As far back as I can remember, trips to the Orchard’s Supply Warehouse and Lowe’s would fill me with dread, since I was usually dragged along with my parents to look for gardening supplies. Being someone who engages with his videogames and computer more often than other human beings, I never in my life thought that I would be an advocate for starting your own garden, yet here I am.
I should start by saying I have very little experience with gardening or taking care of plants; I only started showing interest in this subject recently. When the COVID-19 pandemic forced us into quarantine, it was actually my brother who randomly came home one day with two succulents in his hands. He showed them both to me and told me to choose one for myself and he would keep the other.
I like to have detailed plans when I attempt to try something new, and even after hours of research about how to take care of a basic echeveria hybrid succulent, I felt unsure about what I would do moving forward. I decided to just water her (yes, she’s a “her” and her name is Yves!) every Monday and hoped I wouldn’t kill her by accident.
Fast forward to a month later, and Yves isn’t doing too great. I had been watering her every week, but she was very red in color and limp in structure. When I corroborated with my brother, he told me he had been keeping Ricardo (yes, I made him name his too, which is arguably one of the best parts of gardening) outside, while I had been keeping Yves indoors.
I felt like a complete fool; even on the care instructions on the plastic pot Yves came in it said “keep in full sunlight” and I didn’t even have her outside. Feeling disappointment in myself but determination to be a good plant father, I put Yves outside next to her brother and kept watering her weekly.
Not even two weeks go by, and I already started to see improvement in Yves’ condition! Her overall shape became firmer, and reached up towards the sky, as she was well hydrated and had plenty of sun. However, I noticed Ricardo wasn’t in his pot.
When I went to ask my brother where Ricardo was, he showed me one of the most depressing sights I had ever seen. Ricardo was in a new, bigger pot, but he was shriveled up and fragile. I asked what my brother did, and he was just as confused as I was.
“I don’t understand! I did everything right and he’s dead! I kept him outside, I checked on him and watered him everyday, I don’t get it!”
That’s when I smiled and remembered reading online that one of the most common mistakes of growing succulents is to overwater them.
This whole experience led me to run to Lowe’s on my own accord and pick up another succulent for my brother, in order to return the favor, but I couldn’t help but pick one up for myself as well!
And as they say, the rest is history! I now have six succulents, all of which I have named and check on everyday. Being someone who doesn’t necessarily have an innate mothering instinct, I never would have expected to find any satisfaction in taking care of plants, but I look forward to seeing them everyday!
The current pandemic has put many of us in a position where we aren’t able to engage in all of our routine activities that kept us sane before we got to where we are now, myself included. Growing plants has really brought me closer to myself in the sense that I can find self-confidence and accomplishment in just taking care of my plant babies!
If you are someone who has no experience gardening, I recommend at least giving it a try! There is a plethora of information and helpful guides on the internet to make trying new things such as this not only possible but easier for anyone to give it a whirl!
There’s always a million reasons not to try something new, but what’s the worst that could happen?
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