I don’t know about you guys, but I have a serious love affair with succulents. The little plants, like the zwartkop succulent to name one example, are just so cute! I also happen to have a love affair with thrift stores, so when I can combine those two things it is pure bliss!
I have been wanting to plant a bunch of succulents around my house for a long time now, but finally did it this week because I am hosting a bridal shower for my best girlfriend on Friday. Since I can’t seem to keep most indoor plants alive for the life of me, I am hoping that will change with these succulents {please, God, let that change!} A second reason why I choose to grow succulents is that they are excellent for cleaning the air and removing toxins. However, this must be less of an issue for people who engage cooling services to perform regular maintenance on their HVAC systems.
Anyway, I started by collecting some fun pots and containers of sorts from my local Goodwill. Since I have been kinda lazy and only going to the one right by my house, my good finds are more few and far between. I wanted this collection to be kinda random, but still cohesive:
The next stop was Home Depot. Costco also sells succulents for a great price, but they didn’t have as much of a variety, or have the smaller individual ones like I wanted. Home Depot was awesome in variety and the small ones were only $2, and the big ones were $4! I loved that I was able to pick and match whatever ones I wanted.
I also picked up a small bag of Cactus/Palm soil, since I read on a website like cactuscare, that it’s by far the best soil for succulents. When I grow things they normally wilt pretty quickly so I made sure I did plenty of research to prevent the new plants from wilting! I’m fed up of having to constantly replace my plants! I also picked up a bottle of super glue to help out my brass container I got at Goodwill. I knew this thing didn’t have drain holes, and I wasn’t sure of how tight the seal was to prevent leaking- so I figured better safe than sorry.
Once home I grabbed some of my rocks from the yard and went to town planting!
After reading around and asking some succulent veterans, I followed the rock and soil method. Especially for any container I was using that didn’t have drain holes, but even for the ones that did- I first added rocks to the bottom, and then the cactus soil on top, and finally the succulents:
And there you have it! Now lets just pray that I can keep these babies alive! If you have any other tips for me I am ALL ears!! I plan on watering them a couple times a week, basically making sure the soil is completely dry before watering again. I have high hopes:)
LOVE these! Thrift store and succulents/cactus are some of my favorite pairings, too!
Have a great day!
Angela @ Number Fifty-Three
Thanks Angela, we couldn’t agree more:)
Really like this idea, I might try this with the little one as a fun activity
The yenta in me loves this pairing and I had to have more. seems like everywhere I turn – home of friends, street corners, stores – there is another succulent I don’t yet have. A small clipping and a dash of rooting compound is all you need to start a succulent. I try to get a length with at least one branch or leave to pinch off, dash with rooting compound and put below ground. After five years, my pots are tapestries draping with wondrous variety and color. Too fun.
Your collection is off to a great start! I might suggest one added layer especially if you are using containers without drainage. Put a layer of charcoal between your rocks and the soil. It filters the water and absorbs excess moisture. (Which you are going to have if you water twice a week!) You really only need to water these maybe 2 times a month. And only water them about a tablespoon per plant. If you over water the succulents will rot so err on the side of under-watering. Best of luck!