Location, location, location

The single biggest reason for the death of cacti and succulents is over-watering. The single biggest reason for failure with our plants is poor or inadequate location.

You’ve probably heard the phrase "Location, location, location" before. This is a statement used by retailers, realtors and possibly a few other industries to describe a critical factor for success in their businesses. For retailers, the better the location of one’s shop, the better the chances of attracting more paying customers onto their premises. For realtors, the better the location, the higher the price they can charge for the rent or sale of a particular property.

"Location, location, location" is a simple but very powerful phrase.

I’m going to add another arena that I firmly believe adheres to this simple yet powerful phrase – that of successfully raising cacti and succulents. A good, solid location for raising one’s succulents requires very ample, unobstructed direct sunlight at least four to six hours a day (more, in my opinion, would even be better). But it’s not just direct sunlight that is required. It is also absolutely critical that your location provides very good air flow and ventilation throughout the day; and the less polluted the air, the better. It is this combination of access to both ample sunlight and air flow that can spell absolute success or dismal failure with your succulents.

Many of us collectors and growers are oftentimes baffled by the performance of our plants. We seem to have followed all the right formulas and recipes for our growing mix, our watering regimen, and our feeding plan. We grow our plants in the right size and type of containers, and we even house them in what we think is a good enough location by the side of our homes or on a nice window sill. These locations, we argue, give ample sunlight and ventilation for our plants, or so we think….

Probably the single biggest reason for the death of cacti and succulents, as most books will tell you, is over-watering your plant till it keels over and rots. But, I might strongly argue, the single biggest reason for failure with our plants might be poor or inadequate location.

First, let me define what I mean by "failure." Failure is when your plants are not adequately optimized; when your plant fails to produce the right kind of growth; when developing spines are weaker than they should be and the coloration of these spines is bland and not quite as colorful; when the new growth is weak or etiolated; when your plants fail to flower when they should be flowering; when your plants are easily attacked by diseases and pests. The list can go on and on.

Much of my definition of "failure" here can readily be attributed to poor location. Having visited numerous private collections around Metro Manila and even the provinces, I can say with some degree of confidence that the quality of one’s location determines who has a great-looking collection of plants from those who have only okay or even mediocre plants. Unfortunately, most of us are constrained by poor locations. Why? Well, a key reason is that we have our homes first (whether these are houses with gardens or upper-floor condominiums and apartments), then we try to force-fit our plants into our homes.

I’ve definitely done the same – force-fitting my plants all around the side areas of my house. And the result is oftentimes mediocrity. Of course, reality dictates that we find a home we like first, then we try to make our plants fit our homes, not the other way around. Although I must add an interesting story while I was still living in Chicago. When my wife and I were looking to buy our condominium in the city, she was looking for a great location, close or easily accessible to the amenities of life. While that particular aspect of "location" was also important to me, I had another purchase requirement: the ideal location also had to have an ideal location for my steadily growing succulent collection. Luckily for us, most of our purchase criteria were met. We bought a nice three-bedroom condominium near the Wrigley Field area (home of the famous or infamous Chicago Cubs baseball team) close to all the good things in life, and with it I got a really beautiful sun room with a southeast exposure where my plants could (and, in fact, did) thrive. But, I must admit, there are only a handful of kooks like me walking around nowadays.

Getting back to over here, I must say that most of the collections I have seen around here have the same constraints I’m faced with. Most of the time, the chosen spots for their plants are really around the sides of our homes, where both sunlight and air flow are severely obstructed. I have seen some collectors actually putting their plants out in the open garden right under direct sun. This is great, except that these plants require protection from our frequent monsoons. So it’s an idea to put your plants out like this, particularly during our dry months of November to February. I’ve tried this with some of my plants this year, for the most part with good results. However, last December and definitely now as I write this column in February, the weather has actually been quite wet, so I have had to cover my wards with sheets of plastic, which is a real bother. But even this location of mine isn’t quite satisfactory, as the air flow is still severely hampered by the house, walls, trees and the ever-present Metro Manila pollution.

On the other hand, I have seen fabulously grown plants, particularly in homes in Cavite, Laguna and other provinces, where the air flow is undeterred and cleaner, and the plants receive many more hours of unobstructed sunlight. New growth and, particularly, spine formation in these plants is outstanding.

What message do I have for us all? Well, one can still grow outstanding cacti and succulents even in the constrained confines of our respective homes here in Metro Manila. There is no real doubt about that. But the question now lies in the type of cacti and succulents that we choose to grow. There are succulents, like many haworthias, gasterias, euphorbias, aloes, stapeliads, gymnocalyciums and many cacti which will thrive in our constrained locations so long as we meet their other needs. The challenge here is to figure out which plants will suit your living and growing conditions.