Donkey's Tail & Hanging Succulents

This is my favorite part of my garden.
Its not a big space (but a big deal indeed)
I'm happy the way these turned to be, as they are so fragile to touch - leave alone too much water can cause a major damage to them.

Then I got more ambitious in creating a succulent hanging garden.
Where everything such as these hang beautifully cascading below.
My only concern is that if they get damage in the long run.
So far so good.

The mother of million seemed to be invading other pots and what I feared most came to pass - they are invasive indeed. Regardless - I love their cascading effect too. I took few cuttings and placed them on my Balcony Cactus Garden but they didn't fare well and some didn't even make it.

I'm hoping that the new ones will some visible progress in their cascading effect.
After all - they are indeed beautiful.
Don't you think so?

Donkey's Tail - Succulents

It is not impossible to have a rich cascading effect using succulents.
The challenge is taking up the risk in doing the impossible to get it done.

Whenever I buy a succulent - I considered it loss.
That is to say - that they are already dead
(That gives a sense of reality that if in case they do indeed get to survive,
I consider it the next half of the battle won)

In most cases - succulents are so unpredictable.
Sometimes they do so well, sometimes the go dormant
And sometimes, dead.

To avoid such a pain.
I found few matters necessary to change the course of their fate.
That is: I always change the soil medium that suit my lowland climate.
(the ones that come to my place are often planted using cocopeat, not the type of fast draining type of medium you would expect to find for these type of plants)

In due course of changing them.
That's where the stress begins.
Sometimes these plants just don't make it.
But when they do - they do it greatly.

The other thing I find is watering.
These seemed to need more than weekly watering.
Perhaps like 3-4 days once.
Organic fertiliser works best - at least once a month would make a difference.
Not using fertiliser would mean slow growth.
And these ever grow so slowly.

But once they started their growth regime.
They are considered care free plants.
Nothing much is expected from them.

A very small succulent plant came in.
Its known of mother of millions.
Somehow that small plant manage to invade into other pots and choking the rest of the species.
I manage to trim and replant it elsewhere.
This one - somehow manage to outgrow the rest of the succulents.

I do plan to get more different varieties of the donkey's tail.
These sedum species do give me a thrill
especially the cascading effects of  layered levels of leaves,
arranged neatly like beads.

 Do tell me if you have these type of succulents in your garden.
Tell me your story concerning these.
I would like to hear about them.

Propagating Succulents using Leaf

One of the easiest ways to keep a species going is to continuously propagating them.
I use this method, it is slow but a sure success.
Sometimes cuttings tends to dry up or rot
but these leaf propagation seemed to face better success rate than cuttings.

Here are the progress growth pictures in duration within few weeks.

Method:

A pot of sand, watering once a week.
Keep in a bright shaded area without any disturbance.
And they happily grow nicely.

Note:
Watering - just barely making the surface wet.
The sand should had dried off within few days.
Not to water until the soil is bone dry.

Here are Succulents:
Ghost plant
Panda plant
Donkey's Tail
and Mother of Millions (dark spotted leaves)

Succulent Leaves - Propagation

One of the things about succulents
which can be frustrating is that moment you find them accidentally
that they are rotting at the base.
By then, its considered too late to safe anything.
In most cases,
the rot would had infected with a fungus infestation that spells doom to that only species:
Your one and only plant!
Experience taught me this lesson and therefore,
I always make sure I have spares - planting them into few pots just in case one dies.

Here the method I propose:

1) Break / Snap off a healthy leaf from an existing plant.(Succulent plant - of course)
Wash them lightly from whatever stain/dirt or debris.
And dry it off.

2) Place them horizontally (like the pic)
On a small pot using sand (or any fast draining medium)
Water them lightly - once a week. (spray better)
And watch the tiny red root sprouting out together with baby plants at the base of the leaf-end section.

3) Wait for the plant to grow bigger and establish itself into a mature plant.
That's it.

Simple tips don't you think?
a) Fast draining medium - here I use sand.
b) Water lightly on weekly basis (not daily!)
c) Watch them grow...
Yeah..
the downside is the patience part - you will only notice the difference on the weekly basis.

One thing for sure.
By then - if the parent plant manage to die (if that happens)
These babies would had established itself by then.
And yes its true:
Its that long.

These are (pictures below)

1) Ghost Plant (Graptopetalum paraguayense)
2) Mother of Millions (Bryophyllum daigremontianum)
3) Donkey's Tail (Sedum morganianum)

and various different types of sedums. (unknown)


Let me know if you had tried this method before and your success story.
Good luck.