A first casualty...

When I planted up my first group of succulents I didn't consider each plant's watering, light or temperature requirements.  I didn't research whether they were happy or not being crowded in with other plants or if they needed space.  Instead I took the not terribly scientific approach of "What looks nice?"  Thus I ended up with eight plants in a wide-ish, shallow pot.  They were a mix of substantial (1) plants and some smaller specimens (2).

They've been planted up a few weeks now, and I take them out of their plastic cold frame and put them out in the garden during the day to maximise their exposure to air and light, only bringing them in at night, or if the rain threatens.  And they seem to be doing ok.  They all look healthy, the Delosperma 'Congestum' seems to be spreading itself out a little and on the whole, I - and they - are quite pleased.

Except one.  One of the dwarf plants, Aeonium 'Cornish Pixie', got slightly squeezed between the aforementioned Delosperma and the Echiveria 'Cubic Frost'.  As these two have relaxed and spread out (3), the Cornish Pixie has suffered.  It's ended up almost under the Echiveria, which, I suspect, has reduced the light and air getting to it.  As a result, when I inspected it the other day, it looked a bit worse for wear.  Leaves were dropping off and it generally appeared a bit 'sorry for itself'.

Mrs Boo to the rescue!  We found a small pot, mixed up some suitable compost and grit and lifted the Pixie out, tidied it up a little and repotted it.  It's early days yet, but it seems to be doing ok at the moment.  It'll take a while to be sure though.  How long, I don't know - weeks, possibly months, rather than days at a guess.

Cornish Pixie in its new home

But it gave the opportunity to look at the main pot again, and we're thinking that the other smaller plants may benefit from their own space.  Therefore I think that Pachyphytum 'Little Jewel' and Sedum 'Silver Roses' may be on the move soon.  There is a Sempervivum 'big sam Pink Pomelo' that is considerably smaller than the other plants, but at present it seems to be holding its own, so it can probably stay where it is for now.

It'll make the pot look unbalanced for a while, but this first attempt was always going to be a learning process, so if things have to be moved, or if I have to find a new plants to go into the gap (4), then so be it.

I shall report back!

The other news is that I have joined the British Cactus and Succulent Society.  More on that next time.

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(1)  Relatively speaking.  Even the largest, the Aloe, is no more than about 5" across.

(2)  I'd picked up the 'Succulent Fairy Garden' Dwarf collection from Corseside Nursery - a selection of five miniature plants.

(3)  Again, relatively speaking, these plants aren't known for their speed of growth.  It's probably more that they're out of a small pot and have just spread out a bit.

(4)  A new plant!  Such a hardship!