The Succulent

Echeveria ‘Black Prince’ - IFAS

I want to ask you a question. How many of you have ever looked at a houseplant, promised yourself you would take care of it, and then accidentally turned it into a pile of crispy brown dust?

It's okay. You can be honest. This is a safe space.

There is hope for us. The universe has given us a gift! The succulent!

Succulents are touted to thrive on neglect. Wow! You think, finally, a living organism customized to my specific level of disorganization and laziness.

But beware of the big lie, that being that succulents are hard to kill. Many of us have purchased a succulent and maybe put it on our desk at work or a windowsill at home.

We may have even named it something cute, like "Spike" or "Prickly Pete" and then entered the emotional rollercoaster of succulent ownership.

Normal plants will give you a heads up that they need water. Not the succulent—and succulents don't die like other plants. They die with drama. It usually happens with the mushy melt. You give the succulent a tiny sip of water. Just one. The next day it looks a little sad. You give it another sip the size of a single teardrop. Then the entire plant turns into a clear, gooey puddle of slime like jelly.

Succulent watering can be a logistical challenge.

Succulents have another quirk, that is light. You put the plant on a windowsill. It decides it wants more sun. Instead of growing big and beautiful, it grows taller and thinner, and weirder. It stretches out until it looks like a green alien finger reaching out to touch your soul.

Sedum ‘Lemon Ball’ - IFAS

In conclusion, succulents are one of the few living things that punish you for caring about them too much. The takeaways are two:

1. If you water a succulent too much, it will leave this world.

2. Turn the plant occasionally so it doesn't weirdly stretch to sunlight.

So, to each Spike or Prickly Pete, we promise not to smother you with care.

References: Succulents – Gardening Solutions

Aluminum Cans

     Photo credit: Unsplash, Mykola Kolya Korsh

You may feel a twinge of eco-guilt every time you throw away an aluminum can.  This article will give you a reason for saving these cans for recycling.

Aluminum recycling is notable for its efficiency. Recycling one can saves about 95 percent of the energy that would be used in producing a new can.  It has never been cheaper, faster or more energy-efficient to recycle aluminum than it is today. Aluminum cans are 100% recyclable, making them the most recyclable (and valuable) of all materials. The aluminum you can toss into your recycling bin today will be completely recycled and back on the store shelf in just 60 days.                                         

Aluminum is considered a sustainable metal, which means it can be recycled again and again with no loss of material. Recycling aluminum saves 90% to 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore. It does not matter if you are making aluminum cans, roof gutters or cookware; it is simply much more energy-efficient to recycle existing aluminum to create the aluminum needed for new products than it is to make aluminum from virgin natural resources.

So how much energy are we talking about here? Recycling one pound of aluminum (33 cans) saves about 7 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity. With the energy it takes to make just one new aluminum can from bauxite ore, you can make 20 new recycled aluminum cans.

Putting the energy question into even more down-to-earth terms, the energy saved by recycling one aluminum can is enough to power a television set for three hours.

The opposite of saving energy is wasting it. Toss an aluminum can into the trash instead of recycling it, and the energy required to replace that discarded resource with new aluminum from bauxite ore is enough to keep a 100-watt incandescent light bulb burning for five hours or to power the average laptop computer for 11 hours, according to the Container Recycling Institute.

Aluminum is the very best material for recycling as it does not take a lot of processes to become raw aluminum again.  The cans are thrown in a furnace where the toxins are burnt (fumes are filtered and hence no toxins are released into the atmosphere), and the molten aluminum is returned to its raw form where it can be made into more cans or containers, or even a boat.

Another question asked was whether a can takes longer to degrade in a landfill or the ocean? In the ocean it will take up to 200 years, yet the plastic from the can will remain in the ocean forever.  Aluminum takes 200 to 500 years to fully degrade in the landfill, but the correct answer to this is that aluminum cans should not end up in landfill, they should be recycled.  So….do your part to keep Aluminum cans out of the landfill. 

Teatime with Camellias

Camellia sinensis flower detail. Photo by Doug McAbee - NC State Extension

While researching Camellias that will do well in Florida landscapes, I stumbled upon Camellia

sinensis (Common name: Tea). Often not recognized as a Camellia, Camellia sinensis is not known for its blooms but rather its leaves. All six major tea types: green, black, oolong, white, yellow, and dark, come from Camellia sinensiss, and will grow in Florida landscapes.

The two most common for tea production are Camellia sinensis var. sinensis (China type) and

Camellia sinensis var. assamica (Assam type). The leaves on the China type are small, dark green, elliptical in shape with serrated veining. The Assam type has larger green leaves with less serrated margins.

The Camellia sinensis prefers fertile, well-drained soil, high in organic matter with a pH between 5.0 and 6.5. Mulching will retain soil moisture, reduce weeds, and improve the soil near the surface. Keep plants in pots in the shade and gradually introduce plants to sunlight until they are big enough to withstand full sun, usually 1 – 1 1⁄2 years. You can plant them in partial shade, but the tea quality will be better and more robust if grown in full sun. It is best to plant them in the ground from November to February so the roots can become established before the heat of the summer. Water plants regularly until established and then rainfall alone should suffice except for in drought conditions.

When growing Camellia sinensis for the purpose of harvesting their leaves to process tea, keep plants pruned to encourage growth outward (bushy) and not upward. Keeping plants no higher than waist level will make plucking much easier. Two to 3 leaves plus buds on the end of the stem are used to make tea. Only the terminal buds are usually used when making White and Yellow teas. The first flush is normally ready to pluck in early April and after plucking will be ready with new growth in just a few weeks. Normally, leaves can be harvested 4 or 5 times during the growing season. Prune plants heavily around December to get ready for the next growing season.

Camellia sinensis growth habit. Photo by Forest and Kim Starr - NC State Extension

How the tea leaves are processed determines the type of tea it becomes. The craft of making tea does not include external ingredients but rather carefully timed processes such as: withering, bruising, rolling, fixing, fermenting, and drying. The art of crafting tea is complex and subtle differences in temperature, moisture content, age of the tea leaves, and timing all have a profound effect on the finished product. Learning the art of making tea takes time, patience, and the willingness to experiment.

The best way to learn a new craft is to research and learn from those who have mastered their craft. I was excited to find such an expert just a short road trip away in Fairhope, Alabama. Donnie Barrett learned his craft by visiting tea farms in China and has been crafting tea for over 44 years. Donnie has cloned thousands of tea plants from three Camellia sinensis plants rescued from a burn pile left at the end of a Lipton Tea experiment that concluded in 1979 in Fairhope, Alabama.

I had the pleasure of meeting with Donnie and enjoyed a wonderful cup of tea, toured his tea plantation, and learned a great deal about the art of making tea.

Unlike other Camellias, the Camellia sinensis is not known for its beautiful blooms but for its leaves. All major tea types come from the leaves and buds of the Camellia sinensis.

Fresh tea grown and crafted by you is sure to be both satisfying and priceless, bringing tea time to a whole new level of enjoyment.

For further information:

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HS308