Ghost

I try to keep tabs on how each of the succulents are growing, and today I'm taking a look at the Ghost, Graptopetalum paraguayense. It's a lovely little plant but there's not a lot of excitement. No pups, no stalks, just a nice ghostly pastel rosette with good farina.

It arrived Feb. 7 and I snapped this image three days later. I shot it in full sunlight so it is hard to compare, but there isn't much pastel. I also wasn't into focus stacking yet. Nowadays I usually shoot these images inside with room lighting and one small supplemental light, with exposure times usually 1-4 seconds. On a tripod of course.

Two months later, it looks a bit taller and the subtle pastels have developed after getting a south window and grow lights every day. The farina looks mostly clean except on the older lower leaves, and overall the plant is in very good condition. I got the plant from Mountain Crest Gardens, and the site description says, "It blushes pink, purple, and yellow in full sun and shows more blues, greens, and silvers in partial shade. Direct sun also causes its powdery coating of farina to thicken, adding to the soft, frosty appearance." It's nice now but muted compared to the pictures on the web, so maybe some of that will come later in the year.

I gave it the full focus-stacking treatment. This is 21 images stacked in Zerene, cropped tightly. I have three weeks left on my Zerene trial and I'm sure I will buy the license because you can't do this with just Photoshop.

I snapped four leaves off of it and am trying to propagate them in the pot so I don't forget what they are. The downside of doing it this way is they get in the way during watering. (I took them out for the photo.) They haven't done anything yet, but it has been less than a week and they look like ideal leaves for this purpose.