People in Recovery and Plants! (Part 2)

Hi everyone, this is my succulent its about 6 years old and was a tiny little thing when we first got it. Its now around 6-7inches across. Do these flower and is that a flower coming on this one @TMAC
We keep this on our sunniest windowsill (which isnt very sunny at all at this time of year) it goes weeks without any water but seems to be doing ok.

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Plant looks great…coincidentally this was the first succulent I ever got. That’s about 10 yrs ago now :face_exhaling:

It’s actually kind of hard to tell what it is, too small right now. Based on where it’s sprouting from, it’s probably a flower. However I have, on occassion, seen new heads sprout like that too and the shape of this growth almost looks like a small plant. Let it run and let’s see!

Your sun and water situation sounds about right for England, for sure.

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Thankyou. Its great seeing house plants flourishing. Ive reported all mine these last few weeks. Like me they are thriving in me not drinking.

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Good to know I constantly kill succulents!! Just offed another one last week…

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So these are definitely flowers coming in. Unusual to do right before dormancy but apparently not unheard of. Hell its only got 5 leaves left at this point.

One of the few varieties of plant I still have had struggles with, 2 dead on my conscience, so to have the 3rd attempt flower is great. See ya in a few days.

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@TMAC I got some succulent and cactus substrate and put the plants in a new pot. I hope they survive and grow :slight_smile: Thanks again for your advice!

And another quick question: In the Summer, I have them at a hot an sunny spot outdoors. In the winter, should I leave them outdoors (no wind, no ice, lowest teperature about 4 degrees) or indoors?

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Depending on where you are in Europe, it should be fine outside in winter. 4c is a tough spot though, it’s kind of right on the edge of what I’d be comfortable with, although I’m fairly certain they can even tolerate light frost. If you keep it relatively dry in winter (should water much less), it should be OK outdoors. Graptoveria are pretty hardy. I’d bring it inside overnight if it’s going to be particularly cold.

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My new setup for my dragon fruit and Christmas cactus plants. I shuffled my Ellwoodii to the top for the time being.

So I originally got the light for Cuervo’s first Midwest winter. I was really worried about him because he got so skinny. :sob::broken_heart: But one thing I learned from him over the past three (maybe four? :thinking:) years is that he’s a super resilient guy. I haven’t even used the grow light on him. I usually just bring him inside before the first frost then take him back outside once the temps. stabilize around late April/early May. I feel bad because I feel like I low key neglect him but I truly think he’s pretty independent. :joy: I love my little pointy guy. :smiling_face_with_three_hearts::potted_plant:

Being that my dragon fruit and Christmas cactus plants are new to me, my worry has now shifted to them. :sweat_smile: I read that dragon fruit needs direct sunlight so I decided to take my light out again. To my understanding, the white light is good for balanced general plant health :stethoscope: and the red/blue is for flowering and fruiting power. :cherry_blossom::flexed_biceps:t4: I figured my dragon fruit will be okay with the white light. I don’t know. I’ll follow up with everyone. :joy:

While the Christmas cactus takes indirect light, it should be fine under the grow light as well. I just tried to point it more towards the dragon fruit. The Christmas cactus would probably benefit from the light anyways because it’s on the lower spot of the stand with minimal sunlight.

My goal is to just get these guys through the winter! :crossed_fingers:t3:Then they can be set up outside once the weather turns. :sun_with_face:

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I finally got a good sunny day to take a picture! :sun_with_face::camera_with_flash:

This is my winter greenery holiday arrangement I put together at a workshop hosted by a local nursery. :star_struck::christmas_tree: My friend and I loved it.

They wanted to charge an extra $20 for add-ons but I just got some stuff from Dollar Tree. :joy:

Unfortunately, my pot has fell victim to this wind so she’s a little disheveled. :persevering_face::wind_face: But she is still standing! :sweat_smile:

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Last weekend I remembered that my friend who owns that plant store hosts a monthly night market on their property. I went an talked to him about it and the ideas I have. Somewhat to my surprise he was extremely supportive of my business idea, and if you can believe it, they actually don’t have someone there selling plants yet, and certainly not plant arrangements specifically. It’s all food and crafts right now. I was very encouraged by our conversation.

Thought about it some more during the week.

So.

Today I made my first purchase of plants/pots that will specifically be designated for sales at local markets etc. Last night I ordered business cards. I have very specific branding coming together that will be unlike anything I’ve seen around.

My friends’ market is done for the winter, with the next one coming in March - which is actually great. Gives me time to get things potted, established, and looking good for sale. Also gives me time to get my shit together from a business perspective. My chat with my friend was very informal, and there’s plenty of other markets around town year-round in case this specific one doesn’t work out.

