They live! Succulents really are fabulous. Five tips for succulents

I brought the rest of my plants back from ‘the uni house’ on Friday, most of which were succulent plants. In fact, every single one of my indoor plants were succulents or cacti.

All of the succulents and cacti had been left indoors, in front of a window, without any human assistance, for three weeks – and survived quite well.

I say quite well, because they did look a little slimmer, as their leaves had shrunk slightly. But the next day, after each had been given a thorough watering, they all looked very happy indeed.

Here is some advice for keeping your own succulents happy and plump:

1.      Soil is key. Succulents need good drainage to thrive, wherever they are. You don’t need to spend a fortune on speciality soil – I never have. Mix three parts bog-standard soil with one part sand or another drainage improver to create a succulent-savvy soil.

2.      Sun, sun, sun. Succulents have their origins in the deserts, so give them what their ancestors enjoyed in bucket-loads: sun. Britain may not be known for its Sahara-like summers, but you can still pop your succulent in a bright spot. I did have a crassula argentea on the windowsill by my kitchen sink, which doesn’t receive sun for a great length of time each day, and it survived. Once in day-long bright sun, it began growing new offshoots, and thrived.

3.      Not all thumbs fit inside thimbles. Pinterest is absolutely stuffed with pictures of tiny succulents in tiny vessels, such as thimbles or shot glasses (you can guess which we have more of in the house). Be wary, though, that these succulents won’t want to stay in those little pots forever. If your plant suddenly looks feeble, weak, or paler than normal, it may be time to re-pot your plant. Choose a pot slightly larger than its current home (two sizes is the general rule).

4.    Thirsty? During winter, succulents and cacti need to be watered every fortnight or three weeks – at the most. During the summer, they’ll need watering more often. Whether the sun’s out or the snow is falling, you’ll know if your plant needs watering by simply checking the soil. Let the soil dry out between watering. The leaves may begin to shrivel and show signs that the water stores are declining, too.

5.      Love! The reason we all keep plants – of any creed – is because we love arranging them, taking care of them, and watching our efforts come to fruition. Have fun with making the succulents look pretty, in teacups, glass vases, or even toy trucks, and get to know what your plants like.

Five ideas to keep you busy

It’s been a slightly manic few months – kept busy with exams, essay deadlines, results, work experience and general busying about whilst moving house – but it’s a jolly relief to be back.

I’m incredibly annoyed at myself for not getting a picture of the garden before I moved back home for the summer – particularly because the wild flowers were just coming into their own (there are no weeds in my garden ;) )! But, I’ll be visiting in a couple of days, so I can get snap-happy then.

In a few weeks (I say under baited breath), my parents will be moving and I’ll be given greater responsibility of the garden. At the moment, our garden is very established and I can’t imagine ever making drastic changes to it. The new house, however, has plenty of options: veg patch, edible flowers, chicken coop, flower beds – the list is endless.

For now, I’ve come up with a list of five ideas – because all good things began with a list – to share with you.

1.      Glue pennies to raised beds to prevent slugs and snails from munching on your goodies. This is genius. Slugs and snails are averse to copper. I’d toyed with the idea of wrapping copper wire around pots and things, but was put off by the price entailed. I saw this idea posted on Pinterest originally.

2.     Start a compost heap. An attempted compost heap went belly-up when a housemate’s boyfriend unknowingly swept it all up and put it in bin bags…but hey ho. Using newspaper clippings, the odds & ends of fruit & veg, coffee grounds, eggshells and lawn clippings, you can make your own organic matter for fertilising your soil.

3.  Harden off succulents. This is to be somewhat of an experiment. Whilst on a trip to Swansea’s Plantasia, I saw succulents spreading over the ground, forming into clumps and generally doing what nature does best – creating a fabulous display with no (or some, in this case) human help. Working from cuttings, once the fresh succulents become established I’ll pop them outside (still in their containers) and see how they fare.

4.   Create DIY plant markers by peeling away bark from a stick and writing the name on it. These look just lovely – and there’s nothing more I can say about them!

5.   Get rid of aphids with washing up liquid. Okay, I lied a little about the list of ‘ideas’ because I’ve used this before. Plenty of times before. In fact, I swear by it and it will probably reappear in a future list. In a spray bottle, squeeze a bit of washing up liquid and fill to the top of the bottle with water. Shake, and spray to your heart’s content on affected areas.