- Author: Georgia Luiz
Lately, it seems I've been searching for hard to find cacti and succulents. This can become an interesting rabbit hole, leading to all kinds of eccentric people with passions for obscure species. Passions strong enough to get them to travel thousands of miles and go on expeditions for seeds in the wilds clear across the planet. This is what they do, it is how they roll, and once you get them started, just get comfy, because you'll be there a while. One of these meandering conversations led to the purchase of peyote seeds. No, not that kind. Lophophora williamsii, the infamous hallucinogenic is not legal for sale, which is fine by me, because I don't think I could bear to harvest it. These little cacti (Lophophora diffusa) are so cute. They look like green bellybuttons. And they are easily grown from seed. They popped up in 3 days. 5 out of 6 germinated. So if you're interested in an easy small indoor cacti any species of peyote cacti available for retail is a surprisingly easy choice.
- Author: Sally Livingston
After attending a session on succulent container gardening at UC Davis, I decided to try it. This is my first attempt. When I purchased the succulents, I thought it would be too crowded in the planter but there is space. As they grow, I think it will fill it, but if not I plan to add some other succulents.
There are many kinds of succulents and I just got a few different ones. They have shallow roots so I put rocks in the bottom of my planter. Then I used packaged soil designed for succulents or cactus mix. It is more porous that the usual potting mix and helps retain water for longer periods. This one is located at the entrance to our gazebo and gets morning and early afternoon sun then some shade. It seems to be doing well. I water it about every two weeks slowly with at least a quart of water. But if I forget they are very forgiving. This winter I will move them to a sheltered area when frost is in the forecast.
You might want to try this type of gardening. There are so many different and variety of plants that it is fun to select a interesting combination for your container. And it doesn’t require a lot of care or frequent fertilizing.