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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
Where the heck is the section for plants but non aquatic? Oh wait, there isnt :mad:

Well I decided photo section would be the most appropriate :)

So, Ive been in the aquatic plants/scaping for a few years now, into aquariums ever since I was a kid and recently into plants. I got all these interests from my parents. Theyve been keeping non aquatic plants their whole life and my dad was into aquariums. He built his own and kept fishes. As a child, I kept red eared sliders. All the way up to maybe when I was 15. After that I just started keeping fish. I had a 25 gal tall. After a little while my dads friend gave us many anubius and crypts. Our whole tank was filled with these beautiful plants. After that, I bought ghost and amano shrimps. For the first time in my life I had living shrimps!!!! After that things picked up. Fish just got kinda boring. I had the usual community fishes. I used to look at the planted tanks online and used to drool. The foreground plants, red plants, so awsome!!! So I ended up going DIY high tech. hmm, perhaps I should end the story here and make another thread in the planted tank journals, because its quiet a story.

Ill skip to non aquatic plants for now. So recently, I became interested in growing good looking, normal, easy to grow plants. So I ended up ordering a few different types of seeds from Africa. It was so darn cheap that it wouldnt hurt trying. Its funny actually. I was searching for one of the aquatic plants on google and typed "lobelia". Because I had the cardinalis but didnt know the last name. What I saw on google images was the most beautiful plant Ive seen so far (I think). It was amazing, fell in love with it. It was a Lobelia Deckenii. Its still my dream plant to grow. The seeds come very rarely and usually only avail. from a few sites thru out the world. So I got seeds for Lobelia Gibberoa and a few others. I read the instructions and gave it a shot. They sprouted to beautiful little leafs. But they all eventually died. I recently gave up. I tried growing succulents from seeds too but its just too hard. I had a closed glass bottle with soil and a little moisture. Its just not good enough.

Sooo I moved away from seeds and wanted to try growing from clippings or something. I was at a walmart and saw a really nice bonsai for $7. Grabbed it. I mist it everyday and water it once a week. Its doing well, its flowering too! Im interested in succulents since they are easy to keep. Dry conditions and little maintenance. Hens and Chicks, or Sempervivum got my eye. These beautiful plants not only are drought tolerant, they have many different colourful varieties and they propagate in an interesting way.

Recently, after searching ever single nursery in US and sites around the globe (to the most part), I finally found a nursery in US that was really well priced. Im not interested in Hens, because they are expensive. I wanted to try the chicks and grow them up. Itl be so much more rewarding and if I end up killing them, I wont feel too bad. I bought about 25 chicks of many different variety. I dont know the variety names. It took me maybe 2 hours to set these guys up.

I have the succulent soil mix along with gravel. 3/4 of the pots are filled with soil. Then a short layer of gravel. Then an inch thick layer of soil and as the ground cover, more gravel. I really dont want to over water them or have root rot from too much water. Ive already killed a succulent this way before.

So, here are the images.

My Bonsai

Another tropical plant I have, dont know the name


Note I ran out of gravel, thats why the long brown pot is boring. Im still searching for nice glass shallow containers to keep these hens in. They need almost no soil and are used in rock gardens. Which is what I want to do.


















These macro pics show most of the varieties, there are more different ones in the brown container.
 

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
How appropriate - I just bought a Hen and Chicks plant this morning :D

I like seeing how you did yours, I'm thinking I am going to plant mine in a large bowl, but I haven't had a chance to go get some gravel :)
Cool, Id like to see pics of yours. Im hoping they will grow well and fast. atm theres in space in the dining room where the big windows are (balcony) as they are occupied by other plants. So I have them in my room. They get a little but of direct sun light and moderate bright light.
 

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Discussion Starter · #5 ·
Enjoyed your pics. I love chicks and hens. They are such beautiful plants. The red colors on yours is eye catching. What type is the one thats bright red?

Thanks for sharing
Thank you, I dont know the name of any of them. I bought them without names. The only name is the cob web, which is not of much help.
 

