About a year ago I became fascinated with succulents, long before I knew this was a rapidly growing (no pun intended) trend. I had come across a tumblr post where someone had created closed terrariums and made jewelry out of them. Since I make jewelry in my spare time I was naturally intrigued by this idea.
Doing the Research
The perfectionist in me wasn’t content to just try creating closed terrarium jewelry. I needed to find out if these plants could actually survive in a closed environment. After all who wants a dead plant hanging around their neck? So I did some research which yielded mixed results.
Some of the sites I visited seemed to support the idea that succulents can survive in closed environments, while others asserted that only air plants are capable of doing this. However, none of the research was solid and I had no desire to buy a bunch of plants only to have them die a few days after encasing them in glass. This might not be a problem if there were a way of occasionally opening up the terrariums to care for the succulents, but I haven’t found a way to make that possible with jewelry. Someone may know the science behind being able to do this, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to figure out the secret yet.
Because some of my research involved spending hours on Pinterest, projects involving succulents began popping up in my feed. If you frequent Pinterest you know what I’m talking about. For better or worse this constant inundation made me want to have a succulent garden of my own.
It’s worth noting that I don’t exactly have the best track record with plants. I start off with the best of intentions, but once the novelty wears off I forget I have them and they get neglected. From everything I’ve read this should make succulents the best plants for me. (Tell that to the small cactus I killed years ago). Nevertheless Pinterest has a way of making you want to try EVERYTHING, even if it doesn’t make much sense.
Purchasing a Succulent
So here I am, trying once again to take care of a plant. At least this time I have done some research so hopefully I’ll somehow manage to keep it alive. About a month ago I bought a small succulent. Yes, it has managed to stay alive for a whole month. In fact, it seems to be thriving! Per my research I filled the bottom of a small glass container with rocks, pebbles I purchased for about .99 at Wal-Mart. From what I’ve read if you use a container for succulents that doesn’t have a drainage hole it’s important to add rocks so the water will have a place to drain through. Succulents don’t like to be bogged down with water.
If you’ve ever gone shopping for succulents you may have noticed that you can purchase moss to go with your plants. I’ve found that to be a little pricey, especially since I live in the south and I can get all the moss I want for free. So after filling the bottom of that glass container with rocks I pulled up some moss and placed it and the plant inside. Then I watered it and left it alone on a windowsill.
Now I don’t have a before picture, but these green shoots coming out of the top are new. They were not there when I purchased the plant so I have to assume it likes its new environment. Maybe my luck with plants is improving. I only wish I had written down the name of this little guy before I threw the old container away. So if anyone knows what it is, please leave a note in the comments below.
Do you have any tips on growing succulents? Tell me your success stories!