Stringy, Leggy Succulents

Something I have been struggling with lately is getting my succulents to grow as thick and full as were when I first got them.  My echeveria originally started out growing larger leaves (maybe this was during summer?), but since then I haven't been able to get any of the propagates to grow leaves much larger than an inch or two.

Check out the echeveria curving up the left side - it's more stem than leaf!

I have to think this has something to do with the lighting conditions I have.  Maybe it's time to start thinking about artificial lighting as a supplement.

Checking in on my Moses in the cradle, I was at first pleased to see how much it had grown.  Upon closer inspection, I realized that the growth was again mostly vertical and not much foliage.

Look at the height this bad boy has achieved!

...and yet when you look closer, the spacing between leaves is over an inch...

...as compared to the original growth, which was quite dense leaf shoots.

I'm not sure what to do about this Moses.  I read online that outdoors you can cut them back, basically in half, to encourage denser growth in the spring.  I might try cutting it back and then setting it outside in a somewhat shady spot to see what kind of growth I can get.

New "Pots" and Fresh Rock

When asked if I would like to become the new owner of a hoarder's collection of old baby food jars, I couldn't have been more ecstatic!  Those jars are great for all sorts of of practical purposes, whether spray painted and bedazzled for storage solutions a la pinterest, or fill with snackage during trips or work, or, most applicably to this blog, for potting new baby plants!

Boxes of baby food jars after this post's pottings:

My first plan with these jars was to provide new homes for all of my succulent propagations which had been in mismatched clay pots and saucers and other random pots.  This involved probably 15-20 jars, not to mention I used up all of the stones I had.

Then I decided to repot my bamboo, which probably wasn't quite thriving in its unsupported "soil."  I took it out of the green pot it came in which had some tiny stones and dirty stone debris along with mostly the water storage gels.  As much as I like the gels, I really like the look of the bamboo growing in just straight polished stone as view through glass.  One day I may return to the gels, when my bamboo is on the verge of obliteration from water neglect, but for now I feel confident I can keep it watered and looking classy.

Not all of my orchids have been thriving lately.  The one and only orchid I've been able to get to re-bloom (albeit for a short while) was the one I had transplanted to a glass vase.  Since my little itty bitty orchid seems to be doing all right and has in fact sprouted a new babe, I decided to move this one into glass jar to hopefully continue its success.

And lastly, because I like to rearrange my plants so often - partly due to the ever-changing climate and lighting conditions, partly due to individual plant growth, and mainly due to my need for a fresh and interesting display - I will include a photo of my plant corner:

Note to future self: take more "before" photos...

Succulent Propagation Struggling Outdoors

So I realize that taking brand new baby succulents, that don't even have roots yet, and sticking them in new soil, thrusting them out into a wilderness mix of more intense sunlight and more extreme temperatures is probably a terrible idea.  But I tried it anyway.  I wanted a companion piece to my hanging basket and since my door faces south, I figured it would be some great light for the succulents.  Well, the temperature is still dipping down pretty low in these late May weeks.  And it is starting to show on my plants.  So tonight I decided I would start bringing the pots in at night.  I walk right past them going in and out of my house, this should be a task I will remember to do.

May 2014, brought the plants inside:

Hard to see in the below image, but the sedum leaves have dark brown splotches on them.  Such significant contrasting color change in such a short period of time can never be a good sign.

I think I will keep these little propagation pots inside on the window sill with the terrariums.  I slipped plastic sleeves into the saucers to prevent the overflow from further damaging the wood window sill.

Conversely, the "terrarium" propagations look like they are handling their new location, a west-facing window just inside my front door.

Preparing a Succulent Cluster

Last weekend I finally got to the store to pick up some succulent potting soil.  I'd gotten some other soil recently but realized it was not really that great, plus succulent's need very drainable soil, something with sand in it.  Anyway, so I went around to my succulents and took some clippings that I'd already set over the bad soil and stuck them into individual pots in the new good soil.

