Saturday, January 10, 2009

Bathtime on the Balcony


As well as succulent corner I have two hanging succulents on the balcony. These were early features in the balcony garden, one being an impulse buy at the markets one day, the other a lovely birthday gift last year from totally wonderful housemate. They suffer from supreme neglect, given that i managed to get my housemate to hang them so high that i cannot reach to water them without standing on a chair! Moreover if i do water them it takes approximately 1.24553 seconds for the water to drain through and shower me. Yes they need repotting, but the last time i bought pots to put them in, i ended up putting tumbler tomatoes in them and hanging them elsewhere (it is amazing where i can seem to find space even when i think life is all full at the inn)

The cactus guy at the Vic Markets (which i oh so conveniently live half a block away from and keep me in fine cheeses, fruit, meat and more) said that i should soak them in a bucket of water for a while. As i was set to head to Adelaide i figured i would give these two fellows some TLC, so bathtime it was. I used the water bowl from the kitchen, which we catch our veggie washing water in, and scooped the succulents in one at a time for their bath. Of course i bathed them in the shade, on the wooden bench behind our shade slats. Who wants to lose their bathing benefits to evaporation?


After their bath (this is only one of the succulents, i have another, whose name always escapes me but we in Inept BG land call it dragon's tail) they were happy little vegemites, and retained more of the green rather than purple or brown. Time will tell (two weeks to be exact) if they behave for the the totally awesome housesitter!

2 comments:

Chandramouli S said...

I can totally identify with you. I'm so clumsy about succulents. Though people say that they're easy to maintain, I've tried my hand at two - both were a failure.

Laura Z said...

Try watering once a month. Usually the problems for succulents is too much water. Good idea about the bucket. If it is shady I bet aloe veras would do well there too.