r/mildlyinteresting • u/Maggie-8526 • 2d ago

Found a succulent growing between stone blocks

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20.0k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

106 comments sorted by

1.1k

u/HeavyArmsJin 2d ago

Meanwhile this plant just disintegrates the moment it came into my home

183

u/merryjoanna 2d ago

Mine keep etiolating. I have them in the sunniest South facing window on the window sill. It makes no sense. They are only supposed to do that when they don't get enough sun. I also somehow made a small spherical cactus deflate. I still don't understand the mechanics of that one. It looked just like someone let all the air out of it.

I'm great at other plants. I have a begonia that is over 6 feet tall.

77

u/opeidoscopic 2d ago

Most succulents need more sun than a window can typically provide. The people with crazy succulent collections either keep them outside in an extremely sunny climate or have grow lights.

Similarly, your cactus probably got overwatered.

13

u/merryjoanna 2d ago

That makes sense. I looked it up and it said to water it til it comes out the bottom, let it stop draining out of the bottom, then put it back on the plate so it's not sitting in a dish of water. Then don't water it again until it's been completely dry for a week or so. I did that once and didn't even check it for a couple of weeks. And it was deflated then. I'm guessing the store must have just watered it before I got it. I probably should have waited to repot it too. Back then I didn't realize that moving a plant from the store to your place can be quite a shock. And that you aren't supposed to repot it for at least a few weeks. I just saw the succulents in their tiny little starter pots that were way too little for them and felt like it was a good idea to fix that as soon as possible.

I've been getting better with this stuff since I stopped taking advice from a medical marijuana grower and just started looking up information on my own.

20

u/opeidoscopic 2d ago

Oh yup in that case your cactus was doomed from the start. Cactuses are usually sold in the totally wrong substrate (should be majority grit/rocks instead of soil) and store employees just water them to death because they don't know any better. Regardless, best of luck with your future plant endeavors! Your begonia is beautiful :)

5

u/merryjoanna 2d ago

She's my pride and joy.

1

u/SelocAvrap 2d ago

Woah! Yeah, you're better off dropping the occasional filtered ice cube in the pot. Succulents need rocks, lots of sun, very little water

49

u/osmlol 2d ago

Your window reminds me of mine.

3

u/merryjoanna 2d ago

I keep pruning my back and every time I do I can't help myself, I have to propagate them. I have given away so many starter plants. I just gave a coworker a foot tall begonia with 4 or 5 branches, a pothos, and a prayer plant. I still have to prune back the prayer plant again, because if I let it get too long, the weight of the branch seems to strangle itself against the side of the pot. The two snake plants on top of the shelf started out as a few pieces. It keeps multiplying. I had to split it up between two pots.

5

u/osmlol 2d ago

Same I'm propigating tons of pothos, monstera, and spider plants right now. I live next to Logee's Rare Plants Greenhouse so it's really hard to not swing by every weekend to buy more plants. I'm just running out of sun now lol

1

u/merryjoanna 2d ago

I want a monstera so bad but I already have two gigantic begonias and I have to move into my boyfriend's house next year. I am already going to have a hell of a time getting them in his house.

3

u/WantsToBeUnmade 2d ago

What's that spiky one on the second shelf from the bottom, all the way to the right?

It reminds me of some of the medusoid Euphorbias.

2

u/osmlol 2d ago

I received that as a gift and never knew for sure but based on my research I believe it is a Haworthiopsis limifolia aka Fairys Washboard.

2

u/WantsToBeUnmade 2d ago

Thank you. What's the one behind it, too, out of curiosity?

2

u/osmlol 2d ago

That is I believe a Cobweb Hens and Chick. It grows with like spider webbing on it.

1

u/Nina-Boogfilm 2d ago

The spherical cactus deflating sounds like a plant betrayal 😂😂

1

u/clegg2011 2d ago

If a plant is doing something that happens when it doesn't get enough sun. The problem is it's not getting enough sun. Your sunniest window is not sunny enough.

17

u/marywiththecherry 2d ago

They need crazy amounts of light so forgive yourself, we've managed to get a lot of plants meant for outside to grow in what are essentially caves, so be proud of that feat alone.

6

u/Triquetrums 2d ago

Man same... No matter what research I do, plants just die on me. The only one I have kept alive is a pothos. They are called also devil's ivy, so that's probably why I cannot kill it. My black thumb is not strong enough.

2

u/3-DMan 2d ago

Golden Pothos is the only damn thing I've ever been able to keep alive in my house.

5

u/GWindborn 2d ago

That's because they're immortal.

1

u/MarkCrorigansOmnibus 2d ago

If you look carefully you may notice this photo was taken outdoors.

345

u/surle 2d ago

Accidental ornamental page border.

74

u/Maggie-8526 2d ago

Looks like a little natural necklace!

87

u/one_tart_cherry 2d ago

🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️ the one I nurtured and bought special soil for. 😂

12

u/Novembah 2d ago

I think you’re confusing nurture for abuse. I kid but you were not meeting one or more needs for the plant to thrive.

8

u/one_tart_cherry 2d ago

I am on the strugglebus with plants since moving to West Texas for sure. I thought I had a green thumb BUT it was just the hospitable climate in Coastal MS that gave me an inflated sense of skill. 😂

2

u/Novembah 2d ago

Being able to recognize that is great. Some plants need too much help to survive in foreign environments to the point that you have to create an environment for them to even survive like a green house.

174

u/sgtpandybear 2d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/GAXMzzd2XElnG

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u/Ecstatic-Mark7566 2d ago

That little pink flower stalk is doing the most

110

u/Londin2021 2d ago

Beautiful that you stopped and noticed. Such a small thing could easily be missed.