My friend has also confirmed he will sell me plants at bulk prices, and I also made a new contact at my favorite garden center today. I chat with her every time I go, but when I told her what I’m getting myself into, she informed me that she’s in charge of placing orders for the entire garden center and offered to be a resource for me.

Sticking to mostly aloes, haworthias…winter growers that make sense to plant now. I’m not potting them all today. I’ve had the realization that I will be approaching this differently than shopping for myself. When shopping for myself, I have a very specific picture in my head in advance of what I want and I set out to find what I need to make it happen. With this, I will essentially build up stock of plants and pots and formulate artistic ideas looking around at what I have. I already have a pretty solid ā€œempty pot graveyardā€ from my own collection. I really need more variants of top dressing and need to go out rock hunting.

First one I went for is the aloe pepe. Most of what I’m going to sell will be focused on a natural look, but something about aloe pepe calls for clean and minimalist, to me. My own one is exactly like this but in a black pot.

Then I put this pair of haworthia zebrina in this decorative terracota I found at the antique mall for $5 and drilled a few holes into. I kinda wanna keep this one myself now but that’s going to be the constant battle.

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That sounds absolutely fantastic! I wish you lots of luck and every success with your business. Judging by the photos, your plants and arrangements will bring joy to many people. Fingers crossed!

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Oh congrats on the new passion project. Please share your creations! Good luck not keeping them all :slight_smile:

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Super excited for you T - can’t wait to see your creations and hear of business ventures :hugs

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@TMAC
Such a great story to read first thing on a morning. Very pleased for you T.


This was Michelle’s first advent calendar present this year, ok I got it for myself but she kept the Ā£10 that was with it. I wont keep it in this pot but might put it in a larger one along with the other one. I like the look of 3 together so I’ll just have to buy a companion…this is how it starts. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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It all sounds fantastic, and a great fit for your talents and time available.

If I may offer some unsolicited advice, from a less-experienced but passionate plant buyer, make sure your buyers are made aware of how easy or difficult the plants are, from the get-go (though I’m sure you’re not going with the more finicky ones, of course).

What I mean, as a buyer, is that if I’m looking at an upscale arrangement like yours are, with a matching price tag, I want to be confident that I’ll be able to care for them and keep them alive. If I’m doubtful, I probably won’t buy it. So I’d want an information card, or some colour-coding for plant difficulty, or something like that.

Also, I think you’ll get plenty of sales for gifts, and once word gets out, maybe even commissions?

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Thanks for the suggestion! Your line of thinking is another reason why aloe/haworthias are great for this and why I picked them :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: They are resilient, inexpensive, and very easy. They also readily cluster so they make great plants for arrangements, and you can propagate them very easily.

The biggest secret I have is this, and don’t tell anyone: in regards to most succulents/cactus you can treat them all exactly the same! I’ve been considering how I want to get that info out there. Care sheets are the usual but I’m not sure if I want to do it that way. I thought about hand-written cardlets but that could get tiring fast and my handwriting has been known to cause aneurysms. I have a few months to figure out how I want to do it. I did create a business-specific email to put on my business cards so people can reach out if needed for help after the fact, but I do want something written to provide up-front.

But yeah, until you get into tricky things like mesembs etc (lithops, baby toes, etc) the care aspect is pretty much identical. I plan on keeping it to this stuff outside of custom arrangements, which I will be offering! If someone wants plants that are a little more advanced or something large, or just something different, we can chat about it. Those will be fun if they happen - that’ll be a new thing for me, trying to create something to meet someone else’s artistic concepts.

After my shopping experience yesterday and already building several tracking documents for the finance and inventory end of things (I do business analysis for a living), I should actually be able to keep prices pretty reasonable, too, despite my initial concerns! My biggest worry in that realm is pots. That’s where the cost is - but between my existing pot graveyard and my antique mall savvy (that’s where most of my pots are sourced from) I can make it happen.

Thank you! :people_hugging:

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Im not getting very good vibes off my spider plant,I recently repotted it,since then the tips have gone brown an leaves look weak and folding,ive normally got it in the far corner of the room,its at the window for the pic :+1:t2: tips welcome please an thanks :+1:t2:

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Disclaimer, I can only help with standard houseplants/tropicals so much. Even my own are very much the bastards of my plant collection, they don’t get nearly the same attention as my greenhouse plants and diagnostics of issues with them are not my strong suit.

Ireland, right? I would suggest getting it closer to the window like it is in the photo. It looks pale and if it’s getting adequate water without enough light, that can happen and then you see that browning your talking about. However, it’s not uncommon for that browning to happen just from merely using tap water, which most people do.

You likely do not need as much water this time of year either, with the cooler temperatures and already damp air in your climate.

Long story short, I think it’s mostly a light issue. Give it some time in that window and see how it responds.

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Brilliant mate,thanks for the reply,I’ll give what you’ e said a go :+1:t2:

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