Dead Echeveria, Shelves, Pots ...

This is one of the gifts I got with my order from the Canaries. I've moved all of the plants from that order into the craft room, but haven't watered them yet. When I picked this one up I noticed the centre of the plant was black and when I touched it all of the leaves dropped off. The stem was black, dry and hollow! If I'd watered them I would have thought I had given them too much water, but I haven't watered these yet.

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The shelves I wanted from Argos aren't available any more, which doesn't surprise me because they were so cheap, so I've asked them to check if these other shelves are in stock -

It's a pack of two, but for now I only have room for one of them, but, who knows, maybe at a future date I'll be able to use the second shelving unit. 

There's no room left to put any more plants on the wicker shelves, and I've had to start putting some on the floor, which isn't ideal. 

I had to move the shelves a little bit further back, so I hope the plants all get enough light. (I really need to clean those filthy windows!)

When I get my new shelves I also want to re-pot some of the plants into smaller pots - like that sempervivum on the right of the this photo - the pot it's in is huge, plus I could do with that size pot for other plants. 

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I went out earlier today, to get some more pots from GibralFlora. I thought these lighter ones were the same size as the ones in the photo above, but they're a little bit larger. I got 14, and I think I'm going to go back and buy a few more on Monday, because I know that I won't be able to get them if I wait until I actually need them. The darker terracotta pots were 80p each, and these are 90p.

New Plants, Parcels, Shopping for Shelves ...

I got four parcel today, and three of them were plants! Yeah 😉 

The first one came from Malta, and it's another String of Hearts cutting (Ceropegia woodii). I think it has a long root (not 100% it's a root ... it could be new growth), and I've put it in a pot with my soil mix, and fingers crossed it roots. According to my Internet research it should root in about 2 weeks.

Then I opened this one ... Unfortunately the box was wet on one side, and the plant is rotten! I've written to the seller, so let's see what we do next. I'd like him to send me a new plant ... I think I'm going to leave this to dry out, although I don't think it has a hope of surviving ...

I don't know if the box got wet on the journey from China, or the seller put the plant in wet tissues, but the poor thing is soggy and floppy!

 The box stinks too ...

And then I opened the largest box, which I'd left for last because I knew what was inside, and I needed time to pot everything up.  It was my echeveria purchase from Etsy, and had travelled from from the Canary Islands. The seller had numbered the wrapping paper around each plant, and had listed the names, so they were really easy to identify. I bought the 6 larger plants, and he sent me the 3 smaller ones as gifts! The parcel came wrapped up in tissue paper, with a cactus pattern, and I was amazed to see the wrapping had survived the journey!

I'd thought the fourth parcel was plant labels, but it wasn't, so I decided to make my own. I cut strips from a plastic notebook cover, and I think they turned out really well. 

And here they are, in their new pots.

I decided to decapitate the second leggy plant from my arrangement - it didn't look right.

I've put the leaves I took off this plant, plus a few which fell off one of the ones in the parcel from the Canaries, which dropped off as I was potting it up, in a saucer and hope I can propagate them. I'm just going to leave them be and check them when I remember ...

There's no space on the wicker shelves to put many more plants, so I'm going to order a new shelf unit from Argos. It's a plain steel and plastic contraption, and not too pretty, but it's more practical than the wicker shelves. The new shelves are open on both sides, so I'll be able to see the plants from the inside of the room, and not have to keep moving the shelves to get to the front to get at the plants.

These are the shelves, turned to face into the room, but if I want the plants to get more light I have to turn them the other way, which then means you see the shelves from the back. They have a metal design across the back too, at each level, which also means I can't get a pot off the shelf without turning the whole thing around! So they're pretty, but not practical. I'll probably use these for the overflow, or maybe put some of the smaller pots - we'll see.  

These are the shelves from Argos. They're only £7.24!!  Too bad I don't have the room for another one. They're roughly double the width of the wicker shelves, so I should be able to fit plenty of plants on them. I'll have to wait until Friday (pay day) to order them, and hopefully they will still be in stock.  Fingers crossed.