When you have a family, children, pets, plants, students, work or colleagues {and add what you miss here to the list, as it was just a random list}, there are certain responsibilities and commitments you can't just avoid and put away. There are days I would just do nothing but today it is not one I would have many choices. Had to force myself to practice as Mr Deadline is approaching for different things (like a wedding, a rehearsal, a concert - but it is all for another topic) and my morning disappeared. However, I have a pending thing outside, on the balcony. I noticed a very nasty thing that happened to my jelly plant, and I am the culprit. My bad care led it to that condition... but as I want to survive this post and not be killed for my mistake already at the beginning, I will start with the good things. Babies. I have more babies! And flowers! The Ruby Blush, the fuzzy plant - as we call it, bloomed again.
After the big plant fell down and broke into many smaller cuttings, I planted those ones and now, those "small" ones are also regular big plants. I gave away a whole pot with a few cuttings to a friend of mine, but still, I have three pots full of plush-leaved fuzzy plants. They bloomed in May and June, and now again. Well, they already bloomed so many times during the last few years, so it is not a surprise. They give so much pleasure. Almost never attacked by a plague (as the other succulents usually give trouble) this plant is easy to maintain. So many crazy stems growing in all directions, full of leaves that you can touch and feel the smooth plush. I know, I already praised so many times this plant, so let's move on to the babies.
Things happened during the last few months and some of the old plants decided to decay, broke and were attacked by mealybugs, so I got new cuttings (in order to save something from them). I started to plant those babies in tiny glass jars as I liked them. Like a small new shelter, until they have roots and grow a bit. And indeed, they are doing well.
All of those cuttings got roots and I see how much they have grown (for the curious ones: check here to see what the cuttings looked like - the small ones, not the big cut plant). Those are now in the two jars on the left of the photo below. On the right are other cuttings, that didn't have roots either. They are doing well, but I have to think now to repot them. The glass jar is not a permanent solution.
The old Stapelia variegata also had troubles, the roots got rotten so I made some cuts. After a month it looks ok, no yellow and rotten parts anymore, and it made roots. But, I don't know why it has that brownish colour. Maybe lack of sun? Or too much sun? They will be repoted also, the glass jar is just a temporary home. I think I would like to put all of them together in one big, community pot.
Smaller babies will go there too if I make that community pot. They are rooted from leaves. I am so proud they made it!! I left several leaves in one of the jars and this is the result:
Some of them still have the old leaf, but they will detach themselves from them. Well, the leaf will wither anyway and just the new, small baby plant with roots is what will stay.
All of this was nice... but I have to show you the nasty thing that I mentioned earlier.
The poor jelly plant - Haworthia Cooperi.
I had it in a smaller clay pot. Some weeks ago I put it into a slightly bigger plastic pot. The result? The plant didn't like it at all, the bottom leaves changed their colour and they are actually rotting! It is decaying in front of my eyes! And I am the culprit.
It is THIS bad: :(((((((((((
The good thing is that I spotted two small babies that started to grow there. I want to save them, but they are still not enough big and strong to pull them out and plant them separately. What I need to do is to take out the plant from the soil, cut off the rotten parts (let's hope there are some good roots still and try to maintain it until the small plants are strong enough to be separated. I just somehow have to find the time, forget the guru's advice from the link and do it. Face the responsibility I have towards my plants and save the little jelly thing!
