After a few not-so-successful attempts, I’m feeling pretty victorious that I’m finally seeing progress with my succulent propagation from leaves. Seeing those miniature plants sprouting out from a dying leaf brings smile to my face. I’m not exactly sure what I did that worked this time around but still, I’m proud that I now have new baby succulents :)
I’ve been seeing these gorgeous succulent plants on Pinterest and Instagram and I’m pretty contented admiring their beauties online until I got curious whether we have it here in the Philippines. And after just a few clicks on Google not only did I found out that we do have succulents here, but I also found a seller online :) Excited much? Oh, yes!
So, after just a few days, I’m a proud owner of 18 varieties of succulents – I got disappointed with the manner the delivery went, but I chose to look past that and marvel at my new plants instead. Even if it means I had to buy pots and garden soil, like STAT! (Because they all came in wrapped in papers – I thought I brought plants, so I expected plants planted at least in those black plastic nursery pots.) OH well…
I’ve never tried planting anything before, I know nothing about gardening except that you need to water plants so they don’t die. But after trolling websites after websites that have something to do with succulents – I felt pretty confident that I can grow these beauties myself! They talked about how easy it is to care for them, how easy it is to propagate and basically all the easy stuff.
I learned the hard way that it’s not as easy as they said it would be – at least to me, it isn’t! Weeks after weeks I would wake up to a dying plant. I scrambled online trying to figure out what I’m doing wrong. I started getting frustrated and the excitement started to wane. BUT, I didn’t give up. I’m like – I may not be the best gardener to save these succulents, but I’m patient enough to make sure I try everything I can.
And so… proudly and victoriously – I still have 15 varieties today! ( I can’t name each of them. At least not yet.) It seems that I finally got the perfect garden soil combination and watering schedule. Not only did I managed to stop them from dying, I’m now seeing positive results with my leaves propagation after probably 3 failed batches. So imagine my excitement every time I would wake up to these little signs of new life sprouting out!
What about you, have you tried gardening before? It’s pretty relaxing – that I found out to be really true! That is after of course the learning part of it :)
So, that’s for this week’s Weekly Photo Challenge!
Good for you, Aian. I’ve found that, given a modicum of care and attention, most plants are pretty forgiving and relatively easy once you get them started. :)
Thanks, Paul! I’m really excited with my first ever little garden. I hope succulents are resilient enough to withstand my not-so-green thumb :D
Growing things is incredibly satisfying! I’m not very good at it. Every time something dies, I shrug and go out & get a new one ! So, well done.
That I found out to be very true :) I always hear people say gardening is very relaxing and I’m like, hmmm okay..but now, lol, I’m loving my mini-garden!
First law of succulents, Alan – don’t over water! Most of them seem to thrive in drought conditions once established. I’m looking forward to future instalments as you progress ;)
Thanks for the tip! ‘Will definitely keep that in mind :) – Aian