yeah remove that flowering spiny thing, doesn't look right

leave the jade to be tallest in the pot

go get a pot of "hens and chicks" to fill the hole

and by Xmas... it might have grown enough to start thinking of starting a 2nd pot to hive off overgrowth to ;)

Or maybe fill with a dark coloured head of aeonium or echeveria for colour contrast against the blue & green

btw I find aloe & agave don't really like sharing their rootspace, they prefer living alone. Also their pointy leaves are dangerously spiny and will injure your fleshy existing plants on contact leaving ugly scars.

Currently my arms are sporting wounds from moving a large agave yesterday... jeez you'd think I picked a catfight with an alleyful of felines.

Looks like it needs a pineapple, LOL! Good looking dish Mr. Bulbs!

MrBlubs

Are you in Canada? I can send you few aloes if you want to grow them - as soon as it gets warmer...

I love hens and chick's but I thought they only did well outside?

Really like echeveria! Also like aeonium but I remeber in the past I had a hard time finding them here. Sometimes they're at Walmart or Rona but other times their not.

I was down in Mexico and brushed by an Agave.....The thorns were quite a surprise.

Agh! Sans don't remind me! Haha, jeez won't be trying them again until I can grow them outside. For now I'll just be eating them

Rina,

Yes I'm in Alberta. Thanks for the offer but I'm not too familiar with the whole postage service thing and I'm afraid it will be a long time before it will get warm enough! Thanks though!

Christopher,

I've always liked the looks of succulent dishes and thought I'd try to make one. I'd definitely put each in their own pot but I don't have enough window space. Plus, then this pot would have no use. That's why I thought I'd ask on here what to put in I so I could find species that are compatible with each other.

I have a couple of 'accidental' mixed or combo pots. All of my plants are outdoors all year long, so I don't know how these would grow for you. Just a couple of examples, I guess. These pots are bout 2 years old, now.

This was a pot that I was using to propagate leaves. It has Sedum adolphii (yellow), Graptosedum 'California Sunset' (red), Graptosedum 'Vera Higgins' (far right, sort of blends in), and Echeveria Black Prince. Might be a NOID or 2 in there as well.

This bowl came to be when I didn't have any pots for some babies that I had. Aloe 'Firebird', Aloe 'Pink Blush' (with a suntan), Gasteria 'Little Warty', Gasteraloe 'Green Ice, and a NOID leaf that came with another plant purchase sprouting.

Some different plants have come and gone in this group. You can see the plants that did well and those not looking so good. That NOID does not like the rainy weather - the leaves are split. The Pachyphytum oviferum doesn't look that good, either. Here it is now -

Both of the pots get the exact same treatment, but the first bowl is plastic and the second is clay. I think most of these plants could be mixed and matched to give me a more colorful pot. Growth rate seems to be compatible.

Most Aloes and Agaves do have large root systems. The little Aloes above seem to work ok - so far. I have not grown any of the small Agaves.

I like the idea of the burro's tail in your pot. Other sedums with similar growing requirements is an idea. I think you have to decide the look you want, then research the plants you choose to see if they will play together.

Hope this gives you an idea or 2 to consider. Good luck and let us see your finished project. (Although gardeners never have a finished product! LOL)

Really like what you've done with your succulent dishes! Thanks for the ideas. Really like the aloe and the gasteria that you have.

Will have to look them all up.

Will post a pic when it's finished! And haha yeah, I bet in a year or two I'll be compelelty renovating the dish again!

Thanks

Mr Bulbs, I have found that Gasteria are easy plants to grow, easier than Aloe.

Christopher, some of us like to play with the aesthetics of plant combinations in a pot , just like people do in a garden. The pot becomes a focus of designed space.

That said, I like to think of varying color and form in a pot. If one has space that is empty, then fill them with interesting rocks to give it a bonsai zen feeling. Again , play with the color and form of the rocks.

Hens & chicks (sempervivums) do better outdoors, they are hardy apparently to z3 (some could take z2). There are ppl that grow them indoors, they would need lots of light. I wouldn't bother - they take 'valuable real-estate', never enough space to over-winter tender plants!

If you change your mind, let me know. It is easy to mail plants, but maybe not before March-April.

Some succulents easy to find in stores like Rona, Home Depot, Wallmart right now may be kalanchoe blossfeldiana, I still see holiday cacti (mostly Thanksgiving and probably Easter ones soon), sanseverias. I am sure garden centers have other plants.

The other plant you have there looks like watch chain (Crassula muscosa), that grows from tiniest broken piece (pic below-I have plenty of that too), but is probably one of the hardy sedums:

Well round 2 typing this, accidentally exited out!

Yeah, I'm definitely going to try and find some type of gasteria. Might get one or two.

