That guy at the plant swap changed my mind about succulents

I used to think succulents were boring, just little green lumps that everyone puts in mason jars. But last month at the city park swap, this older guy showed me his echeveria that he's been growing for 8 years and it had these amazing pink tips and a rosette shape I didn't know they could get. He said most people kill them by watering too much, not too little, which is the exact opposite of what I'd always heard. Now I've got three different kinds on my windowsill and I'm actually paying attention to the soil moisture. Has anyone else had a plant they wrote off until someone showed them a really good example?

2 comments

2 Comments

foster.wade8d ago

Ngl that's the thing with succulents, people treat them like decorations instead of living things. The old timer at my local swap had a jade plant that was basically a tree, must've been 15 years old and thick as my arm. He told me they actually need way more light than most folks give them, not just a sunny windowsill but like direct hours of it. Also said the whole "ignore them and they'll thrive" thing is a myth, they just need a different kind of attention. Makes me wonder how many other plants get a bad rap just cause people don't know the real care routine.

felix_jones7d agoMost Upvoted

Had a buddy who drowned his aloe vera in water every week and wondered why it turned to mush.