My Cacti Bit Me

It was my Mama Lola who liked collecting cacti and succulents. I remember she had her collection in a corner of my Mom's garden. Since then I had been curious about having my own.

I started buying but for many years I always failed. I eventually stopped since it seemed like a waste of money because I couldn't care for them properly. A friend though gave me some. I still killed about half of what she gave but in time I improved. I researched and asked the nursery about the right soil to use.

Now I get to enjoy re-potting my cacti and succulents every few months when they outgrow their pot. What's great about taking care of cacti and succulents is they're pretty low maintenance as long as your soul mixture is good. 

I spent about 3 and a half hours re-potting the other day. I use gloves, of course, but one cacti bit me through my glove. Ouchie! I continued working on them though since the prick is no different from my sewing pin bites. Haha.

Now I just need to remember what day I should water my cacti and succulents. Summer usually changes the schedule because it's too hot!

#BeKind #StaySafe 

My Soil Mix for Succulents and Cacti

I used to buy special succulents potting mix from an online shop. I found it a bit expensive. While buying some materials at the nursery, I asked the manong assisting me if they had potting mix for succulents. He said they didn't and told me I could just make my own. 

So since then I've just been making my own potting mix for succulents. I just mix regular loam soil with pebbles and perlite. That's it, that's all you need for your succulents. I noticed also that the succulents and cacti I've been re-potting grow quickly. 

Ate Rose gave me several pots of succulents in June 2022. I've since re-potted them three times. It's either they outgrew their small pot or produced pups. To be honest, I used to buy succulents, but more often than not I end up overwatering them and they die. I learned from trial and error and this is what worked for me:

• 
  If you are a beginner, use store bought succulent potting mix. Using regular soil doesn't work since the soil mix has to have good drainage. 
• Best way to water is from the bottom. I use cake trays (the ones from Goldilocks/Red Ribbon) and place water in the bottom. I let the succulents sip in water for about 15 minutes, then I discard any leftover water. Sometimes I forget to remove the excess water, but if you put only about 1/4 inch of water the plant would be fine. 
• If it's a rainy week (or when the weather is cool), I water only every 10 days. I normally water them weekly on Fridays, except when it's rainy. They are very forgiving, so it's not an issue if you water them after two weeks.  
• Place in a sunny spot. Succulents love the sun. I put them on a table in the garage where it gets direct sunlight in the afternoons (I don't have great sun spots in my house). 
• You can add a bit of perlite every few months so that the plant can get enough nutrients. So far though, I end up re-potting them every six months because they soon outgrow their pots.

It was my Mama Lola who liked collecting succulents and cacti. Mom preferred flowering plants. I honestly thought I'd never get the hang of taking care of succulents, but I eventually did. Best way to take care of them is to have good potting mix and then water sparingly. Just make sure to check if they've outgrown the pot so you can re-pot them. 

Happy gardening!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Kalanchoe Pinnata Gone Wild

I received a small pot of kalanchoe 14 months ago from Ate Rose. She told me to re-pot it since they were overflowing from the pot. I wasn't familiar back then about taking care of succulents and researched before I embarked on re-potting them. I previously overwatered the succulents I bought and just gave up, so I saw it as a chance to learn.

Here's the pot of kalanchoe Ate Rose gave me -

And how I re-potted it -

It seems I finally learned how to take care of succulents. They are best left "alone". I just watered them once a week and more during really hot weeks. I did well because they had gone wild!

I potted them in more than 12 pots. I intended to give them away for Christmas last year, but I forgot. We got busy with renovations and I was distracted with other plants I needed to take care of  (Ate Rose gave another batch of cactus hehe). They were just there and didn't need much care, so I let them be.

Finally got around to re-potting the overgrown kalanchoe. The ones that curved out of their pots were harder to re-pot. I have to remember not to let them outgrow their pots. I'm making a new batch to give away. What I'll probably do is give away one everytime someone visits me, haha. They grow fast! I'll never not have kalanchoe with how prolific they are. They are after all also called the "mother of millions". 

What I hope to happen is to see the kalanchoe produce flowers. I think I saw it in one video and the flowers are pretty! I hope the bigger ones I re-potted in larger pots would grow taller and produce flowers. Well, let's see!

#BeKind #StaySafe