My Succulent and Cacti Journey During and After Pandemic - My kind of Therapy

Hello to all succulent and cacti lovers in this wonderful community!

I'm Malou from Benguet, Philippines, and I'm so happy to be part of this community! I've been a succulent lover since the pandemic started in 2020, and I'm excited to share a little about my succulent journey with you all.

My Succulents and cacti journey!

My journey with succulents began when my aunt introduced me to their fascinating little world. I had no idea back then how much I'd come to love these cute and beautiful plants. Back when COVID-19 hit that was year 2020, succulents and cacti became very popular here in our town. It reached the point where nearly every household had their own succulent and cacti garden, some in greenhouses, others in simple backyard setups using improvised wooden stands. Eventually, succulents and cacti became our family's second farm.

Many here in Benguet became successful succulent and cacti growers during that time. For most of us, caring for succulents and cacti was not just a hobby, but also a way to cope with stress and pass time during lockdowns. The demand for succulents and cacti was high, even the one we called common succulents sold at good prices.

However, when some of the lockdowns lifted, the succulent market slowed down. Prices dropped, no buyers coming to buy our succulents and cacti. Sadly, some of my fellow farmers stopped caring to their plants and returned to vegetable farming instead.

We have many varieties of succulents and cacti here some are common, others are rare (though I’m still learning all their names until now!). The larger succulents or cacti are planted in big soft pots we called it “mother”, while the smaller ones or “babies” are usually in 2X2 or 4X4 sized seedling pots.

For soil, we use a compost soil mix to a regular soil, soil alone doesn’t work well here. It affects the color and growth of the plants.Proper watering is also important, especially in summer, since soil mixed with compost dries out quickly, especially if it’s kept in a greenhouse.

Succulents and cacti became my source of joy and relaxation while I was pregnant with my children. Since I couldn’t go and work on the farm, I stayed home and spent my time planting and caring for succulents and cacti. My husband helped me prepare the soil and fill the pots, the rest, I happily did myself. I remeber when during those times I used to have a large collection of succulents and cacti, but because the market slowed down and prices dropped, and worst of all, no one was coming to buy them, I ended up abandoning and giving out some of my plants, especially the common ones.

Now that I’m busy with my children, especially my baby, I don’t get to spend time in the greenhouse for 7 months. Weeds have started taking over, and some of the plants are struggling. The roof of the greenhouse even collapsed due to heavy rains and old age. But I haven’t given up! I’m planning to clean it up little by little, I will start by removing weeds and saving what I can. Once my baby turns one, I’ll be able to give more time to my succulents and cacti again.

Thank you for taking the time to read my succulent story, I really appreciate it! I’ll be sharing more soon.

Mabuhay!

*All photos are mine, edited using Canva.