and discovered root rot. About six months later, they're still struggling along, looking a lot worse for wear. If anyone has tips on saving this little guy and nursing him back to health, let me know!
These are my Blue Giant, Drunkard's Dream (don't succulents have the best names?), and Moon Cactus. Like my Ghost Plant, the Minnesota (lack of) sun has etiolated my Blue Giant. In the summer, I will probably trim it down where the leaves have gotten significantly smaller. Since I've purchased a grow light, my Moon Cactus has begun to turn orange from sun stress, which I find quite beautiful! And my Drunkard's Dream lives up to its name: it gets the thirstiest of all my succulents, and when watered, it grows like crazy!
These are the new additions to my collection that I've accumulated over the past year. The first (and maybe my favorite) is my Burro's Tail. It has surprisingly stayed fat and healthy, and I love the Grecian pot it's in! I did have a root rot scare a few months ago, but cut off that dying "tail" quickly and it doesn't seem to have suffered since then. The next is my Golden Goddess, which gets beautiful orange and red tipped leaves during the sunny months. At the moment, it's a little thirsty, hence the wrinkly leaves. In my white brachiosaurus planter is an aloe vera variety. I've found aloes to be resilient; however, they do sunburn very easily (ironic, right?), so I have to rotate its placement in the apartment pretty frequently. Beside it is a hawthoria, which struggles with the same sunburning issue. The purple guy on the bottom row is my unknown variety. It looks like a purple version of my Blue Giant, so it may be some kind of sedeveria hybrid. The final newcomer to my collection is this variety of Prickly Pear cactus (possibly Bunny Ears). This guy was in bad shape when I picked him up, but he has hung in there! I'm going to start putting him under the grow light and see if I notice him perking up.
And last but not least, my propagations! These are baby succulents that I've grown from fallen leaves or clipped offshoots. I'll be so proud if they take root and make it to the summer!
I hope you've enjoyed this tour of my collection! There's nothing better than having a miniature jungle in my office, and I hope to expand my succulent knowledge and amass more plants over the years.