The leaves glitter like ice chips and the flowers look like raw silk. The more you look at it, the more mysterious it becomes!
Misha: This time let’s try growing an Crystalline iceplant.
Hachibee: Rumor has it that ice plants have ice fragments all over their leaves and stems.
Misha: It might look icy, but they’re actually covered in minerals – salt crystals to put it simply. They have cells that store salt in their leaves and stems, and ice plants can even be grown in seawater.
Hachibee: I’ve never heard of a plant that’s good with salt water! If that’s the case, does that mean the shape of the flower is quite different? Maybe it’ll produce a fountain of salt water?
Misha: Well, it won’t produce a fountain, but the flowers might look a bit like a fountain. Let’s get started!
Crystalline iceplant”almost weekly” cultivation report
9/17 Planting
Misha: Crystalline iceplant seeds are very small, so I often sow them as pellet seeds.
Hachibee: I wonder how long it will take for the seeds to sprout after sowing them?
9/24 Sprouted!
Hachibee: That was fast!
10/1 The leaves start to grow
Hachibee: There are already four leaves!
10/8 More leaves
Hachibee: Wow, the sixth one!
Misha: Two more every week. That’s a pretty good pace.
10/15 ”Ice” appears
Hachibee: Ah! It looks like there are ice particles on the leaves…
Misha: It’s finally starting to collect minerals from the soil.
10/22 The leaves start to grow
Hachibee: It’s starting to grow a lot.
10/29 The leaves start to become shiny
Hachibee: The mineral particles have started to shine, as if they contain glitter!
Misha: The colors are really stylish.
11/5 Growth takes a break
Hachibee: I wonder if he’s lost in thought as he feels the late autumn breeze?
11/12 Growth resumes
Hachibee: Before I knew it, the pods looked tiny. They’ve grown quite a bit.
Misha: It’s time to replant it in a larger planter before winter arrives.
11/19 Repotting
Hachibee: I wonder if it’s adapted well to the new soil?
Misha: The leaves are still firm and it looks fine.
11/26 Growth stops
Hachibee: Oh my? I wonder if it can survive the winter staying this small?
12/3 Growth break
Hachibee: It’s finally December! I’m still small.
12/10 One more break
Hachibee: It’s going at his own pace.
Misha: But the leaves are starting to change color a little.
12/17 Growth resumes
Misha: It’s finally growing again.
Hachibee: What?! It’s going to start growing now? It’s almost mid-winter?
12/24 The leaves begin to grow
Hachibee: It’s really starting to grow! The leaves seem to be getting wider.
1/7 The leaves get bigger
Hachibee: The leaves are getting thicker.
Misha: And the embossed pattern that is unique to ice plants seems to be coming out clearly.
1/14 New leaves start to appear
Hachibee: Right now is supposed to be the coldest time of the year, but I can’t believe new leaves have appeared at this time! In a way, I guess the name lives up to it.
Misha: I don’t think it was named ice plant for that reason, but it really is resistant to the cold.
1/21 Leaf thickness and mineral protuberances increase
Hachibee: It’s starting to look like a crocodile’s back.
1/28 Leaves spread all over the ground
Hachibee: It’s stuck firmly to the ground!
Misha: You’re just weathering the cold wind.
2/4 The leaves stand up a little
Hachibee: It’s still bitterly cold, but maybe you can sense the subtle signs of spring?
Misha: The leaves themselves are continuing to grow.
2/11 The leaves stand up
Hachibee: It looks like he’s raising his arms and taking a deep breath!
Misha: It looks like growth is finally starting to pick up again in earnest.
2/18 The leaves become huge
Hachibee: Wow, the leaves have gotten bigger and are starting to become wiggly and floppy…it’s gradually becoming a strange-looking plant!
Misha: It looks pretty mysterious, but I feel there’s a strange order to the way it grows symmetrically.
2/25 The stem thickens and begins to grow.
Hachibee: I wonder when this stem formed!?
Misha: That’s a really thick stem. Is it a stem or a branch?
