A Mini Attack

Many of my friends and family consider me "odd". I just heard many of them say "Amen". That is okay, I wear that badge with honor. However,I am like many of my fellow gardeners and plant freaks. We all go through phases of different favorite plants. For me I will always hold Citrus as my most favorite, however, there comes times when other plant families grab our attention. Don't deny it, you know it is true.
Along with my Citrus, I am heavy into Camellias. This helps soothe my competitive side. I enjoy showing and competing in different flower shows.
I also have a very extensive collection of different exotic fruits, many of which I am sure you have never heard of, Pacay, Jabotica and Mamey, just to name a few. These all live next to some of my more normal fruits, Strawberries, Blueberries, Figs, etc.
The past year or so, I have kind of gone back to my roots. Pun intended.
I really cut my horticultural teeth on Cactus' or Cacti if you prefer and Succulents. Though this time, I have aimed at the Mini Succulents.



To begin with succulents and cacti are very easy to grow. Mini succulents are even better! They hardly take up any room and if you are lucky, many will flower for you!
To start, you need to buy from a reputable nursery. there are many online. Just type in mini succulents and a slew of them will pop up. The hardest part is going to be choosing just one plant.
A succulent is any plant with thick, fleshy water storage parts. Succulents store water in their leaves, their stems or their roots. These plants have adapted to survive in very hot, dry conditions throughout the world, from Africa to the deserts of North America.
After you have chosen one or two of them or maybe fifty of them!! I am telling you, it will be tough just to pick a few! You will need to start them off right.
Find yourself a nice pot, make sure it has drainage holes. You can use clay or plastic, it is completely a personal choice, the plants don't care. Many cacti and succulents have shallow fibrous roots and do not require or use the full depth of a standard pot, half pots or pans can be a great choice. Putting a shallow rooted plant in a deep pot can be counter-productive as the soil below the reach of the roots will stay wet for prolonged periods of time after watering and may become stagnant.
Buy a commercially packaged soil mix that is made especially for cacti/succulents or, make your own using equal parts of both coarse sand and potting mix. The biggest thing to remember is, LOTS of drainage. Succulents will develop root rot very easy and they do not like constantly wet feet.


SENECIO SCAPOSUS

Most succulents need as much light as you can give them. The more they get, the happier they are. Let me give you a word of caution here. You may want to bring them in during the Winter, especially if you live somewhere that gets very cold. More on their cold tolerance in a minute. Even if you put them in the sunniest window you have in your house, they will not be getting as much sun as they do being outside. When you bring them back out the following Spring, be careful not to sunburn them.


SUNBURNED CACTUS

To avoid this, bring your plants out gradually. Place them under some taller plants or trees and move them out farther and farther into the full sun every couple of days.
I mentioned earlier that they are easy to grow, unless you have a heavy watering hand. I have literally gone weeks, almost months not watering some of my succulents. I don't suggest this, but it is nice to know that they will survive such harsh treatment. There is no hard and fast rule as to when they should be watered. There are many variables to consider, like, type of pot used. Clay will dry out faster than plastic. The type of soil medium used. If you use more sand, it will naturally dry out faster. Weather plays a big role. Lots of sun and heat will dry the soil out faster than if you have had a week of clouds and cooler temperatures. The bottom line is, the potting mixture should dry out between waterings.


LITHOPS SPP.

Succulents are much more cold tolerant than many people think. In the desert, where there is sometimes a large fluctuation between day and night time temperatures, succulents can live through cold nights. I am sure you have seen pictures of snow covered cacti. NO!!?? Okay, here was some of mine a couple of years ago.



I only lost one and it was not healthy before the storm anyway. In my greenhouse, it has dropped to 30 degrees with no ill effect on any of my other cactus or succulents.
They do like to be fed. If you feed your succulents every 4-6 weeks with your favorite liquid fertilizer, that will be plenty.
Other than the dreaded root rot from too much watering, succulents are pretty much problem free. The only real pests that they encounter will be the occasional Mealy Bug or Aphid. The best thing I have found to use on these is a strong spray of water. Oils and soaps can actually damage the plant more than the insect. You can also pick them off if the infestation is not too severe. If you must use a chemical, please follow the directions...It Is The Law! I would also suggest trying a small spot on an inconspicuous location on the plant and wait and see if it hurts it.


