cactus and rain

How to grow succulents in Singapore

[weltenwellen]

Franny Choi, from “Perihelion: A History of Touch”, Soft Science

[cactusandrain]

I’ve had this Pilea Peperimioides for 2 months now and the new growth doesn’t seem that happy, I never know if I’m over watering or under-watering. The rest seems to be doing okay I would just like your thoughts on it. Thank you 😊

Hello! It looks like it's doing fine, if the plant seems consistent with no signs of distress the watering schedule is probably right :). The new leaf is lighter coloured, that's normal and it'll darken as it ages. The big glossy green leaves look very nice! 💖

[cactusandrain]

½ Hello! Sorry to bother you but im.new in the succulent scene.. I bought some and i feel in love.. Now i bought a succulent i dont know what they are exactly.. But well when i bought this they have some shoots or pups

2/2 Sorry about that.. Im on my phone.. ^^; i pressed the submit button prematurely.. What im trying to say is.. I snip out the shoots amd planted the main plant but i forgot about the shoots and somehow they rooted.themselves on shallow soil the roots are few but there.. So i potted one.. But a hanger fell on it and it popped off the pot.. I was going to ask if do you think the shoot will survive ? And will it grow as big as the main plant? And if you can tell me what kind of succulent it is id be happy..

Thank you!

Hello! Your plants look very healthy! The growth in the middle looks more compact and green than the older leaves, so they’re definitely getting good light :) I think your baby plant will be okay, as long as its roots can regrow after being replanted. It’ll eventually grow as big as the main plant (which is itself still young!) These look like echeveria glauca, which can grow up to 8" in diameter.

[cactusandrain]

Hello :)

I got this Echeveria from a garden shop, approximately 2 weeks ago. It was looking so healthy and big. I removed it from its little pot and reported into a pot without a drainage hole. I was spraying water into the pot. But I saw it’s bottom leaves curling and shriveling. I thought it was not getting enough water so I repotted into a pot with a drainage hole. This week I soaked it and now I am waiting for the soil to dry. I read what I wrote and it is so complex. I am sorry. Thanks in advance for the answer.

Hello! :) You’re doing great, actually! Leaves were probably shrivelling to make energy to grow new roots, and putting it in a pot with a drainage hole is much better than a pot without a hole. As for keeping it healthy, it looks just a little etiolated, so maybe a bit more light would be good :)

[cactusandrain]

late afternoon lipstick 💋

the sunlight was so pretty !! no idea what this plant is tbh, only that it goes very nicely red in the sun so i call it lipstick in my head.. unscientific plant parenting 🍂

[cactusandrain]

2020 Update

All but one stalk dried up and died, and I think even the main head from the remaining stalk died off, because the smaller ones left are all little offshoots off the main stem. Really amazed at its drought tolerance, we had a good three months without rain late last year and this was outside in the sun the whole time..

[cactusandrain]

Look at these TINY BABS

Seeds were sown 11 July 2017

These photos were taken 1 May 2018

They’re the only two out of 20ish seeds that survived! I think they are tillandsia streptophylla.

[cactusandrain]

UPDATE

July 2017 to January 2020

The one surviving baby is 2 and a half years old!! It's barely 4cm across at its widest.

Seeing how slowly they grow from seed really makes me think about how casually we treat nursery-grown plants, buying them and just letting them die of neglect 😭 especially when they're not suited for our climate.. I haven't bought new succulents for over a year, and I'm trying to be more conscious of the plants I do buy, making sure I have the right setup and the time to take care of them ! 🌱

[cactusandrain]

Babies 🥰

Somehow I still have dozens of pots of propogated babies even when many of the original plants have died. Maybe it's true that they acclimatise better?

[cactusandrain]

I rescued this little one from a walmart that doesnt care about their plant section. the leaves are wrinkly and there are small roots near the bottom, but i’m wondering how i can help it thrive, even just at the moment to get the leaves not wrinkly again

Hello, poor little baby! It's a really good sign if there's roots, especially new pink roots, and the leaves are wrinkling up because there's not enough water. You can pot it up and water it lightly but frequently (mist the soil near the roots rather than soaking the whole pot) until its roots get stronger. It'll probably lose a couple of leaves just to grow strong new roots but should be ok after that! :) this looks like echeveria lilacina, one of my favourites 🤩

[cactusandrain]

What's left of my haworthias.. they've all got burnt tips from getting too dried out, think some of them might have gone a good few weeks between waterings.

[cactusandrain]

Hey, can you tell if this guy is crested or if he’s just a little weird? It’s a perle von Nuremberg pup that I pulled out of mom.

Hello, what a lovely plant! Looks like a crest or double head might be forming! If you’ve still got this guy, I’d love to see an updated pic :)

[cactusandrain]

Kalanchoes

Love the range in colours and patterns you get on these guys 💖

[cactusandrain]

Hello, it has been a long long while and half my plants are dead... I haven't really been checking in on them, and that's the reality of keeping sensitive plants exposed to the harsh sun, rain, and snails 🐌

I'm hoping to get a more sheltered space set up later this year! In the meantime, I'll be catching up on asks (which are also open again) and posting some updates on the surviving plants..

[cactusandrain]

This lovely darling was dying in a tiny wooden box with horrible drainage at my local home depot. Obviously it’s doing much better but I have no idea what kind it is. 🙈

[cactusandrain]

Tumblr's eating up the edits I'm making to this post - this baby looks like it's recovering well, and is likely a pachyphytum hookeri.

[cactusandrain]

This lovely darling was dying in a tiny wooden box with horrible drainage at my local home depot. Obviously it's doing much better but I have no idea what kind it is. 🙈

[cactusandrain]

I have a quick question

One of my leaves fell off my succulent and started to propagate. Roots have grown and it’s going fine atm. I was wondering how you remove it from the natural leave, and when. Or does it do it itself? I’m new to this!

Hello! I think it's fine to leave it, it'll drop off on its own when it's ready :) Hope your baby plants are doing well!

[cactusandrain]

Hello! I was wondering if you can help me? How long does a frailea grow when its reared from seeds? ... I have acquired some seeds...how do i plant it ? Thank you!

Hello!

I've personally had success germinating cactus seeds like this:

cactus and rain

Growing cacti/succulents from seed Environment Surroundings need to be humid. I use a plastic box (from daiso) that can contain 6 pots of

And in my experience, frailea germinates very quickly when seed is fresh. You can see in the post above, my frailea seedings a few months old. As for how fast they grow, here's what I found online:

With fresh harvested seeds or (rarely) by grafting. Fraileas set seed (when well grown) and grow easily from seed. In fact, they are reported to set seed even if the flower doesn’t open. This self-fertilization is called cleistogamy. Seedlings dislike strong light and dry conditions and need to be repotted frequently during the first few years. However, old plants become senile and have a tendency to succumb to disease and a weak root system. At this stage, as is well known, they die suddenly. So, after they reach about 4-5 cm in diameter grow them slowly, and adopt a new repotting period, using intervals of every 3-4 years.

Frailea castanea

[cactusandrain]

Question about water propagating succulent

I’ve been propagating a succulent leaf in water for awhile now and it has a growth on it and I want to put it in soil but the last time I did it with a different one, it died in a couple days. How do I do this properly so it doesn’t happen again?

Hello, I feel your pain! I haven't had good success with transferring roots between mediums. Do you know if the last one died of rot? Putting wet succulent roots straight into soil might cause them to rot.. I'd try slowly letting the water level in the container lower until the roots are mostly exposed and dry.. then when transplanting, maybe snip off the last inch or so of wet roots and let the roots dry completely before moving it to soil. Wait a couple days before watering!