Here is an Echeveria agavioides of the new pink variety, just one of the many strange and wonderful succulents, caudiciforms and airplants that make their home on my living room window sill. Almost all of them were purchased on Ebay from plant sellers in different parts of Europe. The plants were mailed to me bare rooted (wrapped in newspaper, usually), but that does not bother succulents, which can go without water for weeks and still be quite healthy and happy when potted. Because of our dark Finnish winters, I bought a used greenhouse lamp on discount from www.viherpeukalot.fi and hung it above my succulents, and it seems to give them sufficient light, because they are still growing happily even though it has been very cloudy outside these past weeks. Succulents are used to desert conditions and very little water, so I use for all of my succulents a very porous mixture of 1/3 granite gravel, 1/3 baked clay gravel (Kekkilän ruukkusora) and 1/3 cactus potting soil (Kekkilän kaktus- ja kylvömulta). I also water them using rainwater or well water, since tap water has chemicals which will produce spots on the succulents (I've tried it). This echeveria is potted in a glazed pot, which is not the safest strategy (as I now know from experience), since these sorts of pots retain more moisture than unglazed pots and can therefore allow fungus to grow in the soil, killing the roots. But it's been more than two months now, and he still seems happy. I only water him when the soil is completely dry several centimeters deep.
Haworthias are some of my favorite succulents, and they are available in an almost endless number of varieties and hybrids. Here are (top) a Haworthia murasaki obtusa seedling, and (bottom) a Haworthia pygmaea x retusa v. multilineata seedling. Haworthias are very prone to root rot, and the H. murasaki obtusa was the first (and hopefully only) victim of my ignorance, because I planted him in a glazed clay pot. After a month or so I noticed that his leaves were starting to look dull and withered. Following advice received from the Internet I de-potted him, and sure enough, some of his roots had rotted away and there was clearly fungus at the bottom of the pot. I pinched off the rotten roots up to the healthy tissue, and even all the way up to the stem in one case (in total I removed about 1/3 of his roots), and left him in a cool, dry place for a week before repotting him, this time in an unglazed clay pot. Although his outer leaves will probably never regain their former plumpness, there are three new tiny leaves growing in his center which look quite healthy, so he is on the road to recovery! I have now planted all my haworthias in unglazed clay pots, where the soil dries out much more quickly. So far, no recurrence of root rot.
Above are several 'living rocks' or lithops: the green one at the top is Lithops sulfurea, the brown one on the left is Lithops lesliei ssp. lesliei v. lesliei, the lighter brown one on the right is Lithops gesinae v. annae, and the pink ones on the bottom (yes, they really are pink) are a family clump of Lithops dinteri. Like the split-rock plants or Pleiospilos nelii (see Terrariums post), these don't do very much, but they are cute. The Lithops gesinae v. annae tried to flower, but something went wrong and the tiny flower withered away before it could rise out of the crevice between the leaves. Lithops flower in the autumn when the amount of daylight begins to decrease, and I use an artificial greenhouse lamp for my succulents, so this lithop may have simply been confused and gave up. Like the Pleiospilos nelii, I water these lithops very sparingly, and their soil is almost always dry. However, when lithops begin to flower it is important to give them more water.
This is a Titanopsis luederitzii, which is native to South Africa and Namibia. It normally grows in limestone outcroppings, where it blends in very well with its surroundings! I have now moved this one into an unglazed clay pot. So far he has grown extremely slowly, but seems to be doing fine.
Here are two seedling-sized varieties of adromischus: Adromischus cooperi (top) and Adromischus maculatus (bottom). I have since repotted both in unglazed clay pots and they are growing slowly but surely, with new leaves appearing in the center.
This is a tiny Trichodiadema stellatum. Although it looks like a cactus, it is not, being a member of the mesembs family like lithops. This one is a fast grower. This photo was taken just after he arrived, and in just a couple of months he has already grown 3–4 times larger than this. I have read that trichodiademas are not as prone to root rot as some other succulents, and this seems to be true: he did most of that growth while in a glass container with no drainage. To be sure, I watered him very sparingly.
A caudiciform is a plant that stores water in its trunk or roots to form large tuber or caudex. This is a Fockea edulis, which I have read is one of the easiest caudiciforms to grow indoors. This photo was taken when the plant had first arrived by post, but his green vines have grown much, much longer in the couple of months he has been sitting on my windowsill. He is in a glazed pot, but I have watered him only when the soil is completely dry. Some caudiciforms go dormant in the winter if not supplied with artificial light. Let's see what happens to this one this winter.
Yes, it's alive! This strange plant is a Tillandsia paleacea, otherwise known as an 'air plant'. It needs no soil, because in nature it grows on tree branches, rocks, etc. and gets its water from rainfall and humidity. Air plants come from Mexico and South and Central America and exist in many different varieties. They cannot live without watering, however, and in Finland where the indoor air of many homes is very dry, they need to be watered frequently by immersing them in a bowl of water with just a little fertilizer added. Unfortunately, not all fertilizers have nitrogen that can be absorbed by air plants, and after some searching I finally found Neko Bonsai ravinne sold in Viherlandia that has the right form of nitrogen. I have been immersing the air plant fully in water with a little of this fertilizer every other day for 2–4 hours. After soaking in the water, it is important to put the air plant in a warm place (under a warm artificial light, for instance), so that it dries quickly and does not encourage fungal growth. I have had this one for several months now and it has started to grow a baby or 'pup' on one end. I have not been able to find any air plants for sale in Finland, and even on Ebay they are not easy to find. Even though air plants do fine being mailed by post, I've only been able to find two sellers in Europe who will ship them to Finland. Hopefully that will change in the future.
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