I think I am going to add some rocks to the pot, but the empty space that will be created when the crown of thorns is taken out is more than half the pot!

I thought so about the hens and chick's as I've got 2 types growing outside near my pond. They're neat little plants.

I've always wanted to get a Kalanchoe but I'm the kind of person that would keep every plantlet that formed so I've stayed away. I've already let spider plants take over my house! Someone a while back on here did mention a Kalanchoe that was pink (forget the name but I think it had princess in it) that still produced babies but the babies were alot harder to grow.

I went to home Depot today and found a pretty bad selection. They had about 3 aloes and 2 large cacti. Both were too big for the pot and I wasn't interested in either of them. Not a fan of cacti..... Home depot used to have the best selection of Succulents but that's kinda gone down hill over the years. I'll check Rona either tomorrow or Monday as they never fail me!

If I can't find anything I might have to take you up on your offer ;)

Watch chain is a really neat plant too! Though it's not the one in my pot. When I Googled it's name however I was able to find the name of my plant: Sedum acre. They look practically the same, though I like the upright growth of the watch chain. The sedum I have also grows from the tiniest peice. I used to have it all over outside but got rid of it many years ago. Just last year I noticed it was coming back and now it has created many large clumps all over.

It's manageable now so I think I'll keep it. It does though have some invasive tendencies.

Thanks all for the replies!

The kalanchoe I mentioned (K. blossfeldiana) doesn't multiply as easy as 'mother of thousands/millions'; it will grow plantlets from the leaves but they need to be left on soil surface - so easily eliminated.

Just a few easy-to-grow succulents - (you have burros tail) if ever you want any of these just let me know.

Great! Thank you!

Wow Rina your plants look so healthy! Do you prepare your own soil 1:1:1 as per your answer to my post on jade plants, or do you trust what is available in nurseries? Thank you,

Julie

Julie

Thank you.

No, it is not available in nurseries; there is one (maybe more?) seller on eBay, located in USA that makes it according Al's directions - but I would not buy it that way because of price...I make my own (and so are many, many if not most) members here.

I buy chicken grit from farm supply store (just under $10/50lb bag); I buy perlite in bulk (it is huge bag, I can't remember how much, it is about $40/bag but it is still much less/unit than buying it in small bags); and I buy turface from a supplier just outside of Toronto (under $20/50lb bag).

For succulents, I don't use bark anymore since it is difficult to find. If I find any, I save it for 5.1.1 mix for plants other than succulents.

I mix 3 above-mentioned ingredients, in approx. 1:1:1 ratio. It is easy to adjust amount of turface to get more or less water retention. I have potted some plants in mix of only perlite+grit, and some in perlite+turface to experiment - they are all growing well.

Indoors, I have supplemental lights for all my succulents. I don't keep them in high temps (low about 55*F, maybe touch more, but they can be kept in 50*F or touch lower without any damage). They all go outdoors as soon as weather permits (night time temps consistent about 50*F).

I started using this mixture (without bark) almost 3yrs ago. Plants do well, I don't worry about over-watering indoors, and about being outdoors in the rain (I do cover them in case of long-lasting, very heavy rainstorm - did it maybe 3x last summer. This is somewhat more because the storms bring high winds together with too much water).

How are your plants doing? Hopefully well, maybe you can post follow-up photos.

Few more plants indoors - all photos taken last night:

Rina

ps: MrB - sorry for posting so much on your thread...

Hi Rina this is great info! I don't have any succulents, I have been building a terrace garden for the past 2 years and am having trouble getting through the winter without contact with plants. I love succulents and am planning on acquiring some, but I want to have all the pots and soil ready for them before I bring them home. Seems I have a bit of shopping to do! Will send pictures once I have a setup to show. Thanks again and happy plant-loving!

Julie

It's perfectly fine! Doesn't bother me at all.

Today I decided to take out the COT and put them in their own pot. Had to put some rocks in with them to stabilize them.

This is what the dish looks like now.

I've made a list of plants and will head out tomorrow and hopefully I find some! Usually I go out and find nothing on my list and have to improvise.

Can't wait to rearrange everything!

MrB

Nice CoT. I like the yellow flowers (have one with red flowers).

Thank you!

When I went to look for COT's last year I was actually looking for red ones but all they had were yellow. I didn't really like the look at first but it's grown on me.

Hopefully now I can get it to grow back some leaves instead of losing them!

That COT looks great w/ all that bloom. I always think they look so happy!

I know this sounds crazy Mr. Blubs 'cause they're succulents, but if you push a lot of water & fertilizer, more than you think one should for a succulent, it'll likely leaf out quickly & keep on blooming.

