Monday, March 1, 2010

Succulents – a new purchase and a new challenge

A new purchase

I could not help myself when I saw these at the garden centre, so I bought a few :). This Crassula coccinea will grow up to 60 cm/24 inches high, and their colour will change depending on seasonal conditions and stress.

Crassula coccinea © Evelyn Howard 2010
Crassula coccinea “Mystique”

My toothpick test

I’m not thrilled with this arrangement, but I  have got some new aloe pups – yay! – but these little guys seemed a bit lost on the balcony. So I planted them in my new studio table pot, The succulents are aloe in the middle, sedum gold mound (top), and I am not sure what the succulent is at the bottom (It’s one of my first, given by a friend years ago).

A challenge for me… The pot has no drainage holes. I have never had one with no drainage holes, so I am going into new territories… What really helps is that this pot (which is actually a ceramic box I made) is porous.

To find out if it’s time to water, I insert a toothpick into the soil. If it comes out with some soil stuck to it, wait a few days  before watering. (If you know of another method, I’d love to hear about it…)

Potted succulents © Evelyn Howard 2010
Succulent garden with 3 varieties  

 

cactus_sjimmie Happy Cactus Monday.

Teri’s Painted Daisies: click on the link for more Cactus Monday links.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great plant selection..
The succulents will grow;)
- Cheers!

Noelle Johnson said...

I love succulents that change color - it adds just another reason for people to include them in their garden.

danger garden said...

Hi Evelyn, I just learned of the toothpick test myself a couple of weeks ago. Sounds like a good method. You know you can drill holes in the bottom of pots without them, you just need the correct drill bit. I used to think I would be ok without them, I'd just watch and make sure the plants in the pots w/o holes weren't being over watered. But I killed too many!

Teri said...

Beautiful! Your plants are always so colorful. These should be fun.

HCM!

Megan said...

Great mix of plants in the container! Danger's right, you can buy a masonry bit for your drill to put holes in just about anything. I've found that ants like to get at my non-draining indoor succulent pots (I think they come in through cracks in the window sill). You can also by a little water meter gauge. You just stick it in and it tells you if it's dry or not. I picked one up for about six bucks a few weeks ago.

-Megan

Cynthia DiBlasi - Fine Art said...

I like this toothpick trick, I'll have to remember that one! Beautiful succulents. :)
HCM!

Louis la Vache said...

"...color will vary according to stress.."

Uh huh! «Louis'» color also varies according to stress!

Ebie said...

I do not have a green thumb, but your toothpick test is very creative. I got to try that with my potted aloe plant. Your mini succulent garden is quite a creation.

Desert Swamp Dweller said...

I usually find a friend with a drill. It seems all the pots I like don't have holes.

Melanie J Watts said...

Evelyn, I've never heard of the toothpick test, what a great tip. The baby plants look wonderful.

soulbrush said...

i love your enthusiasm for these plants, hcm fellow cactuteer.

Urban Green said...

Wow! lovely!!!! crassula is like us - we change colors depending on conditions and stress :D
toothpick test is pretty good one for pots with no drainage holes...it should work for you...

Deepa Gopal said...

Terribly sorry for being late...
Belated HCM!!!

The plants look lovely...love the second pic, wonderful perspective:)

yanmaneee said...

supreme clothing
yeezy shoes
goyard bags
adidas tubular
louboutin outlet
curry 7
christian louboutin
coach outlet online
yeezy shoes
moncler

Unknown said...

best replica bags online 2018 replica bags for sale replica goyard bags

Related Posts with Thumbnails