🌵 Succulents: The risk (and reward) of ❤️-ing something

[Quartz Obsession] Succulents February 14, 2018 Real talk --------------------------------------------------------------- Hope you’re having a nice Valentine’s Day! Are you within arm’s reach of a bouquet of flowers? If not, look around and spot the nearest succulent. We have a theory: The most beloved botanical specimen of our time is not the delicate, fussy rose, but the hip, hearty, austere plant that’s probably sitting on your bedside table or office windowsill. In the span of a few years, the succulent has gone from a desert curiosity to interior design ubiquity (including but not limited to [DIY refrigerator magnets]( and [baked treats](. Proliferating in the likes of Whole Foods, IKEA, and (in the faux variety) Pottery Barn, they’ve also [taken over Instagram]( inspired [endless greeting card puns]( and spurred spirited [hate takes]( (“a statusless status symbol, a signifier for people who just want to signify,” writes Jamie Lauren Keiles at the Cut. 🌵🔥 ) The primary allure of succulents—defined by their ability to store water in their thick, fleshy leaves—has always been the almost complete lack of effort necessary to keep them alive. So what better emblem of our treacherous, apathetic era? 🐦 [Tweet this]( 🌐 [View this email on the web]( By the digits [4,800 lb]( (2,177 kg): Approximate weight the largest species of cacti can reach when fully loaded with water. Some species can live 300 years. [5 million:]( Americans aged 18–34 who took up gardening in 2015. [37:]( Percent of millennials growing plants and herbs indoors, compared to 28% of Boomers, according to the 2016 National Gardening Report. [$150:]( Price for 50 ml of “Kahina Giving Beauty” prickly pear seed oil, which promises to “boost elasticity, soften skin texture, and brighten tired-looking under eyes.” [23.3 million:]( Shortfall in blue agave plantings necessary to supply Mexico’s tequila industry. [$299:]( Price of Pottery Barn’s “Faux extra large potted faux Saguaro Cactus,” “made of plastic and cement.” [£199,000:]( Price of a cactus Cartier bracelet. Explainer Succu-what? --------------------------------------------------------------- Every rose has its thorns, but the same is not true of every succulent. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist.) There are lots of varieties of succulent, loosely defined as plants with certain fleshy parts that help them retain water in arid conditions. Many are natives of deserts and other dry areas, but some, [like orchids]( live in places like tree branches, where they don’t have easy access to rainfall. The one pictured above is called a [Hen and Chicks.]( All cacti are succulents, but not vice versa. Overall, there’s quite a bit of gray area. Many sources may classify species differently, and in several instances, [“there is a continuous gradation from plants with thin leaves and normal stems to those with very clearly thickened and fleshy leaves or stems.”]( Charted Google searches for “succulent” worldwide[Screen Shot 2018-02-14 at 10.54.32 AM] 🐦 [Tweet this card]( Keys to success Succulent care 101 --------------------------------------------------------------- “Their roots are not set up to deal with too much water,” [Debra Lee {NAME}]( the author of several succulent design books, [tells the Cut](. “So the No. 1 way to kill a succulent is to love it too much.” Also, forget the cutesy little pot it likely came in. Succulents by design suck up water quickly: They don’t get it often in their natural habitat. “Sitting such a plant in a tea cup, vintage metal pot or any other container without a hole is like taking something that likes water to run away and sitting it in a bog,” [Alys Fowler laments at the Guardian](. For a further overview we turn to Obsession reader Harley, who had these tips to share: - Ignore them as much as possible. More are killed by overwatering than any other cause. - Pay attention to their light and heat needs/tolerance. Agaves crave the sun, aloes can be parched if it’s too hot. [Donkey tails]( goose berries, and elephant food ([portulacaria]( do well in all-day shade. Some signal stress by turning red. Kept mild, this can be interesting and attractive. ([This guide has exhaustive data]( on temperature, light, and water requirements for succulents of many types.) - Many are dormant in summer, doing their growing in the winter. Guard against frost and freezing—the fleshy plant parts contain a lot of water. If that freezes, it expands and breaks cell walls, damaging them irreparably. - If you bring a new unknown plant home, don’t plant it in the ground right away. Either pot it, or leave it in the container you got it in. Put it in tentative locations serially