Before I left for our two-week absence from home, i.e. our trip, I placed almost all the plants in this corner of the balcony. Even those succulents that used to decorate the bookshelf or the TV stand have also moved to the balcony, so that they can all be together and protect each other from the sun (the bigger plants should make the shadow for the smaller ones). That is when I took this photo and sent it to a friend with a question: who will survive?
Another reason why I put them all outside is that I intended to close all the blinds in the house, that is, it would be pitch dark, and we know that plants cannot do without light. Now, two plants were left inside because they would anyway die in as much sun as there is on my balcony. I didn't have much hope that they would survive without light... but maybe I still hoped that a miracle could happen.
The result... one completely and literally dead and the other, the orchid.. let's say it survived but since I arrived, it already lost two yellow leaves and this one is also going to fall. If it stays with at least one green leaf, there is a chance it will survive indeed.
And what happened outside?
My friend was busy with other stuff and couldn't come to water the plants. Much of their fate depended on the rain, but you know how it is in the middle of summer in Spain. In two weeks, it rained once (which was more than expected), so at least one time they got natural water. However, I can conclude that the Jade Tree suffered from a type of sunburn and a lack of water. The big fuzzy Ruby Blush left this world (it was one of my oldest plants) and so did these little assorted succulents.
It's fine (not that I don't feel sorry but it is kind of normal). I had more losses around a month ago when I had to throw away a couple of pots of rotten plants. Outside was too hot, inside they didn't like, or maybe I over-watered them, although I am careful with the frequency of watering. All in all, it was time to do some cleaning and repoting.
After saying goodbye to the big Ruby Blush (I took a few green tops), I had its free white pot. I decided to use it for the Aeonium and its neighbors. A small, young carob tree also lived in that pot. I didn't plant it, at least not on purpose, but I once took soil for my plants from around a carob tree. There was probably a seed of this tree there and it just sprouted in this pot with other plants. It has been there for several years, and now I have taken it out of the soil for the first time. I was amazed at how long its root is. I wanted to plant it separately this time, so that it would grow even more and be a goal, a promise that one day I would plant it on a piece of land, on some plot.
Probably because of the shape of this tree with its long root, I got the idea to plant it in a long, narrow container. I know that my choice can cause reactions of surprise or disapproval, because there are questions like how to take out the plant one day when it grows, that the throat is very narrow, that the glass lets light through and that algae will form...but I gave several rounds of thinking and in the end I still decided to give it a try.
I will darken the glass or put it in a dark vase (I have already tried it with one) and when it is time to transplant the tree into the ground... I can wrap this bottle in a piece of cloth, break it and "save from the glass cage" our carob tree. It might not work. Maybe yes, if it should come true.
In any case, yesterday afternoon I had a nice and relaxing time transplanting plants into larger pots and playing with ideas about the big future tree. Right now it is on its journey in a glass carriage, travelling to its freedom.
