Help! I'm addicted!

 

...to Succulents.

Hello, my name is Therusha Naidoo (until I change it) and I am addicted to succulents.

Who knew that I would ever be this interested in plants given that most of my life I couldn't keep one alive? Not even a cactus, which I have learned is possible to kill in many interesting ways.

Two years ago I was at home, depressed for reasons that have been mentioned before. And I couldn't pull myself together. Yes, I had meds and therapy but I needed something creative to help me focus so that I could pick up the pieces.

Youtube was my only company because the husband was working. Somehow I saw a video on succulents and the seed was planted. See what I did there?

I got really fascinated by the beauty of these plants, the wondrous things one could do with them and the fact that they were hardy and could grow from seed, leaf and stem. Magic. I showed the husband who suggested I get some to work with and I laughed thinking he would join because he knew I couldn't keep plants alive.

I almost killed several of his plants whenever he had to travel for work and the plants that I did own, he looked after. So why did he think this was a good idea?

I suppose we were at that point of needing to try anything to help me so off we went to the nursery. Since I was positive that I didn't know what I was doing despite watching numerous YouTube videos, I opted for small plants, some soil and some pots.

I spent the rest of that day repotting my plants and then watching more videos. I am not sure when it happened but at some point I started creating things with my plants, mimicking what I learnt from the videos. Using my small plants to create tiny works of art.

It took immense concentration because I was working with very small plants but I was determined and after a few weeks I had made several different arrangments. Now the trick was to keep the plants alive. The tiny pea size and even smaller plants. Some without roots. In tiny pots with soil that only a tiny spoon could scoop. a tiny spoon that I own and thank goodness for that. 

That was two years ago, some plants lived, some died. But most lived and thrived! I started making arrangements as gifts and shared any plants grown with family in Pietermaritzburg especially my nephew who is also obsessed and my parents because I plan on transforming their garden one trip at a time. Phase two has already occurred.

In two years I learned a lot. There's root rot because succulents don't like a lot of water and need well-draining soil. In the same breath some need more water than the rest else they will start to wrinkle and shrink. This is why it is frowned upon to put them in something with no drainage hole. I have several plants in such containers, it just takes extra work to keep an eye so nothing has died ...yet.

Then you get mealie bugs( or Satan's Spawn as I like to call them). White aphids that use the power of ants to spread and multiply! Aaargh!!  Soapy water helps unless things have gotten out of hand and then the big expensive liquids are needed. That's my current woe with plants in the garden over Cape Town Winter. So rain killing, my succulents with root rot and the clammy weather enticing mealie bugs. And for some reason..snails. Ah, the life of a gardener!

I have learned how to stress succulents so they become colourful as well as grow them from leaf and stem. This is a blessing and a curse because I cannot throw a piece of the plant away! So I grow more and more and more. I have thousands of succulents now that I can't name because they mostly have scientific names that make you wish you didn't love them so much.

Two years of concentration and obsession, I mean love and passion was all it took to get me where I am now. A mini nursery built by the husband, neighbours loving what I am creating in the front yard. Folks loving the backyard set up and my small hands did that. Bloody brilliant.

Because I have thousands of succulents and am running out of space, I thought why not sell them? I am not keen on selling the plants as is. Just the arrangements that took time and love.

Boom! Parowdise Nursery has been born.







Location: Cape Town

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