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Hens and chicks are so easy! You will have a lot of fun with them. I like to stick them in those pots that have holes all up and down the sides, and mine grow to cover nearly the entire pot, so it looks like a mound of a plant. I've noticed that mine hate to be indoors for too long, I think they don't get enough light. If you have a lot of light it shouldn't be a problem, but I have the best success just leaving them outside all year long. They go dormant in the winter and then bust forth like crazy in the spring, summer, and fall.

Just wait 'till you get a rooster (flowering stalk)! :)

I tend to put all my more tender succulents outside in the summer on the eastern side of the house and they really take off.
 

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Some of those look like Echeveria and at least one appears to be a sedum. I keep all my hens and chicks outside. Right now they are covered in snow.

edit. and the other one looks like a Tradescantia zebrina
 

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Discussion Starter · #8 ·
Thanks guys. yes that is a Tradescantia zebrina!

I dont know how but I thought I didnt get any replies so never bothered to check the thread.

atm I have them in the room, they get a good amount of indirect light and a bit of direct. I have a T8 shoplight, 6400k, on them atm. So its a good amount of light. I want to keep them in the balcony year round as well, but I really hate squirrels. I live on the 9th floor and those buggers are a problem for everyone. during spring and fall they dig out and make a mess of all our plants in the balcony. We grow tomatoes, chillies and a few other things (our balcony is a jungle). We also have the Tradescantia zebrina and other plants outside during the summer. The squirrel climbs the building with no problem and digs around for food it either stored or is going to store. So I think Ill move them out after spring.
 

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You have such pretty plants! At home, my mom keeps aloe vera. We recently repotted them and the small ones are producing babies 3 months later.

I don't have any succulents in my collection here at school, the 4 grapefruits are the most exotic ones I have.
 

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Discussion Starter · #10 ·
You have such pretty plants! At home, my mom keeps aloe vera. We recently repotted them and the small ones are producing babies 3 months later.

I don't have any succulents in my collection here at school, the 4 grapefruits are the most exotic ones I have.
Cool, I want to try avacado, its really easy to grow. But youl have to wait 5 or so years for the fruits :biggrin:

About your aloe, thats good to hear, maybe you can start making that aloe drink.
 

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From what I read, grapefruit takes 7-9years to mature. When they get too big to keep in the house, we are going to look for someone who will want them.

We've had the aloe since I was in late elementary school. Every time we separate the plants we give them away to people. We have had two flower stalks throughout the years, the blossoms are peach and yellow colored. Very dainty.
 

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Nice looking plants samee. Be careful, they are highly addictive. I started out collecting rosette type succulents(I love there symmetry of them) then all hell broke lose. When I get off work ill share some pictures.


Regards, Patrick
 

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Discussion Starter · #13 ·
Cant wait to see them.

Is there a trading forum like pt about succulents? If you guys have good looking semps, I might want to try a buy/sell.

As for my chicks, I think a few grew a bit. They look bigger than I remember. I will wait another week or two before taking new pics.
 

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Discussion Starter · #17 ·
Safe T Sorb
Oh, it sucks up the moisture and keeps it in right? Kind of like a one time use?

Although I made a layer an inch under the soil the semps are planted in, the purpose of top soil was something else. I made the layer under the soil so excess water just flows through, so I dont have to worry about root rot (even though I have a high drainage succulent soil). The top layer was pebbles on purpose because I wanted a "rock garden" kind of feel. This is just the beginning. Once I find more squarish, bigger container, Im going to be placing big rocks along with gravel to make it more rocky. If I get that far, I want to do a dw or bonsai type scaping as well.

This is what I want to pursue(NOT MY PIC):


Here is another examples


Ultimate goal, make a DIY rock wall like this with soil and gravel. All indoor.
 

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Discussion Starter · #19 ·
STS has a high CEC, clay Substrate. a lot people on this forum use it.
umm, will need to read up on it, although Im not interested in reading essays and lengthy paragraphs atm.
 
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