Update on my succulent plantings (very heavy photos)

haxuan

13 years ago

As promised, here are update photos of my succulent plantings. All of them grow very well even in my absence.

Thanks for viewing.

Xuan

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Comments (12)

Greenthumb
13 years ago
Beautiful photos and nice plants!
Thanks for sharing.
Mike
haxuan
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks, Mike (greenthumb).

I also wish if someone could kindly give an ID to this cactus.

Xuan
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Hi Marian! The roadside plantings sound very interesting - to bad you didn't get pictures... I've not grown cannas - do you need to bring the whole tub in or can you do what I do with the elephant ears - i.e. remove them from the pots, get rid of tee soil, bring the roots/bulbs (whatever they are botanically speaking...) in to dry off, then restart them in new soil in mid-winter so they are off to a good start by the time it's warm enough to move them back outdoors ? Actaully, as I write all that, it sounds almost as much work as bringing in the pots! But it does refresh the soil once a year. PM2 - Unfortunately the third floor was not open as it is undergoing some restoration. One of the interesting things about the house is that there are still functioning gaslights in it. It belonged 'way back when' the person who started Consumers Gas, so it had a lot of gas things that were modern in their day (e.g. a gas refridgerator) I found that the house didn't feel that spacious inside, largely I think bebause of a lot of dark wallpaper, and the rooms had high ceilings so the proportions kept the space from looking as big. Also, because the curtains were drawn to keep light from damaging the antique wall covering etc., the low lighting contributed to the spaces feeling smaller. The highbush cranberries are the remnant of the row of them we originally planted along the garage. Only the ones at the driveway end got enough light to bloom properly so we removed all the rest and replaced them with hydrangeas. The limbing up is necessary to keep the path along the garage accessible but we also like the effect as it sort of creates an arching canopy that mirrors the arbour nearby.
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Many thanks, cactusmcharris. Your suggestion is very valuable. My intention was to remove the "mother" aloe and any "grown-up" siblings when they would become out of proportion. But if any of them don't "behave" I'll remove them all, as you said. At present, I'm not totally pleased with the top-dressing because I don't have enough of the "earth-colored" gravels. When I can have enough of them, I will remove the other pebbles and crushed rocks. But they stay, just for now. Again, many thanks. Xuan
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Hello HaXuan, your pots look great. I once collected succulents. But over the year they don't look as good as your so I slowly gave them to friends. You are the first Vietnamese I know in this web site. I am also very new to the site, but because I like plants so I often check in to learn few things about expert gardener.
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Update photos - my succulent fountain
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Comments (12)
Gardenlady: Thank you for your compliment. I'm not an expert of succulents, but from my own experience, these plants do need very bright light and some direct morning sun to bring out their colors. Currently, I leave this "fountain" on my porch which gets morning sun until 10am and bright light rest of the day. I made this arrangement out of two separate pieces of ceremic - an "urn" as top and a flat dish as the base. Each has a drainage hole. Also, I use very porous soiless mix with added perlite and vermiculite. So far I water thoroughly once a week and mist in between (when I'm around). But I guess once a week deep watering would be enough. (The vermiculite is to help retain some moisture during the week I'm not here.) To make this "fountain", I turned a little plastic pot (4") upside down and placed it in the middle of the flat bowl, covering the drainage hole. But I have made a few cuts on the side of the plastic pot already so as to make sure excess water can get through it down into the drainage hole of the flat bowl. I also placed many gravels around the plastic pot before filling the flat bowl with potting mix so that the mix wouldn't clog the drainage cuttage. Then I placed the "urn" on top of that plastic pot. The "urn" was filled with many gravels in the bottom to ensure stability as well as to reduce the volume of potting mix. Next I filled the flat bowl with the soiless potting mix I made, making the soil sloping toward the rim of the bowl. I watered the mix well. After that I planted the echeverias and sempervivium and sedums. I tried to make sure they looked naturally. Finally I mulched with pine barks, accented with a few pebbles. My intention was to remove the barks once the sedums spread and cover the surface. It took me about more than an hour to finish. I hope my explanation can help you if you want something similar. greenman: oh ah... that little fella looks so cute! I want one! Xuan
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paulzie32
13 years ago
Great looking plants!
The last one looks like Opuntia Microdasys
nodakgal
13 years ago
Fantastic pictures!
sallyo2
13 years ago
gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. They look like they are well cared for and in perfect conditions.
puglvr1
13 years ago
Just Beautiful Xuan...I love them all! You've done a great job growing them, nice and healthy! TFS!
greenman28 NorCal 7b/8a
13 years ago
Thanks, Xuan!
Each planting is very nice, and becoming nicer every day.

The plants are overtaking the containers....I love it.
That Agave has grown huge - it's ready to leap out of the pot!

Josh
kim_b_2010
13 years ago
I don't know what the last one is, but I know we had one at my work for a while and they are NASTY little buggers! We had to take it out of the restaurant because kids thought it looked soft and would always touch it. Once, I had to reach over it for something and ended up having to work the rest of my shift with it's "needles" (don't know the proper term) sticking into the armpit of my shirt! It was brutal. I could never have one of those in my home. I'm far to absent minded. LOL.

Beautiful plants, though! I love the containers!
meyermike_1micha
13 years ago
Xuan...You never cease to dazzle me with your beautiful specimens..

I don't always think it is just the weather on your side, but the hand behind the containers..Brilliant as always..:-)

Mike..
haxuan
Original Author
13 years ago
Thanks so much everyone for your "lovely" comments :-) I really appreciate your interest in my post.

Mike: Thank you for your compliments.

Sincerely, I think the most important factors to great plantings are the potting mix and the weather. I'm lucky to have the weather supports me so well but I'm luckier to have found the right medium for the plants.

I'm sharing with you guys my plants because I think maybe I'm groiwng them "differently" from what you have been doing: I grow them outside all year round, sun or rain.

Josh: the Agave has produced two pups :-). In fact, all the individual plants in that dish have pups already. I guess maybe it's time for me to re-pot and divide.

Do you think I should?

Xuan
Pat z6 MI
13 years ago
Haxuan, first of all, those plant groupings are gorgeous, beautiful, wonderful, etc. You have magic hands.
Second, what is the potting medium you use, please tell. And, are there drainage holes in each container?
Pat
haxuan
Original Author
13 years ago
Hello Pat

Thanks for dropping by my post and leave your comments.

Re potting medium in these succulent dishes, I used crushed granite (very fine pieces, around 2-3mm in size) and fine pine bark (also in the same size) in the ratio of 2-1 or so (I'm sorry I don't remember exactly the ratio because I made these dishes over a year and my memory is not very good. But that ratio seems 'right' to my eyes.)

If you want to use the same thing, you can just judge by looking, ie the medium should not look "dark" meaning too much bark. It should look somewhat "white" meaning more granite.

I use that medium for all my succulents.

All dishes have drainage holes. Bigger dishes have 4 holes, some others have 2. I always place a little piece of broken clay pot to cover the drainage hole.

I fertilize the plants once a month or so with Osmocote, or similar NPK fertilizer.

I water the plants in the dry season and/or when there's no rain for 3-4 days in a row. My climate is rather wet but I have never had any rot so I think the medium works fine.

Best of luck to your plantings, Pat.

Xuan

Update on my succulent plantings (very heavy photos)

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Greenthumb

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Update on my succulent plantings (very heavy photos)

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