and observe to find a spot it “likes,” then plant it. - If you’re looking for an aggressive ground cover that will work as a fire break or hold a hillside, consider [aptenia](. Little red flowers attracts bees and spread fast. - [Kalanchoes]( can be toxic to an animal or child if eaten. - Avoid getting the milky sap of [euphorbia]( on your skin, or wash it off PDQ if you do. Pop quiz Which is not a succulent? PineappleAloe DaffodilAgave Correct. Incorrect. If your inbox doesn’t support this quiz, find the solution at bottom of email. Take me down this 🌵 hole A funky photosynthesis --------------------------------------------------------------- Succulents make use of a form of photosynthesis known as crassulacean acid metabolism, or CAM, which is regulated by the plant’s circadian clock. Unlike normal photosynthesis, which happens when a plant receives sunlight, CAM plants take up carbon dioxide at night, storing it for use in photosynthesis the next day, as a way to minimize water loss. [New research out of the University of Liverpool]( suggests that a better understanding of this process “could be used to help produce new crops that can thrive in previously inhospitable, hot and dry regions across the world.” existential philosophy Standing for something --------------------------------------------------------------- Cacti “have become the pop-up plant of our desolate age,” [Paula Cocozza writes at the Guardian](. “They suit people of our generation,” Gynelle Leon, owner of the London cactus boutique [Prick]( says: “They want to do less and get more.” (Other suggestions in Cocozza’s piece for the plant’s popularity include “fear of death” and “the Pinterest era.”) The idea that there’s something of a metaphor to the millennial outlook in the prickly plant is widespread. “Since it seems that they know of nothing but their smartphones, plants that take care of themselves may sneak into the blogosphere of their minds,”[former horticulture professor Allan Armitage muses](. There’s even metaphor in the sales pitch: “They’re a lot like guys, the more you leave them alone, the more they want you,” one plant shop employee told a customer within earshot of [Nylon’s Taylor Bryant](. In addition to ‘grammability and the irresistible air of hard-to-getness, though, Bryant makes a case that there are subtler economic factors at play in the millennial embrace of the houseplant: more young adults flocking to cities, seeding a desire for apartment-sized bits of green space; a millennial willingness to spend money on what makes them happy and “healthy,” which houseplants are promised to do; and the oft-cited tendency to put off marriage and kids. “Maybe your plant serves as a gateway to getting a pet, which is then a step closer to having kids,” Bryant writes. “Or, maybe it serves as nothing more than something you can care for, watch grow, love… and show off.” Quotable “I think they are a reaction to how fast everything moves. You have this plant — like a copiapoa – that will not change from the moment you get it till the moment you die… They are a rebellion against modern times, efficiency, production, results. They act as testaments to the opposite.” [— Carlos Morera, Los Angeles cactus dealer]( Poll How close was your nearest succulent? [Click here to vote]( Arm's reach at all timesAt a café down the blockCan't we just leave them in the desert? the fine print In yesterday’s poll about [the Birkin bag]( 42% of you said you’d buy a round-the-world first-class ticket instead. Today’s email was written by [Jessanne Collins]( edited by [Adam Pasick]( and produced by Quincey Tickner and McKinley Noble. Images: [Wikimedia Commons (main image)]( [Aaron Hyatali/Wikimedia Commons (succulent plant)]( [Wikimedia Commons (succulent care 101 image)]( AP Photo/Holly Ramer (potted succulents) sound off ✏️ [What did you think of today’s email?](mailto:obsession%2Bfeedback@qz.com?cc=&subject=Thoughts%20about%20succulents.%20&body=) 💡 [What should we obsess over next?](mailto:obsession%2Bideas@qz.com?cc=&subject=Obsess%20over%20this%20next.&body=) 🙌 [What’s your favorite maxim about success?](mailto:obsession%2Bprompt@qz.com?cc=&subject=%0AHang%20in%20there%2C%20baby!&body=) 📬 [Forward this email to a friend](mailto:replace_with_friends_email@qz.com?cc=obsession%2Bforward@qz.com&subject=How%20succulents%20have%20become%20the%20emblem%20of%20our%20treacherous%2C%20apathetic%20era.&body=Thought%20you%27d%20enjoy.%20%0A%0ARead%20it%20here%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Femail%2Fquartz-obsession%2F1207273%2F%0ASign%20up%20for%20the%20newsletter%20at%20http%3A%2F%2Fqz.com%2Fquartz-obsession) The correct answer to the quiz is Daffodil. 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