For this little terrarium glass I got at the thrift store for 50 cents, I placed some stones in the bottom and set some of the succulent soil down on top.  I then planted a nice rosette from my echeveria plant.  This one already had some roots established, so I am hoping it grows nicely in this little bulbous home.

Here you can see my sedum plant has sprouted some new "branches."  I figured these would be good candidates to pluck off and attempt to propagate with.

I accidentally knocked that one petal off during this process, so I'm going to see if that thing roots as well.  This is all experimental!

I set the clippings above adjacent to a tray filled with stones and water, in which I have set all my succulent plants.  I find that with a lot of succulents, you are advised to let the clippings dry out for a couple days, then stick them in or near moist soil until they sprout roots.  By the weekend I should be in a position to stick these in potting soil.

Below you can see the whole arrangement with all the various succulents... and a baby orchid thrown in the mix.  This window faces East so they get pretty solid direct sunlight for about 5 hours.

Coral Reef Aqua (Echeveria Hybrid)

I purchased this little guy back in June of 2013.  Below is a photo I took after transferring the wee one from his propagation pot to a new self-draining pot with extra soil.  I'll admit, I am still a bit of a newby when it comes to photographing these plants so this is not the best angle to appreciate its smallness.

The quick facts for this one are:

1.) Propagate: Suspend clippings or new blossoms over wet soil (keep it very wet).  After a week or two, roots will grow out from the clipping towards the damp soil.  When the roots have grown for a little while you can plant it entirely in the soil.
2.) Water: Allow soil to dry between thorough waterings.
3.) Light: Full sun.
4.) Fertilize: Not necessary.
5.) Soil:

After just 3 months, this plant seemed to double in size.  Here you can see a September 2013 photo where the leaves are now draping over the edge of the pot.

Now, the tag that came with the plant said that it would only grow 4" high and 8-10" wide.  I liked the idea of a short stout plant.  However, this puppy kept climbing as you can see in the photo below from January 2014.  At this point, the trunk had grown so high that it could no longer keep itself upright, I had to lean it against the cabinet to keep it vertical for the photo.

It was at this point that I decided something must be done to prune this bad boy.  I read that you can "behead" or "decapitate" the echeveria once a year (or something like that).  So I cut off the top portion of it and teetered above some moist soil to get new roots to grow.  I hadn't anticipated that the leaves would become less rigid, which caused the clipped trunk to plunge into the wet soil.  However, this didn't really seem to inhibit the rooting process, because it is now established in its own pot quite nicely.

I hadn't anticipated that the trunk would sprout all these new little rosettes, in spite of being beheaded.  Here's a photo from early April 2014 where you can see some well-along rosettes coming out of the main trunk.

I decided that in addition to re-establishing the "head" portion of the plant, that I should try some other propagating methods, like yanking off these new rosettes and hovering them over moist soil.  To experiment, I also ripped off some leaves and stuck them in wet soil too.  Initially I tried to keep the raw areas very close to but not quite touching the moist soil, but ultimately I got lazy and just let them sink in.  After a couple weeks, some of the leaves weren't really sprouting any kind of recognizable roots.  So I shoved them in further and tried extra hard to remember to keep the soil moist every day.  Here you can see I have potted each little propagation experiment in a small terra cotta pot over a basin of water, to help keep it moist and humid.

I think my patience with this paid off (this was a few weeks, longer than I had expected from what I'd read on the subject!).

I figured they had enough roots started to be given a more permanent home, so I potted the lot of them in this new self-draining pot with a mix of new and reused standard potting soil.

I cannibalized the remaining leaves and rosettes that again started to form on the original trunk.  They are now rooting in the 4 small terra cotta pots.  Hopefully in a week or so I will have photos to post of their new roots.

I'd like to create a potting arrangement with a sampling of all the different succulents I have.  I will try to follow up with that some time this summer.

One last photo.  This is the remains of the original plant which I decided I'd just throw into the compost pile.

EDIT

Here is a cross section of what it looks like to "suspend" your plant over the moist soil, at least using the strategy that I did.