Thanks man. Even though it doesn't seem like it, you've been a huge help. Yes there's about ten holes placed all over. I'm no super plant man, I just realized I want to grow plants and it's been growing inside of me (no pun intended) my entire life. I'm only 18, and I read up a lot on it and me and my girlfriend went shopping for everything last weekend. I'm thrilled, it's not taken as long as I thought it would for the little guys to grow. This is my first real try at this stuff. I've got three types of sunflowers and one type of zinnia in there, and I'm also growing a pepper bush. I did make it seem like I watered a lot though :D I might water once or twice a day, but since they're so little I only give them a little. I've used about 3/4ths of a water bottle on them so far. But the soil never gets muddy or anything. It gets wet and nicely saturated (I think) and runs down and within a day or so it's just a little damp. I was so scared during the germination I thought my paper towels were too wet and then they all sprouted the same day, and in less than half the time I thought. I was so surprised.

Hi, Thank you for all your posts. It is so helpful and I am grateful you have taken the time from your day. I will try address some of the questions. I will have to do the water drainage test as suggested by SC77. My intuition is that it drains okay. The soil has a heavy clay component but is brown and rich. I do not feel it is hydrophobic as the ground stays wet for a long time. However, I am more than happy to be wrong. The grass is not happy at all and is filled with moss and weeds. For the pictures, it was really pouring at that time and I thought it gave a good illustration of my concerns. Water is flowing across my yard from left to right and exiting into my neighbor's yard at the far right. The downspout you see in the picture would be very difficult to reroute. I have two others at the left side of the picture that you cannot see that would be better candidates. The front of my home has the yard sloping gently towards the road. I could bury a pipe and redirect the two downspouts that are currently contributing to the pool on the far left of the picture towards the road. The is no storm drain per se, just the gutter of the road which lesds towards a drain farther down off my property. In the meantime, I might get a 10' pipe and extend the downspout you do see further from the house. I would hope it might allow that 10' to be drier closer to the house. So, my Spring project is a DIY grading mostly to fill in local impressions & reroute some of the downspouts. I will also test my soil to see the absorption rate and treat with surfactants if needed. Then, when we replace our current patio in a few years, we will readjust with the help of a professional. I would go the professional route faster but we are first time homeowners with quite a laundry list of improvements and limited means. Have I missed anything?

I'm new to all of this gardening stuff but... put the gravel back ASAP. Don't mess with it particularly because its so close to the house. If one day the owner came by and saw it and down the road there was a problem with the foundation in ANY way, they could easily say it was never there until you made your garden. The likelihood of whether ANY of that could happen is irrelevant... don't put yourself in the position to have to be on the defense. Walmart has HUGE plastic planters (24" dia, 2.5' high or so) link is below. I have two in red (they have red, tan and green) with annuals and perennials and I love them. I filled the bottom with rubber mulch so I wouldn't have to fill them all with dirt and keep them light (drilled holes, too). They're perfect for me this year - new house with lots of garden maintenance but 3 dogs... Here is a link that might be useful: walmart planter

Sorry I couldn't get back to you all sooner (Labor Day traveling)! I hope you three don't mind if I collectively respond since many of the answers I have apply to similar issues you had mentioned. Just a warning, this is going to be a little lengthy! First off, thank you for your welcomes! I hope you had a wonderful weekend! I do plan on beheading my plant as it grows stronger because that means I will have the right conditions for my plant to remain healthy. Until then, I'm going to try to figure out how to take better care of my plant and hopefully, before it gets too cold here, I will be able to cut the top off and tend to that. Everyone seems to be against the bark/water-retentive soil I currently have. I haven't watered it very much because of how water retentive it may be. The mix I am using is what I already had around the house (some cow manure and a sprinkle of garden soil) with about 1/4 of the soil scattered with pebbles. The bottom of the pot is lined with red lava rocks and larger pebbles. Right now I don't have any materials for an inorganic mix except for the pebbles I used in the pot. I believe those could work as a substitute for aquarium rock or crushed granite but other components are still missing. As for lighting, the window I am keeping my plant by isn't very sunny or hot. There is a steady amount of light but it doesn't seem to be enough for my plant because of its etoliation. I have seen recommendations to place plants by a south-facing window, but unfortunately enough, the only window in my house pointing that direction is in the bathroom. I am worried that the moisture from the shower will not be good for the plant (although I could be wrong.) With propagation, I did try different methods to see if any would work. Whenever I left some of the leaves out of direct light (on a desk I have near the window I keep my plant at), they still dried out within a week. When I watered, they seemed to go bad in the same amount of time. Would you say that humidity is more favorable to watering the leaves, or would keeping the leaves dry with the exception of sparse waterings be better? Aha, all this time I thought people were concerned about plants from stores like Home Depot because of the way the plants are tended to at the store without proper instruction. It is believable that people could easily walk off with an unhealthy plant from a place like that if they are neglected. All the ones I saw were fairly healthy except for some in the back of the shelving they were on. Rina, you said to post a picture of my plant's roots. Here are two: I didn't find any slimy ones but it doesn't seem like the root system has been spreading out or growing much either. When I cleared it off I did find a little dark spot (first picture, right above the root system) that looks like it could be the start of rot. I hope it is just a bruise or minor discoloration, otherwise I might have to behead my plant sooner than I wished. With your recommendations, I will try to create a better soil mix and plan out places to slowly acclimate my plant to the sun. I do have a few more questions that anyone can pitch in answers for: How important do you think fertilizing is for a succulent? Is there already a post on watering plants that I could be linked to? If not, what methods (tools, area covered, etc.) do you use to water your plants? How do you keep the glaucous (?) coating on the leaves of your plants? It seems like it's always getting rubbed off on my plant's leaves. Thank you all very much for your help!