These adorable plants are perfect! If you haven’t gotten yourself a succulent yet, seriously, you should. These things are small enough to have a collection on your desk, fit into a window sill, and make you look like you have a green thumb, regardless of your plant death toll of the past… They are almost impossible to kill!
That said, my beautiful purple succulent I had at my desk finally died. In my defense, I think he had been on a downhill slope for quite a few months, so I’m going to call his longevity a success. (yes, I did somehow assign a gender… no idea why.)
That said, one cacti down, and it was an excuse to go shopping for more! I hit up the Cliff Avenue Greenhouse to peruse their selection for 2 new succulents for the Tequila Cake tins that I had promised would make another appearance in my Hola Mexico! post.
I had forgotten just how expensive these babies are… A Beautiful Mess was hiding some truth in their April Fools joke! After some searching, however, I found they had “Succulent Sets” for $25 that included 6 succulents of differing varieties. Bargain! And an excuse to plant more!
First you need the essentials… your containers and cactus soil. These plants need very well drained soil, so if you do not have the cactus soil available, mix regular potting soil with sand (50/50 mix) so that the soil can drain properly for this type of plant.
For your containers, they also need to be able to drain fully. I used a drill to punch 5 or more holes into the bottom of my tins to ensure water could completely drain from the soil.
Seriously, I loved these Tequila Cake tins. They’re perfect!
The best part of the succulent pack was that the “leaves” of the succulents are actually their seeds. When a leaf falls off, you can leave it on the soil where it will begin to grow into its own plant over the course of a couple of weeks. Some of these had already started growing on their own in the kit (see the pink tin in the back), while others were just starting to root. They likely will not grow very big in these little tea tins, but I had been saving them for 2 years until I found the right opportunity to use them, and this seemed like the right calling.
To re-pot, I cut the plastic container away from the root ball to make sure I didn’t damage the plant too much by pulling on it. These leaves will pop off with the slightest encouragement! Carefully massage the root ball to loosen its form and place into your container. Use the Cactus soil to carefully fill in around the base of the plant and gently pack with your fingers. I think this was my downfall with my “late” purple succulent. When I first planted him, he tipped over in transport to work, and never quite regained itself.
Finally, thoroughly soak the soil to ensure water is actually saturating the soil, since it can get incredibly dry in the packaging. Once soaked through, allow to fully drain, and do not water again until the soil is dry. I usually check every other day, and depending on how much soil is in your container, I would guess you can water them every 3-7 days, per your best judgement.
Hi! I'm Alyce. 