30

u/Maggie-8526 2d ago

I’m glad I noticed it Little things like this make you appreciate nature

31

u/GlisaPenny 2d ago

So beautiful too

19

u/pakman82 2d ago

my grandpa grew these all over. called them hens & chicks.. and got them to grow in cracks of a wall he built on the family property..

7

u/anordicalien 2d ago

How did he do it? Jam a seed into a crack? Where did he live?

Edit, Sorry for all the questions btw you could say I’m mildly interested

5

u/pakman82 2d ago

I dont know . I think he started them 5 or more years before i was born & he died 20 years ago now.. Some of them he had originally growing in an old metal keg filled with dirt & holes drilled in the side.. It was south east New England. Which isnt always great for succulents, but GRandpa had a green thumb...

7

u/mcon87 2d ago

I lived in north Massachusetts and we called these hens and chickens too! They grew all over the rocks on our property.

2

u/carmium 2d ago

I've seen them growing wild on a seaside cliff here on BC's coast. They seem to thrive on sunny, creviced rocks that absorb the sun's heat but still have some water supply.

2

u/SelocAvrap 2d ago

My mom used to grow these on the windowsill and called them the same! If I remember correctly, the "chicks" are how they spread, so you break one off and propagate it. She used to give them as gifts to other gardeners. They like very little water, so she'd put them in a pot of dry dirt and rocks & occasionally drop in an ice cube, which would water them as it melted

38

u/EthanOrin 2d ago

My succulents die in perfectly good pots😂

13

u/Maggie-8526 2d ago

The ones outside the pot have to survive if they want anyone to notice them

7

u/3-DMan 2d ago

Keep in the current pot? Dead.

Repot it? Also dead.

8

u/TotalMisanthropy 2d ago

Meanwhile every one of those I bring home to grow dies almost immediately 🥹

5

u/fearclaw 2d ago

fittingly, this plant is called a "stone rose" in my language

5

u/ricardopa 2d ago

That’s basically where they all grow in the wild - jammed into cracks in rocks in the desert

4

u/aintwhatyoudo 2d ago

Beautiful! Where in the world are you?

4

u/Logical_Selection350 2d ago

Could be a good phone wallpaper

3

u/sorderon 2d ago

Now I need a Chinese meal.

3

u/TallulahBob 2d ago

That is so beautiful.

I love finding things like this when I take walks. I always take pictures and remember to take more as the seasons change.

5

u/DFM_Pro_LSR 2d ago

Bro is thriving on sheer spite and concrete lol

2

u/kytheon 2d ago

Notice that one leaf in the top left of the photo? That's how it starts.

2

u/my1stComputerWasC64 2d ago edited 2d ago

That's where they buried the princess, and out of her heart, a succulent now grows.

2

u/Lost_Mongooses 2d ago

Lovely picture, wish it was taller so I could use it as a wallpaper

2

u/Futt_Buckman 2d ago

Isn't that where they live in nature? In stony crevasses in arid regions?

1

u/kiyomoris 2d ago

Beautiful.

1

u/Ok-Investment-3482 2d ago

nature really said there’s always a way.

1

u/gazzel21 2d ago

Nature finding a way in the tighest cracks as always.

1

u/Turdposter777 2d ago

This in California?

1

u/Imaginary-Session786 2d ago

Beautiful, looks like a work of art

1

u/TheSecretMarriage 2d ago

A sempervivum, i also found one growing in a wall in my garden, i put it into a vase and it's now thrice the size and it's propagating

1

u/sidjameslaugh 2d ago

I see you know your plants

1

u/Kangar ​ 2d ago

It's a Brickulent!

1

u/Mr-Mayo 2d ago

By chance is this in Portland OR? I planted some like that years ago at an old rental.

1

u/Fioravelle_Potfuls 2d ago

That’s nice

1

u/Emily_healthcoach 2d ago

Nature will prevail.

1

u/helmut011 2d ago

Most wall-crack succulents tend to get completely stretched out and leggy from lack of proper nutrients.

1

u/Traditional_Volume70 2d ago

I'm Switzerland I saw so many succulents, like hens and chicks growing out of stone walls. I was in awe at how well they were doing

1

u/ShrimpStuffAdmin 2d ago

I chucked a similar plant out of the window during an argument. It was fine, I went and saved it afterwards, but a little bit snapped off and started growing in the wall. It done alright

1

u/Affectionate_Dot5547 2d ago

Theres a lil punk caterpillar inside that says "Aloe."

1

u/Korrreeena 2d ago

God forbid they grow in organic soil outside at my house

1

u/nekoshoyo 2d ago

i love this :')

1

u/bizoticallyyours83 2d ago

Nature is amazing 

1

u/MaximumSubtlety 2d ago

It do look succulent.

1

u/Foolsandfanatics 2d ago

That's beautiful.

1

u/Ftroiska 2d ago

I dont see any chinese meal in the picture...

1

u/Fluid-Ad-6906 1d ago

I have this plant at home and it grows so fast!

1

u/XDemonicBeastX9 1d ago

Yet I even look at a succulent and it dies... Not fair

-1

u/mbush525 2d ago

I’d collect it (if not on someone’s property) because it’s certainly hardy!

23

u/Maggie-8526 2d ago

I left it there so others could enjoy its beauty too!

3

u/mbush525 2d ago

selfish me 🥹

1

u/ButtercupBri09 2d ago

With that beauty, I’d be tempted to pick it too🥹

0

u/Key-Base9671 2d ago

cum in my succulent asshole cum in my succulent asshole cum in my succulent asshole cum in my succulent asshole

-2

u/Dark_Pulse 2d ago

I see a disappointing lack of a Chinese meal there.

-2

u/LivesInASixWordStory 2d ago

Anyone else feel icky looking at this?