Andrea Afra - The Succulent Manual: A guide to care and repair for all climates

The Succulent Manual: A guide to care and repair for all climates by Andrea Afra

Published by Sucs for You!

sucsforyou.com

2018 Andrea Afra

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permission please contact: get@sucsforyou.com

Millions of people around the world have found themselves oddly in love with succulents. This attraction tends to start with learning to care for one plant and grows to fill a window sill, then a shelf, and eventually the floor or dining table until we buy more shelves. Does this sound familiar to you? Can you still count your succulents on one hand or does your collection take up all the sunny real estate in and around your home? No matter how many succulents we already have, there's always room for just one more, right?

Maybe you don't have many succulents yet, if any. You worry you lack the green thumb or the climate to keep them alive. Or maybe you've lost confidence after watching them die under your care in the past, and out of mercy for any future victims, you stick to cut flowers because they're already dying when you bring them home. I say give this manual a read, then give succulents a chance, or another chance.

With a bit of insight in how to better understand their needs, you too can experience the joy of keeping these plants. A lot of them. I'm literally up to my neck and surrounded by what some may call 'too-many-succulents.' This is a phrase you'll just need to learn to shrug off because the only folks who utter this nonsense typically don't have any succulents. The solution is to give them a plant or two and wait. Before long, they'll realize they also love them and how silly they were to ever think one could have too many.

The chapters in The Succulent Manual contain detailed sections on the most important topics:

Basic Tips: First, you'll learn about the basic care tips and growing cycles so you have a solid understanding of how to keep succulents alive and happy. This is vital to being able to troubleshoot any problems you may run into along the way.

Make More Sucs: There are many varieties of succulents that can provide a lifetime supply of plants for you and others from just one plant! You'll learn about propagation by leaves, division, cuttings, and seeds.

Succulent SOS: Stretched plants, leaf-drop, peststhe 'Symptoms' section will help you identify problems with your succulents, while the following section 'Take Action' provides solutions and repair tips.

Regional Tips: Your climate and location have a major influence on the obstacles you may run into. This chapter covers the various regional and seasonal challenges. Yes, you can pick more than one sectionat least three apply to me!

The Succulent Manual also includes identification tips, care tips and instructions on building a garden bed for in-ground succulents, a buying guide for plants and supplies, a Knowledge Bank, glossary, and other useful advice.

There's something admirable about a succulent's ability to thrive without our interference and to bounce back from certain death despite our ignorance. It makes us feel like we're doing something right, though it's usually just the plant's tenacious nature to survive kicking in. But wait. We must be doing something right if a succulent is strong enough to keep growing, right? Right! A little bit of wisdom goes a long way in the garden and that's what this guide is all about. These insights will help you learn what your succulents are telling you, whether it's:

"Stop watering me!"

"I need more sun!"

"That's too much sun!"

"I've got BUGS!"

Or even

"You're doing greatI'm perfectly happy!"

There is a very special reward waiting for us in our pots and gardens. It's a contentment not found in many places, a quiet appreciation of our relationship with nature and our influences on each other. For some people, it's as good for the soul as therapy or church. And the satisfaction of seeing a good amount of dirt under our fingernails can't be bought.

Cut Flowers Die, Succulents Multiply

Andrea Afra, Sucs for You

Its common to purchase a succulent that catches our eye because of its colors only to find a few weeks later it has faded from a bright pink or purple to mild green and maybe even changed shape. This is usually because your new plant came from a greenhouse in a region unlike yours where light and temperature are highly controlled to bring out the best features in succulents. Unless you can duplicate these conditions, change is inevitable.

Photo: Echeveria Tippy showing off her bright red leaf tips in early winter.

However, when the right influences are aligned their colors and true forms return. After a stretch of several bright, dry days with cool weather, succulents really begin to shine. The combination of dry soil, bright light, and temperatures between 50F and 70F/1020C are ideal for bringing out their stressed colors and transforms many succulents into what I call their final form.
Euphorbia tirucalli Sticks on Fire will glow with the most brilliant orange and fuchsia, and Kalanchoe luciae Flapjacks reveal their gorgeous crimson potential. Some varieties can produce a rainbow of colors throughout the year in the right conditions. And it doesnt have to be cold for succulents to remain colorful as long as they get bright light and low water, though if its also really hot, they may suffer from too much stress and go dormant or die. Decreasing the light while increasing water can unstress a succulent in under a week.

Photo: Echeveria pulidonis in winter vs summer

This book will help you understand how much control you have over those color-inducing influences based on where and how youre growing succulents. Whether in a window, on your porch or planted in a garden, climate plays the biggest role in how committed with time and money youd need to be to keep your plants in their final form year-round. Personally, thats not my goal because it would be quite a bit of money and work. I know because I tried.

While I do love my grow lights, most of my favorite succulents are varieties that dont rely on cool, dry temperatures to look beautiful. Some arent even that finicky about a few consecutive days of overcast weather, and that makes me love them even more.

Farina

Many succulents have a natural protective coating called farina. This epicuticular (outer layer) waxy powder functions as a water repelling sunblock against UV rays. Like a enchanted cloak, farina enrobes the plant with a transparent matte-white finish, converting ho-hum leaf colors into ethereal hues rarely seen on our planet, let alone from a plant. The terms farinose, pruinose, and glaucous are all used to describe this milky white layer, but each are a bit different (see