Since I received that advice & put it into practice, all my COT types stay in bloom much of the year (all indoor). I would have also suggested potting it in plastic if I'd remembered to, for related reasons.

Pls. note in the first of Crenda's handsome group pots the 1st pot has 3 different but related varieties of Crassulacea; Sedum, Grapto & Echeveria, sort of like cousins. Their color variations are gorgeus & it's even more likely they'll do well together as they all want similar conditions: careful watering & lots of direct sun.

I'd grow the Aloes, Haws & Gasterias together, but personally, I'd keep them separate from the Crassulacae.

I'm thinking you might stick w/ other Crassulacae in the group pot, figuring that would give them similar watering requirements.

Not all Kalanchoes make babies on their edges & they're related Crassulas too; can be kept small. K. tomentosa comes to mind, colored a bit like a Seal Point Siamese Cat; K Orgyalis, K Oak Leaf, Kiwi, Fang.

Above pic is a west window of mine in Brooklyn, lower left corner is K orgyalis, not showing its color so well, but it's suede-like in texture w/ a darkened edge. Upper right pot are several K, larger is Oak Leaf which does make plantlets, but won't take over the world, the other smaller is some K. I've forgotten but lower growing. So I'd suggest you investigate Kalanchoes & have fun.

Oh, I'd add a bunch of perlite or pumice to your community pot, it needs faster drainage in there.

Good to see you experimenting.

The CoT I have since 2012 was in bloom when gifted to me - see photo:

It never stopped blooming, and never received a drop of fertilizer.

It is very tall, I keep planning on pruning it and somehow it never happened yet :)

It doesn't have leaves all the way down the stems. I am thinking that some species keep more leaves than others...JMO.

Close-up of the blooms:

Kalanchoe orgyalis and Fang also grow quite tall - my plants are 23" and 19.5" tall respectively:

Rina

Thanks imontestella!

I have yet to ever fertilize my COT...That's the one thing I always forget to do with all my plants. It's hasn't stopped being in bloom since I bought it in Febuary, but I'll definitely up the watering from what I used to do when it was in the combo pot. Will also fertilize it just to give it a boost.

I don't think I've ever seen grapto for sale anywhere but I've definitely seen the echeverias.

As of now my list is kinda wonky... I've got 3 different Aloes in mind, 2 types of gasteria, loads of echeverias which I'm definitely gonna get, maybe another small thing of burros tail just like just a stem or two, some graptos, maybe a lithop (haven't really looked into them that much), and perhaps a small haworthia if they're cheap.

Now I'm not getting all of these but I thought I'd make a large list. In the end I'll prabably have (still in fine tuneing)

1 Aloe, 2 or so echeveria, 1-2 gasteria and maybe a small haworthia or lithop. Something like that.... Still trying to figure out what exactly could fit/work. Though my whole list and numbers of things probably will completely change come tomorrow. Maybe i'll also get one of the Kalanchoes you mentioned.

Will add the perlite! I always thought that the mix had a ton of perlite in it already, but it barely had any. Was actually pretty compact.

I really like the look of your COT'S. I like how they get to show of all their thorns and then have a nice green top with all the flowers. My COT's flowers never branch out like yours do. Usually it's just four flowers on a short stem.

Oh yeah also the window faces South West not South East......Don't know what I was thinking.

If you get any lithops, do not plant them in community dish. They have very different watering needs and could be quite fussy.

Haha see? Told ya I didn't really look into them!

About to go out so hopefully i'm greeted with a new shipment of Succulents to chose from.

Well that was a bust.

They had echeverias and the aloe I wanted but they were already in a succulent dish.... I would have bought the dish if they had both the echeverias and the aloe in it but they all were in separate ones and I'm definitely not going to pay $30!

They also had singular echeverias but they were 15 each because they came in a fancy pail.

No Kalanchoes whatsoever or burros tail. They had small haworthias but they were $11. Im willing to pay 10 for the aloe, 8 for the echeverias, but the small haworthias I'm only gonna get if theyre under 5. They did have a section of mixed succulents for 5 bucks. I saw the remains of what might have been an echervia and they also had an aeonium but it didn't look healthy enough.

For whatever reason I bought what I thought was a gasteria but it's so obviously a type of Aloe. Don't even know why I thought it was a gasteria or why I bought it! I don't think I'll even be adding it into the dish..... Oh well.

Did mange to get perlite though. Will have to venture out again.

Here's my 'gasteria'

Anyone know what type of Aloe this is?

Mr Blubs,

May I ask where in US you're located? I keep these Kalanchoe small even tho' Rina's Ks I mentioned get large (really nice Rina). Don't know if hers are indoors or out but again, I keep mine small & have pruned 1 at least once.

