GETING STARETED :The first five steps

Well, it’s been a little over a year now since Succulentophile came to life. Thanks to everyone who’s given me feedback on this wacky passion of mine. I guess I’ve succeeded in whetting a few appetites by now. In fact, a few have said that it’s about time I wrote about how a beginner/neophyte/babe in the wood gets started in the hobby. My gosh, they’re right, why didn’t I think of that before? Well, I guess it’s never too late, right? As an aside, I’m not exactly in the best of moods at the moment. My favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs, just blew another chance to play in the World Series, up three games to one, and then blowing the last three games to the Florida Marlins to continue the "Curse"– the Cubs haven’t won the championship in almost 100 years. The last time they came this close to playing in the World Series was in 1984 when we were also one game away from winning, only to drop the last three games. I was in Chicago then and I can tell you I was mighty upset. Can you imagine what’s happening in Chi-town right now? Oh well, it’s never too late, right?

Back to the topic at hand. So you’ve been bitten by the bug, or more likely stung by a cactus spine. You’ve probably received a succulent as a gift and you’re really intrigued by its shape, color and form. Or you’ve been at a plant or flower retail garden and happened upon a group of really weird and interesting plants while you were buying your usual orchid or flower shrub. Or maybe you were at a bookstore and chanced upon a succulent book, and the plants pictured were stunning. Or maybe you read Succulentophile one Saturday morning (wishful thinking…). Whatever your reason, you realize that you feel the urge to buy a plant or two or three, or….

Cacti and other succulents are, in my experience, an extremely addicting hobby. I think it would be best to cease and desist from buying a truckload of plants until one is more knowledgeable about their background and care. The last thing you want to happen is for you to be stuck with rows and rows of unhealthy plants or, worse, mush! Believe me, I’ve been through this before and let me tell you, it’s no fun.

To simplify things, maybe the best way is for me start things off with five do’s for now. I can’t cover this topic in this one article. So expect another one or two on this subject in the future.

1) Try to learn as much as you can about the plants themselves, hopefully, before you even buy your first plant if possible. One of the best ways is to get a good cactus and succulent book. Other good sources would be plant growers, dealers, collectors, and either experienced or even beginners.

2) Look at your house, condominium, apartment, living abode and determine what kind of light and air conditions you will be able to provide your plants. If you are growing your plants indoors, you will have less of a selection to grow. Conversely, if you are growing your plants outdoors where there is more light and air circulation, then you should be able to accommodate a wider variety. Quite interestingly, many cacti and succulents do very well indoors, as long as these are close to a good light source like a bright, sunny window. If you are in a location which doesn’t receive good bright light at least a few hours a day, then you’re better off growing ferns and orchids. Also bear in mind that the kind of living conditions you can provide your succulent will also determine what types of pots, growing medium, and watering regimen you will provide your wards. So study your growing conditions carefully.

3) Once you’ve read up on the various plants (and there is a huge variety to choose from) and what might do well in your microenvironment, I would still suggest you start with plants that are generally easier to care for. Generally speaking, plants from genera such as haworthias, mammillarias, aloes, gymnocalyciums, and the like are good beginner plants. Many of these plants can take a bit of over-zealous watering and other oft-committed beginner mistakes and still thrive. However, each of these Genera do have their more difficult-to-grow members as well, so read up to know which are easier and which are not. Just as a note to this, 99 percent of the books you will come across were written in a Western/temperate country context. What the book might say is easy in the West, like rebutias and notocacti or even crassulas, might be a real challenge here in tropical Philippines, unless you’re in Baguio or Tagaytay, of course. On the other hand, plants, which these Western experts might say are difficult to grow, like lophophoras and many euphorbias, will actually thrive quite easily and nicely over here. Remember, most succulent Euphorbias come from Africa, which is also hot and, near and below the Equator, also quite humid. As a beginner, I would avoid plants like ariocarpus, epithelanthas, and definitely conophytums for now. Even experts have a difficult time with some of these babies!

4) So you think you’ve read enough and are now ready to start your collection. I recommend that you get no more than five plants to start. Try to grow these well first for, say, a month or even two. And don’t expect that you’ll get the formula right for all the plants the first time around. It’s okay to lose one or two plants. The important thing, though, is to learn from your mistakes and try to correct these in the future. Even today, I’m still losing a few plants here and there each year. Even the gurus of the succulent world lose plants each year. That’s the nature of the hobby. Unlike careful stamp or coin collecting (and I stress the word careful), plant collecting is a perishable hobby, that’s just part of the game. As you gain more experience, your rate of loss should diminish.

5) My last do for now is to carefully choose your plants. Look for plants with good color, strong spine formation, and good new growth. If a plant is showing weak spine or leaf formation at the top, if its color seems anemic, or if the plant looks etiolated and leggy-looking, avoid these plants. If the plant happens to be flowering, that is usually a sign of a healthier plant as well. Also check the plant to make sure there are no pests, ugly scars or other diseases lurking around. Gently nudge the plant to check whether it is well anchored to the soil, i.e., that its roots are well formed. Remember, the most important part of the plant is its roots, because roots are the life-blood of your plants. Bad roots normally mean bad plants, although in many species, bad roots can be cut, carefully dried, and then the plant can be re-rooted and, hopefully, form stronger roots. I’ve done this plant surgery for many years, usually with good results.

That’s it. I can feel the depression setting in again from the thought of the Chicago Cubs’ latest debacle. I’ll quit here and get the next five or so thought s on getting started in for the next article. Stay tuned.