Close5 Blog Discover the Creative In You - Succulent Potting with Close5!

Spring is right around the corner and easy care succulents are the perfect choice for those who want to add color and a breath of fresh air either indoors or out. While a basic plant pot will do the job, part of the fun of succulents is how versatile the choice of container can really be. Thanks to the succulents' nature, these plants don't need a lot of soil or ground contact to thrive, and that opens up a world of possibilities.Materials:1 Glue (Wood Glue or Rubber Cement)1 pot of Succulents (Variety recommended)1 Xacto Knife (for carving pages)1 Pair of Scissors (to cut plastic liner)1 Book (Hardcover, with over 350 pages)1 bag of rocks/ pebbles (1-2lbs)1 sheet of fairly thick plastic to line the book with1. Choose the page you'd like to cut out from, preferably leaving at least 350 pages for carving. Be sure to turn to a unique page if possible :)2. Glue the pages for carving together. Tips:* Do NOT use Super Glue! It will take forever and the chemical reaction is not pleasant.* Use the bag of rocks/ stones to hold the pages down while you do it.* Use a brush to spread the glue for more efficiency* Rubber cement dries the fastest, but Wood Glue and Rubber Cement both dry clear.3. Allow the 350+ pages to dry.4. After the pages are dried, even if not ALL of the pages are glued together you can start the next step. As long as most of the pages are glued together, you can add more glue to it later. Leave about 0.5"-1" on the margins before you begin. You can use a pencil to draw out the margins if you want to be precise, or you can cut out only the words on the page of the book is usually a good measurement. Carve pages out from the top and take out the centerTips:* Take about 5-10 pages out at a time for efficiency. Do not attempt to take out the entire chunk at once; it will only break your margins.* You can cut a line about 2-3 inches in the center (imagine a tissue box opening) and use that to pull out your page centers.5. After all of the pages are carved and pulled out, you can apply more glue if needed. Remember to glue the pages to the cover if you carved through all of the pages. DO NOT carve the hardcover6. After the pages and cover are glued and the center of the book is empty you can start lining the book. Find your piece of thick plastic and place it over the empty center and press. If the lining covers the depth of the center and is sticking out, that should be fine. We used the bag that was holding our pebbles for the lining.7. Start pouring a thin layer of rocks/ pebbles in the carved section, just enough to cover the bottom.8. Take out your succulents carefully one by one. Begin by digging around in the soil with your fingers until you can feel the roots. Dig around the roots until the soil is loose and pull out the succulent from the root. DO NOT pull from the top!9. Place the succulent in your desired spot, add soil, and then press the soil around the root to stabilize the succulent.10. Repeat until you have finished placing all of your succulents in the book.11. Now you can accurately determine how much plastic you will be using, and you can trim off the excessive edges. Remember NOT to over cut, leave about 0.25" sticking out so you can use your rocks/ stones to hold it down. If you over-cut, you will need to line it again because the purpose is to prevent water in the pages.12. Carefully add pebbles/stones around the bottom of the succulents.13. Apply glue to the edge of the plastic sticking out (under and on top), and it should stick the plastic to the pages and allow pebbles/ stones to be glued on top.14. That's it! You are all done!It's that easy! While there might be some tough spots, there are some workarounds we shared with you so you don't have to endure the pain. We hope that you found this useful and decide to build your own. You can find a lot of the materials right on Close5 in your area. If you decide to build one, please be sure to send us the final product and we'll add it to our growing user album!Download Close5 now! Local Buying and Selling made easy!