Taco's window seat

[ChileanTaco]

I think it might be the soil and water.
Succulents don't need either to grow. A succulent leaf roots in the air, so it doesn't need as many minerals as garden plants.
Have you tried using mineral supplements? For example, concentrates for hydroponics systems, I think they might work for you as supplements to your water for watering your plants. They should be available at your hardware store.

Soil (I use from the hardware store), missing microbes, lack of insects (that otherwise would also transmit useful microbes).
I will not buy these special supplements as they are very expensive here, if available at all (I would have to order these for a steep price; gardening just isn't a thing here despite for succulents). As much as I would like to grow things, I just have to confess it is more rational and cheaper for me to buy a basil, oregano... plant and use it up within 1 - 2 weeks instead of buying supplies and trying around. It is just very unlikely I could achieve here a "blooming garden of leafy plants". Never seen such here. Also the leafy plants in the garden center (which is supplied from a different region of the country) often look bad, with the same signs I see with plants at home... and I see they throw away a lot. Here are small "mom and pop"-style plant stores, and I guess for a good reason they only carry (beautiful!) succulents.

Succulents don't need either to grow. A succulent leaf roots in the air, so it doesn't need as many minerals as garden plants.

I guess here was a misunderstanding as succulents for sure need water and minerals. But these are better adapted to desert conditions and for sure can cope better with lack of microbes and (in the case of being outdoors where the herbs perform worse than indoors) high UV.

 

[NickAVD]

Soil (I use from the hardware store), missing microbes, lack of insects (that otherwise would also transmit useful microbes).
I will not buy these special supplements as they are very expensive here, if available at all (I would have to order these for a steep price; gardening just isn't a thing here despite for succulents). As much as I would like to grow things, I just have to confess it is more rational and cheaper for me to buy a basil, oregano... plant and use it up within 1 - 2 weeks instead of buying supplies and trying around. It is just very unlikely I could achieve here a "blooming garden of leafy plants". Never seen such here. Also the leafy plants in the garden center (which is supplied from a different region of the country) often look bad, with the same signs I see with plants at home... and I see they throw away a lot. Here are small "mom and pop"-style plant stores, and I guess for a good reason they only carry (beautiful!) succulents.


I guess here was a misunderstanding as succulents for sure need water and minerals. But these are better adapted to desert conditions and for sure can cope better with lack of microbes and (in the case of being outdoors where the herbs perform worse than indoors) high UV.

I assumed that hydroponic supplements would be available to you because I think all the greens in the stores are grown on farms using hydroponics systems.
This is true here because our climate does not allow for year-round harvesting, so many small businesses grow salads and other greens for supermarkets.
You are right, succulents need minerals in the soil, but I always thought that they are not as demanding as regular garden plants, maybe I am wrong, I am not very familiar with gardening.

 

[ChileanTaco]

I assumed that hydroponic supplements would be available to you because I think all the greens in the stores are grown on farms using hydroponics systems.

I can indeed buy here really nice veggies and fruits, very very nice quality. We are vegetarians and buy a huge amount each week
These are not coming from our region ("region" here is similar to what a "state" is in the US). They are shipped from other regions (there are regions in Chile where really nice veggies and fruits are grown, think of all those exported to other countries), or from Bolivia. (We are close to the border.)
In what translates to the "lake region", farming is done and also gardening is very common. This is a green region with plenty of rain, there is natural vegetation, and I saw all the typical garden plants in those gardens there.
But here, this is not done, neither farming nor gardening and I think for a good reason.

Often things here can only be ordered within the same "region", otherwise it is not shipped or expensive. Also, ordering is often through small stores one has to find, and then descriptions are often not very good and what you get... it depends. I think it's really not worth it.

 

[CooperDragon]

That looks like great enrichment! My guys loved window time. Many years ago, Cooper used to watch out the window as a big parking garage was built across the street and seemed to be captivated by the construction equipment. I hope Taco gets the same enjoyment =)

 

[ChileanTaco]

@CooperDragon

Yes, Taco loves looking out of the window a lot, and he is used to doing so from his enclosure. For this reason, I came up with the idea also providing him with this outside of his enclosure too, in a room with a bit a different view.