Anyway, I'd been thinking of moving out these small Kalanchoe in favor of Haworthias, I don't have enough light for them in this window. Since they're small, might you like some? There's more growth then on the pix. I can share a K Oak Leaf which you can keep small, I even have a leaf w/ some babies on it that I found here which had sprouted on its own.

Have several pieces of the others, as well, if you think you might like them LMK, perhaps I can try & take fresh pix next wknd.

Lena

Lena, he's in Alberta, Canada. I think we'd have a very hard time sharing with him. Am I correct?

may be a A. Paradiscum???

Yes I'm in Alberta Canada. Thanks for the offer though :)

Paradiscum looks like it could be it! Thanks

What I'm thinking I'll do is put one of the small plants into the dish and see how it fairs. And once it gets bigger I'll take it out. Now I just have to find a pot for the rest of it.

I'll post again once I find all my succulents and the dish is finished.

Thanks everyone for all the help!

I remebered a few days ago that the store where I bought my Tillandsias is actually a terrarium making store and they had hundreds of Succulents last time! So I went down this morning and was lucky enough to arrive the day after a new shipment came in.

They had a variety of pot sizes, 1 inch plugs for 3.50, 2 inch pots for 5, and I think 4 inch pots for 8. Anyway there was a TON to chose from.

I planned out the dish a head of time using toothpicks and things (I was bored okay?) So I had a good idea on how many I was going to get.

Ended up getting:

4 echeverias (one might be a grapto, not sure) As small plugs so they're pretty tiny. One already has some off shoots though. I tried to figure out their ID's. Came up with

E. 'Pink Pearl'

E. 'Green Gem'

E. 'Spruce divider'

And then E. Agavoides, but I don't really think that's it.

1 Aloe. Could not figure out the species! I thought it was pink blush at first but it's very different looking. Has a pup growing at the base.

1 Gasteria 'Little Warty' Was pretty excited to see it there! It's very tiny! They only had 2 others there.

1 Senecio. I'm thinking it might be S. Cylindricus..... Got it on a whim because I was sorta going crazy

1 Crassula Perforata. Also got it during the craze. Though I wish I would have gotten the variegated version! Oh well.

And 1 other that I cannot identify for the life of me... Looks nice though. Got it during the craze as well...

They didn't have any haworthias there but they did have some Kalanchoes. Almost got one but I didn't....

Anyway here's the final product of an addition of 42 dollars worth of succulents:

It is going to be VERY over crowded once they all 'grow up' so I'm just going to say this is a nursery pot... I guess I'll have to start a new one once they out grow it ;).

I added in my Pony palm which got attacked by my cat earlier... Moved the Jade to the back and the Burros tail to the front and got rid of the Sedum.

Completely remixed the soil with loads of perlite. I tried to do 50/50 of the perlite and the original mix I had in there, seems to drain really good.

The aloe I bought a while back I moved it into its own pot and separated a small plant. Didn't end up putting it in the dish so I'm giving the small plant to a friend. Compelelty regret that whole purchase.

Added the gravel to the top to stabilize everything. The Jade is very top heavy and the echeverias didn't seem to like to stay put!

I'm excited to see how everything gets along with each other.

Can anyone identify the mystery plant, aloe, and back up my others ID's?

Here's the Aloe (sorta thinking maybe it's not even an aloe?)

And here's the pot again but with flash so there's no shadows

photo 1: The one you think is aloe could be gasteraloe? - not sure...

photo 2: not sure about red-tipped echie but I think it is agavoides (same as other green one next to E. Perle von Nurnberg but different cv). Don't know light green/blueish looking one.

photo 4: mystery plant - maybe pepperomia? - not sure...

Burro's tail looks more like sedeveria Harry Butterffield (grows very similar to burro, even looses leaves as easily, but bigger over all).

Thanks for the ID'S Rina!

The echeverias all look the same the to me don't know how everyone manged to find out what exactly they are!

Yeah I have yet to find any plant that looks like the 'aloe' I have. I've searched all threw Haworthias, gasteria, gasterole, and aloes and have yet to find anything similar in its color. Every other one is a bright pink while this one is more like maroon.

You're definitely right about the Harrys Butterfield! That is it as now I remeber that's what the tag said....Lost the name and assumed it was burros tail.

I have not been good at my ID's lately! Will look through the peperomias to see if I can find it.

Edit:

Yup it is a pepperomia! Peperomia graveolens

You know that many succulents will have different colors under different growing conditions and some are very dark (gasteraloe 'Midnight' or G. quehlii come to mind).

Harry Butterfield will get quite big, and any fallen leave will grow - so don't be surprised if it outgrows the pot soon...np, just keep giving cuttings away, lol.

Rina