BAD plants for newbies

[forests-of-fire]

Okay, since I've become addicted to succulents, I figured I'd ask this question: What is the WORST (i.e. most finicky, easy to kill, etc) succulent for a newbie to get? What would you "anti-rec"?

(Right now, I have a lithrops, a few echies, a couple sedum, a kalenchoe, a sempervivium, and a couple air plants.)

[Saxicola]

Nearly every plant group has some species to avoid, but I think you are asking for major plant groups where enough of the species are finicky that it is easiest to avoid them outright until you get more experience.

If so I'd stay away from most Mesembs, including Lithops. Some mesembs are easy, but at a minimum do your homework on the species first. I'd say this to anyone but especially someone like yourself from a place with hot muggy summers and cold winters. Mesembs generally like arid climates where it gets cool at night year round, but is never truly cold. Again, I'm generalizing about a huge group so exceptions exist.

Stapeliads are another group where the easy ones are outnumbered by the more difficult ones. They are rot prone, with certain ones (like Pseudolithos and Whitesloanea) being ridiculously so.

Slow growing, tap rooted, cacti like Ariocarpus are very easy to rot particularly if watered in winter.

Most winter growers probably aren't great for a beginner in your climate. Lots of mesembs on that list, but also things like Aeonium and Tylecodon.

No list would be complete without "Moon Cactus". They are among the easiest cacti to kill yet the most popular with new growers. Just the people that shouldn't try to grow it. It is a weird mutant that would never survive without human intervention (a good sign of a problem plant). Add to that the fact that the rootstock needs good light to thrive but the plant on top is very sensitive to the sun (i.e. two different light requirements).

Anything expensive whether "easy" or not. Until you have some experience it just isn't worth shelling out for anything rare or any big specimen plant as any plant (succulent or otherwise) can be killed with improper care. Better to make your mistakes on $5 plants than $50 ones.

[spikef35]

i eve have troble with moon cacti they need to be grafted onto a desert cactus

[forests-of-fire]

I think you are asking for major plant groups where enough of the species are finicky that it is easiest to avoid them outright until you get more experience.

Basically, yeah.

If so I'd stay away from most Mesembs, including Lithops.

Yeah, I've heard they can be touchy. I'm not planning on getting any more for a long while, even though I'm tempted because of how neat they are.

All my plants are indoor plants because I live in an apartment complex and don't trust the kids around here not to mess with the plants. So I'm able to control the climate pretty well. And, with my chinchilla, I don't let the temperature get above 72F. (Chins can't sweat, so climate control is critical.) In the winter, it gets pretty nippy at night in here because, for some reason, the furnace doesn't heat every room evenly.

Stapeliads are another group where the easy ones are outnumbered by the more difficult ones.

Good to know. I was pondering getting one because they have amazing flowers, but I'll wait a long while now.

Slow growing, tap rooted, cacti like Ariocarpus are very easy to rot particularly if watered in winter.

Good to know, again.

Lots of mesembs on that list, but also things like Aeonium and Tylecodon.

-nods- I found a dormancy chart and have decide to stick to mostly summer growers. I have a handful of winter growers, but I'm not going to get any more.

No list would be complete without "Moon Cactus".

Oh, I wasn't planning on getting any of those. While the grafted ones are pretty, I'm finding that I'm just not very interested in cacti at the moment. That might change, though, so it's good to know that these particular plants are difficult.

Better to make your mistakes on $5 plants than $50 ones.

Oh, there's no worry about me buying expensive plants. -laughs- I'm on disability, so money is always tight. I got half my plants at a nursery for under $5 and half of them at Lowe's for under $5. My most expensive plants are the ones that were in the teapot originally, but that's because the teapot is an antique, not because the succulents themselves were expensive. -laughs-

Thanks for all the advice!

[Saxicola]

As I said above, I was giving generalities about major groups. Nearly every succulent group has some easy to grow species. So if you'd like to try Stapeliads I'd recommend Orbea variegata. It is the easiest and toughest one, and the flowers are great. They do smell bad, but they aren't obnoxious like Stapelia gigantea. That's important to consider with Stapeliads if you are growing them indoors. If that does well for you then try getting some others.

[forests-of-fire]

Thanks for the info. That looks like an interesting plant and not having a super strong smelling flower would definitely be something my roommates would appreciate.

[Aiko]

If so I'd stay away from most Mesembs, including Lithops. Some mesembs are easy, but at a minimum do your homework on the species first. I'd say this to anyone but especially someone like yourself from a place with hot muggy summers and cold winters. Mesembs generally like arid climates where it gets cool at night year round, but is never truly cold. Again, I'm generalizing about a huge group so exceptions exist.

Regarding mesembs there certainly are hard ones, but also quite easy ones, summer and winter active. Many species of the winter active Conophytums are really not hard and well worth a try even for beginners. Same I would say for winter active Titanopsis (T. calcarea at least) and summer active Trichodiadema and Faucaria. One just needs to understand the difference of care taking between summer and winter active plants.

For the latter, I can recommend the little book The New Growing the Mesembs by Ed Storms to help out on mesemb care taking. One should be able to find a copy for just a few dollars / euros (5 to 10).

[forests-of-fire]

ooooh. I'll look that book up. Thanks for the rec! I definitely want to keep my cute little lithrops as healthy as possible. And, if I can figure out how to do that, I can get some babies' toes, which is on my list of "plants I really want".

[iann]

There are certainly some difficult mesembs, but also some very easy ones. Lithops are hardly difficult, however many badly grown ones you might have seen or killed. I find the winter growers difficult, but maybe if you live in so. California not hard at all. Perhaps paradoxically I find the species with a more obligate dormancy easier. Gibbaeums that stay green in summer are a particular favourite for me to overwater and kill.

[forests-of-fire]

This is my first lithrops and I'm hoping I can keep it alive.

I'm in Ohio, but all my plants are indoor plants. I live in an apartment complex with a lot of kids around, so that's the best way to keep them safe. I'm probably going to try to stick to summer growers, outside of the handful of winter growers I have ATM. If I need more green in the winter, I can get a non-succulent or ten!