The Sempervivum I refer to as Unknown #3 has grown considerably and has developed three stolons that were spilling out of the 4-inch pot in which it had resided since January. Today I potted it up in a 6-inch squat pot...and the stolons are still overhanging the sides. I'm not going to put it in an 8-inch, so it is going to have to figure it out. My goal for this year to to convert one of the greenhouse beds to a hardy succulent bed so these plants can spread out, but that is a project for late summer since I have to replace at least half the soil with pumice and coir to improve the drainage. I stuck pepper and tomato plants in that soil today, and it is almost mud when it is wet.
Here #3 is at center with five other succulents I potted up two days ago. The five were all in 2-inch plastic pots and they moved up to 4-inch terra cotta, except the Haworthia Cooperii on the right which got 4-inch plastic. I already have way too many Cooperii offsets to deal with from the plant I received from Ramsey's March 7 and I'm not giving this one a real pot. The other four are, from left, Crassula 'Campfire,' Jade, Pachyphytum 'Apricot Beauty,' and Haworthia limifolia 'Fairy Washboard.' Like a good little succulent propagator, none of these plants had been watered in the days after potting...but I drenched them after the photo was taken. The 'Fairy Washboard' in particular is rather small in a 4" pot, but 2" pots are hard to keep watered so I made the move.
Here is little #3 back in January, a green rosette with no other color and no distinguishing features.
Each of these plants have their own story. Unknown #3 is a survivor of the Semperpocalypse. 'Campfire' was a sickly little pup next to the main plant when it came out of the Ramsey's box March 7. The Jade is a cutting. The 'Fairy Washboard' is one of several pups that were harvested March 8, less than a month after I got the original plant at Home Depot.
And then there is 'Apricot Beauty.' I received it from The Next Gardener on March 17, and coming out of the box it looked like it had been hit with a grenade. All of the leaves were missing from one side of the main stalk, and in fact the main stalk eventually died. There was a little side shoot that was on a stalk that was decaying, so I beheaded it and hoped for the best. It grew, and that is what you see in the image. The Next Gardener sent me a replacement plant, and that one is doing OK but is tilted at a severe angle and it is still in garage rehab. I'll probably have to behead that one also to get it to grow straight. The 'Apricot Beauty' that is making the transition to the greenhouse tomorrow is the one pictured above. It already has its ID tag, #105. So 10 weeks after I was supposed to get it, I now have a small but presentable 'Apricot Beauty.' I also took a cutting of an offshoot of the replacement plant (see below).
Also going back to the greenhouse, of course, is Sempervivum #3. Several other Semps are sending out stolons, including 'Berry Blues.' Some of the stolons are overspilling the edge of the pot, but this one stopped short and is putting down roots. It is one of the two Semps I have in 8-inch pots, but if I did that for all of them I would have no room.
In other propagation news, I went through the succulent pots in the greenhouse and scooped out any fallen leaves that were growing roots or little leaves. I now have almost 30 tiny plants in the bowl in my office. There's another 30 leaves in the other bowl, some of which have roots but no little leaves yet. This seems like it is about to get real and I really won't have any room. I'm actually contemplating the sale of some of my larger succulents in part to manage the available space.
And finally, Echeveria 'Topsy Turvy' is the most recent to develop a flower stalk. It hasn't extended beyond the body of the plant yet, but it's coming.
More #105: This is the replacement 'Apricot Beauty' order. It's not real apparent from this angle, but as I mentioned, the main plant is tilted about 30 degrees. The situation wasn't quite as dire as with the original plant, but I beheaded a side shoot and waited for it to put out roots before putting it in a 4" plastic pot. The plant on the right looks very much like the one I potted yesterday, just a few weeks behind.
