On our wedding we gave everyone a small succulent in a jar. Not everyone picked up theirs, so we ended up with four. I haven’t been historically a good caregiver to my house plants, but these particular ones are a symbol of our love and us growing together. I’d better make sure they grow happy, tall, and strong.
After a long research online I realized succulents can’t survive in these cute tiny jars. They need sandy soil so that their roots can breathe, and drainage for excess water to escape. Ready or not, it was time for me to get them a new home.
I know nothing about taking care of plants and a lot about decorating stuff with glitter, so I decided to start with glitter first. A small win early in the process keeps my morale strong if I don’t know what I’m doing.
I used spray glitter paint on the sides of each pot, and then smudged powdered glitter with a brush onto them while the paint was still wet.
I just recently bought some holographic glitter stars, so why not add them here? I used the other end of the brush to apply glue, and then pasted stars onto it directly with my fingers. I could spend hours just watching how they sparkle in the sun.
While waiting for the paint to dry, I could finally take care of the plants. I carefully removed each of them from the jar, and then used another brush to clear soil off their roots. Regular soil is too humid for these guys’ taste, so we get to replace it with special soil for succulents.
Oh, there’s also this poor old cactus I just reminded myself about that has been lying forgotten in a corner for months. Please don’t judge me. I told you I’ve been a terrible plant caregiver.
When everything has dried off, we can plant our succulents in the pot. On the bottom I’ve added a thin layer of gravelite to help water drain off. I got so absorbed with the rest of the process that I completely forgot to take more photos. The rest of the pot was filled with succulent soil, I placed the plants in it, then finished with some gravel for decoration.
Here’s the end result. Now that I checked some articles again, it seems that I already did a few mistakes. I should have chosen a smaller pot so that the plants grow closer together. I should have added more soil to position the them on the edge of the pot, and waited another day or two before watering.
Still, this is the most tender I’ve ever been to plants in my life so they’ll need to forgive me my rookie mistakes. The next time I’ll certainly come better prepared.
One response to “Succulents and sparkles”
[…] to move to a bigger home, so I bought some nice ceramic pots, decorated them with glitter, and then planted them carefully along with the poor cactus rediscovered among the candles, making sure I precisely clean off the […]