Science experiment: The Magic Continues!

Before I say anything else, Happy (belated) birthday to my beloved sister Andrea whose birthday was this past Monday (I know, I know... I'm still getting used to these scheduled posts) and also my awesome brother-in-law Cal who celebrated Friday!  Apparently January is the month for middle children :)  Hope it was lovely!

"Smiley Riley"

So you may or may not remember the succulent experiment.  Well, it is ongoing.  To refresh your memory, here is where we started out:

Pretty cute.  Approximately 7.5 months later (those pictures were taken from a post on May 28, 2013), here is where we're at today:

I have to be honest, I thought they would grow a bit faster.... but all in all, success!  The most prolific plant has been the Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi (that tall one at the end):

But some of the Echeveria have been doing pretty well too, particularly these ones in a separate pot:

Have I mentioned I love my new camera?  Oh, I did?  I love my new camera

There are a few others with varying degrees of growth.  Interestingly, the leaf from which they sprouted is still plump on the separate pot Echeveria which has less drainage and more moisture, which makes me think that watering the plants more may be the way to stimulate better growth on the others.

Echeveria with a Kalanchoe sprout

Two Echeveria

As a side observation, my Crassula perforata in my kitchen window have doing something interesting.  Here's a view of the kitchen window situation (it's a bit of a situation... I have some cleaning up to do):

Here's a view of the succulent pot I planted on my own:

Bit of a mess.  And the Kalanchoe fedtschenkoi grew a karate-kicking side root for some reason

And the Crassula perforata grew up under a pot on the second rack, causing them to bend sideways...  And sprout roots?

How weird!  I wonder what made them think they had ground underneath.  Was it the fact they were sideways?  The fact that there was a rack below them that they could somehow feel?  The fact that because they were under something else there was less light from above? 

And how interesting that it could sprout roots while still continuous with the rest of a long piece of plant.  Peppermint and strawberries too can put down roots distant from the original plant base (runners or "stolons") to the degree that they can be very invasive (here is even a whole how-to on destroying invasive strawberries) ... something similar?  Well, I couldn't find too much information on my plant, but I did find at least one source stating that when certain types of Crassulae grow a bit, they can sprout roots from the stem which one should "consider putting in soil" (reference the Crassula "baby necklace").

Pretty fascinating.  That pot is getting a bit unruly anyway.  I definitely will be trimming down some of the stalks and making attempts at repropagation. 

If this experiment has taught me anything, it's that anyone can repropagate succulents!  It's easy!

While we're on the topic of discovery, I would like to share something I discovered this week with you:  Pickle of the month club with "indie" small producers by Mouth

Coming up with this as a Christmas present was one of my finer moments.  But even better is the fact that these pickles are really awesomely delicious (coming from the non-pickle fanatic in the relationship)!

3-4 jars per month. This month: dill spears, sweet pickles, spicy pickles, and pickled green beans. Perfect mix!

So I share this with you because it is a tried and tested gift idea.  You're welcome.  This is how you make pickles:

And here is the happy result:

Anyway, I hope you all have an awesome week!  To get a headstart, I invite you to play this song and bad-dance around your kitchen.  I will now too, so we can do it together.  Ciao!