ECHEVERIA HYBRID

No matter what kind of succulent or cacti you're growing, the rules are pretty similar between the different species. They are all easy to grow and will give you years of happiness. I will admit, I had one other reason for writing about these cute little plants other than informing you how to grow them. It is called a little bit of bragging.
I mentioned my competitive side earlier. If you are as bad as I am, you might want to look into your local or state fair. There might just be a category for your little guys.....Like a small container grown plants category. At our local fair, this category was for small growing or classified as dwarf or miniature plants. I went one step farther and entered into the Collectors Showcase Award.
This was the one I won this year!



Happy Growing!
Darren

Can I Cacti?

Cactus' or Cacti are probably one of the easiest plants to grow. They can take unbearable heat, think Arizona Desert in August. And to some extent, they can take some wicked cold.
This was my Cacti, out on my back steps during the Snow we had here in Charleston.


Sad huh?
Well, they stayed there all Winter. Took the Snow, well below freezing temperatures and everything else Mother Nature threw at them.
Look at them now!!






There are more that will be open in a couple of days. These things are tough! Just to remind you, I live in a Zone 8B, almost a 9.
The main trick to growing cacti is proper watering. Many cacti have been killed from overwatering during the winter. I will admit, I lost a couple due to this. There was a couple of weeks that we were getting anywhere from 1-3 inches of rain...EVERY OTHER DAY!
The Cactus family (Cactaceae) is one of the most striking, distinctive, diversified and specialized groups in the plant kingdom. It includes about 2,000 species.
The distinctiveness of the cactus family shows itself not only in the flower structure but also in one characteristic, that, although possessed by every cactus plant, is absent in all species of all other families. This is the spine cushion or areole. Whether or not spines are present, all cacti have areoles. Because these areoles differ in structure on different kinds of cacti, this is one way of distinguishing one cactus plant from another.
An areole is the radial arrangement of spines on pad-like buds where shoots and flowers may appear. The areoles themselves are arranged in a regular pattern, either along the ribs of columnar or barrel cacti, or at equally spaced intervals over the face of pad-like cacti.
One plant family that is often confused for the cactus family is the Euphorbia family (Euphorbiacea) which contains such plants as Cow's Horn Cactus (Euphorbia grandicornis), African Milk Bush (E. trigona) and Crown of Thorns (E. milii). While all these plants have spines, have green stems and few or no leaves, they do not have areoles. If you are still in doubt about whether you have a Euphorbia or a cactus, make a small cut in an inconspicuous place. If the sap is milky white and sticky, then you have a Euphorbia, since cactus sap is clear and watery.
Most cacti prefer a nutrient rich, rocky soil with good drainage. Pure sand will not work. There is actually soil under the sands of the desert. Just remember that cacti roots need a well draining, airy soil that will rewet easily.
Cacti need sun, and lots of it. I have not had any problem growing mine on those steps on the West side of my house. Like I mentioned at the beginning, mine take temperature extremes of 18 degrees as a low and probably 100+ as a high.
Cacti have practical uses as well as being fun to grow. The long, soft spines of Oerocereus celsianus are used as pillow and bed stuffing. Remind me not to go to a hotel using these pillows. Spines of other cacti are used as toothpicks, combs, sewing needles and fishhooks. Yet other cacti are used as building materials and as living fences or hedges.
If you are looking for a very easy plant to grow, consider Cacti. How many plants can you grow that, when you go away for a two week vacation, didn't even know you were gone!? They CAN be grown from seed very easily too. You can buy the seed at any of the big box stores for very little money. Patience is the key for this adventure however. There are many ways to start Cactus from seed. Do some research and see which method might fit into your lifestyle.
This picture is of one of my babies that is about 15 years old. I started it from seed, back when I lived in Maine!

Happy Growing!
Darren