Humid apartment with no direct sun

[LilyPond]

The subject matter says it all, I think. I'm in Taiwan, which is crazy damp at the best of times, but the mini-succulent trend for interior decoration is rampant here. I wonder if everyone just buys new ones when they die - frequently the adorable display units they're sold in have no holes for drainage.

There's a massive weekend flower/plant market in Taipei where a surprising amount of people sell (basic and mostly unlabelled) varieties of succulents. A couple months ago I picked up four unlabeled ones in miniature terracotta pots with holes. I've watered them maybe twice since - the humidity and rain (and winter chill ~55 degrees F) have made me hesitant to water them any more than that.

The apartment gets no direct sun at all - there is a balcony that gets indirect sunlight a few hours a day. I've had my little pots out there, and they're definitely stretching to try to get more sun. We pretty much spend half the year cloudy or rainy.

Are there any succulent varieties that do better with a) high humidity, and b) little sun?

There's a vendor at the flower/plant market that has gorgeously translucent, kind of pricey, Japanese varieties of Haworthia, but my budget has no room for a plant I don't know how to keep alive.

[CactusFanDan]

You're probably better off looking for Caudex succulents rather than Echeverias and Haworthias and things. Caudex succulents will grow fine in low light levels, as a lot of them will grow a vine that will grow towards light. Plus any foliage growth isn't permanent and the main permanent growth isn't effected by light levels. Although I'm sure someone else will be able to give you better suggestions, but caudiciforms would be my first thought.

[LilyPond]

Awww, but the caudexes aren't as pretty...LOL Although the pseudolithos look neat - I'm a big fan of anything that looks like a weird rock. (Except lithops. They look like butt cheeks pressed against a window to me...) Something else to add to my wishlist.

Well, I went to the flower market today and asked different vendors how to take care of the plants when it gets so rainy here. I also asked which plants were the hardest to kill because I'm notoriously a black thumb. They all said the same thing - water maybe once every two or three weeks, (one or two months for the two cacti I picked up). So I now have additional plants to add to the random assortment of things I don't recognize, including some haworthia varieties and who knows what else. The others I bought two months ago seem to be doing ok with the misting they get from the weather occasionally.

Would it make sense to bring them indoors when it rains for a few days in a row? Mostly we've had drizzle now and again, but when typhoon season hits it's going to be pouring for days.

[orion]

Have you considered Sansevierias? There are a lot of species that are suited for indoors.

[LilyPond]

Ooooh....I like those! Bonus points for near-indestructibleness! Actually might have picked up a couple on my trip to the market...maybe? They're unID'd (pics in the 'Succulent ID' subforum), but they have that tall, long look to them.