3/3 More leaves
Hachibee: Pointy leaves are popping up all over the middle of the plant!
3/10 New leaves grow
Hachibee: The way these leaves are growing…I can’t really understand how they’re growing…
Misha: New leaves are coming out faster and faster.
3/17 Increased leaf density
Hachibee: There’s no other way to describe this than that he’s no ordinary guy!
3/24 More leaves growing
Hachibee: There are more pointed, horn-like leaves coming out. It looks like it’s moving. Is this really a plant?
Misha: It’s definitely plant-based, but it definitely has an animalistic, reptilian vibe to it.
4/7 Further increase in leaf density
Hachibee: It’s increasing, increasing!
4/14 Leaf density MAX
Hachibee: Oh, the leaves have completely covered the ground!
Misha: This is the best time to harvest the leaves for cooking. They are delicious fried or tempura. They are rich in salt, so you don’t even need to add any seasoning.
4/21 Preparation of buds ~ Many small leaves begin to form
Hachibee: The leaves that are starting to form are a little different from before, smaller and more pointy!
Misha: It looks like the preparations for the flowers are finally starting.
4/28 Small leaves grow
Hachibee: I noticed that the number of large, thick leaves has decreased and the number of small leaves has increased.
5/5 The tips of the leaves start to turn red
Hachibee: What on earth is this little red horn-like thing?
5/12 The leaves become smaller
Hachibee: Look at this change, it’s like a completely different plant from last month.
Misha: I guess it’s preparation for the flowers to bloom, but it’s quite unusual for the whole impression to change so dramatically.
5/19 More small leaves grow
Hachibee: They’re crowding together! What on earth is going to happen?!
5/26 Small leaves form clumps
Hachibee: Red horned lumps are starting to appear everywhere!
Misha: And then suddenly all those big, thick leaves were gone.
6/2 Blooming!
Hachibee: What!? What!? A flower all of a sudden? Where were the buds? Where were the buds?
Misha: And the shape of the flower is quite unusual. Its thin petals, like raw silk, open in countless numbers and sway in the wind.
6/9 They start to bloom all at once
Hachibee: Wow! Suddenly, thread-like flowers appeared all at once!
Misha: What looked like small red horn-like leaves were actually buds. Even so, I can barely see anything resembling a flower stalk, so it’s a pretty mysterious visual.
6/16 Still blooming
Hachibee: The flowers keep blooming one after another. Ice plants have quite a lot of flowers.
Misha: It’s also unusual that the buds remain almost unchanged before and after the flowers bloom.
6/23 The flowers finish blooming
Hachibee: It’s over! They all bloom at the same time and finish at the same time.
6/30 Seed clusters begin to form
Hachibee: The area where the flowers were is gradually swelling!
Misha: What looks like a flower stalk is actually a seed cluster. And the seed cluster also has minerals like ice particles on it.
7/7 They begin to wither, leaving behind the seed clusters.
Hachibee: It’s red and round and has little dots. It looks just like a confetti!
Misha: And before you know it, not a single leaf has disappeared. This speed of transformation is like magic.
7/14 Seed clusters ripen and seeds begin to fall off
Hachibee: The seed balls, which look like confetti candy, naturally crumble and the seeds are scattered everywhere, crumbling along with the salt grains…
Misha: Rather than a seed, it looks more like a fish or reptile egg. The ice plant was far removed from plants until the very end.
7/28 The End
Hachibee: In the end, all the red color disappeared and it turned a withered sepia color.
Misha: I got a lot of small black seeds. The leaves and stems are covered with mineral particles, and the leaves-like buds suddenly bloom all at once, with thread-like petal flowers, and seed clusters like confetti… No matter how you look at it, the Crystalline iceplant is a mysterious and interesting plant.
~A word! Tips for growing Crystalline iceplants~
Cultivation difficulty：★★☆☆☆
Grows rapidly even in the middle of winter
Strong cold resistance
Thick, tough leaves like a cactus
Excellent vitality and reproductive power,
including the production of large numbers of seeds
No effort, no care
