For me...it's if/when you have SO many & you get SO busy with other stuff, that they get overly neglected (you know they can take a lot of neglect) & they look very sad.

Also, if you have dogs, as I do, they decide to make their racetrack or play fighting directly over your plants! Breaking off branches of a very old Crassula 'Hobbit' was very depressing! They also like to take plants out of pots & demolish them. Heaven forbid you should have a puppy (or 7, as I did)!

Staying on top of insect infestation (mealy bugs, etc.) so it doesn't spread to other plants.

And last thing I can think of, is if you buy from your local big box store & whenever you go thinking you'll pick up a couple new sux...find yourself saying, "have it, have it, have it". :D Bummer!!

Staying on top of the pesky, obnoxious bug threats, and the cost and issue of obtaining all the things that make decent soil. And hauling plants in and out during the winter, whiiich I do for my Aeoniums most every day.

Denise,

I'm with Colleen - I have a mealy problem that I've yet to conquer (afraid of using something powerful inside the house).

Also, the complete inability to avoid the predilection of considering any rock face, rock fall, rock pile or piece of rock as a source of top dressing.

Hi.....to many plants to little room....but some how they squeeze in.........and I agree with Rose...got it got it got it....dang!!! or I am saying same old, same old ones boring.....

Hey Cactusmcharris....I have be using,
"enforcer" bug max....its just a pest control for all kinds of pest....and its safe to use in the house and its safe arround animals and humans, I used it on one of my hoyas, hindu rope...and with crossed finger I am saying I have not seen any mealies any more....they are very hard to get rid of....good luck.....linda

Pennyhal - HAHAHAHHA @ Running outside every morning to see if those #%&@ flower buds have bloomed only to see closed buds still sitting there! That's exactly what I do too!

I would have to say the biggest downside for me is learning the hard way. I just lost a bunch of plants to frost because I'm new at all of this. I though I had a fool proof system. I have a list on my computer of all my plant's hardiness and would bring them in and out accordingly. Then I got a greenhouse and thought I was done having to do such things. Boy of boy was I wrong!

~Erin~

Yeah how about waiting for your Aloes to bloom, and waiting and waiting and then Nothing!!

Greg

Downside? How about obsessive and compulsive buying, addiction, bankruptcy, divorce, and death, but not necessarily in that order. ;-)

Brad, who suffers from none of these afflictions, yet.

Hee hee, Brad...I've experienced 3 of those you mention & came close to a 4th! I'll just leave that one a mystery! Yes, things to watch out for...in our otherwise healthy hobby.

Having to decide whether to propagate or throw away all the potential cuttings on fast growing succulents such as Aeoniums, Graptoverias, Graptopetalums, Sedums, Senecio's etc. The once annual thinning of client's gardens can generate an awful lot of new plants, but they take time and space to propagate. I always feel a little guilty treating potential new plants as trash, but only the various Echeveria's I grow always receive a reprieve from a trip to the dump.

Also, the question of whether to keep a mass planting of Echeverias or Aeoniums looking more architectural and perfectly manicured, or leaving them to do their thing and look a bit more wild. With the faster growing things like Aeonium canariense, it seems by the third year they definitely need some editing, and are usually blooming by then.

Here's a shot of an all succulent garden that is about ready for tip pinching of all the Blue Chalksticks/Senecio mandraliscae, to keep them all at one 15" height and not block the 12 inch pop-up spray sprinklers. It would probably have made more sense to convert the entire garden to drip irrigation, but this was a low budget conversion from an existing half-dead lawn, and converting the entire irrigation system to drip would have added another $2000 in labor and materials to the budget.

Here is a link that might be useful: Succulent garden maintenance issues

I can add the downside of hearing about cuttings being thrown away. Wish it didn't have to happen.

And shipping fees are a sad downside, coupled with not being able to find certain plants in the local area. Weirdly, Aeonium canariense is one I've never seen, and yet so common...

Yes the down side for me is the more I buy the more I want, and what I want I cannot afford, and also it is so hard to find anything really neat and collectable , all there are any more are the BB stores and they carry the same thing over and over again.

Also carrying all of them back in and out every year, I would love to repot into bigger better containers but the weight s to much and space is limited, all tho I am considering doing away with my 'cat' room and putting plants in there as well I have6 big windows there, hard to part with all the kitty stuff tho...........
And last but not least the dang mealy bugs