{"alias":"blogEntry","byline":"Words: As told to Jacqueline Landey | Illustration: Alice Mollon","standfirst":"Entrepreneur, cacti connoisseur and founder of London\u2019s first cactus shop, Gynelle Leon, believes positivity is key to making dreams bloom. Here, she shares her wisdom on what Scouts can learn from taking care of cacti and about the resilience it took to make her dreams come true.","content":{"layouts":[{"type":"singleColumn","areas":[{"items":[{"gridType":"gridImageBlock","gtmId":"gtmId","gtmClass":"gtmClass","image":"/media/6462/plant2.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080,"altText":"","caption":"","link":null},{"gridType":"RichTextBlock","content":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECacti and other succulents are great for young people\u003C/strong\u003E because they\u2019re not as intensive as a lot of houseplants, so if you\u2019re busy at school, and forget to water it for a few weeks, it\u2019s not going to die. Cacti are really resilient and I think that\u2019s a strong symbol to have around you. They\u2019re hardy but at the same time they bloom these absolutely lovely, precious and very delicate flowers \u2013 which goes to show, you can be both: strong but caring and delicate, too.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EThe most common mistake people make when looking after cacti is overwatering them\u003C/strong\u003E. People can kill their plants with kindness. You should make sure the soil completely dries out before you water it again. Another problem is putting the plants in a pot with no drainage so when it\u2019s watered, the water keeps filling up instead of draining away from the plant and that rots the root.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EMy love for horticulture began while wandering through my grandmother\u2019s beautiful gardens in St Lucia as a child\u003C/strong\u003E. My grandparents brought me up to appreciate plants and flowers, so I began painting and drawing them before moving onto photographing them. A few years later, I won the RHS photography prize.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EI had always dreamed of being a florist,\u003C/strong\u003E so while working a 9\u20135 office job as a fraud and compliance analyst, I studied contemporary floral design and worked in a florist\u2019s shop\u0026nbsp;on weekends. Although I was exhausted, it didn\u2019t really feel like work because it was my passion.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EIt was on holiday in Morocco that I fell in love with absolutely massive cacti and succulents\u003C/strong\u003E. When I came home, I wanted to add them to my collection, but I couldn\u2019t really find them anywhere until I stumbled across amazing ones at the Chelsea Flower Show. Usually, we just see the bog-standard ones. I\u2019d never seen any that had flowers\u0026nbsp;and I think that got me hooked.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAfter finding out how many species exist, I couldn\u2019t believe there wasn\u2019t a dedicated shop\u003C/strong\u003E. Then it kind of just sparked an idea in my head: I should open one myself. I\u2019d been working on my green fingers for years but seeing the demand for houseplants and cacti as customers came into the florist asking for them, I knew I was onto something.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EI decided to jump in with both feet\u003C/strong\u003E: I gave up my job and sold my flat to finance the business so I didn\u2019t have the burden of a mortgage while trying to do all of this with no income! Taking my hands-on experience from working in the florist along with the technical knowledge I\u2019d learned at college, I started attending the free business workshops available in London \u2013 from how to start a business to financial planning \u2013 so I could learn how to write a business plan (which is so important!).\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EI went to the library \u2013 the business library, the British Library, my local library\u003C/strong\u003E. I was checking out everything I could on start-up businesses. I asked for help from anyone I could: mentors at the library and anyone who had a business. I would ask them everything and found that most people who owned a business really wanted to help.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EI think positivity is a massive part of success\u003C/strong\u003E. It\u2019s infectious. If I questioned what I was doing I think everybody else around me would, too, so they might not have been as willing to help me. They might not have thought I believed in my idea enough.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EI think if you\u2019re doing something, you have to believe in yourself\u003C/strong\u003E, especially if it\u2019s new or different to you. I know there\u2019s a line between optimism and being delusional, but I think positivity is essential to keep going.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EI knew following my passion would have a positive effect on my life \u003C/strong\u003Eand therefore on the people around me, because I would be a happier person, doing something I really love, bringing this dream to life. A positive outlook helps you to push one step further, learn a bit more and instil excitement in other people.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EPositivity is a state of mind\u003C/strong\u003E. You can be sad, angry, happy, stressed, but still have a positive outlook, and I think that\u2019s life-changing. We\u2019re all human, so shouldn\u2019t try and make ourselves happy all the time; there are going to be hard times. But knowing that things will get better and that everything is a learning experience, pushing you to do better in the future, really helps.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EI think that\u2019s what positivity is: knowing that no matter how hard or stressful things are, it\u2019s not permanent\u003C/strong\u003E. It makes you realise that even when you fail, they\u2019re not real failures \u2013 they\u2019re just learning experiences to help you succeed in the future.\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECaring for your cacti \u003C/strong\u003E\u003C/p\u003E\n\u003Cul\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EGive them as much sunlight as possible so always put them in the brightest place in your room (usually a windowsill).\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EGive your cactus a season. When they\u2019re out in the wild, they obviously know when summer and winter is but when they\u2019re in our homes, we tend to give them the same amount of care all year round.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003ETo help them thrive and flower in the spring, give them a winter and a summer.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EMake the months between March and October the plants\u2019 summer and give them water about every two weeks. In the height of summer, probably once a week.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EWhen it comes to October, the plant is going to go into its dormant mode and that\u2019s when you could cut back on the watering. You might think that between October to March they could go without water but, because of central heating, you have to give it a few drops every few weeks to make sure the roots don\u2019t completely dry out.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003Cli\u003EIn houses with central heating, it\u2019s best to put all your plants in one place and then turn the heating down near to those plants, so you don\u2019t end up drying them out over the winter months.\u003C/li\u003E\n\u003C/ul\u003E","gtmId":"","gtmClass":""}]}],"config":null}]},"searchDescription":null,"pageType":null,"location":null,"versionDate":"04 May 2020","reviewDate":null,"furtherReading":[],"relatedLinks":[],"id":50836,"nodeName":"How to look after succulents","title":"How to look after succulents","type":"blogEntry","image":{"url":"/media/6462/plant2.jpg?width=800\u0026height=450\u0026v=1d9becd0c1de840","caption":"Plant2","type":"jpg","size":239099,"width":1920,"height":1080,"altText":""},"assets":null,"headerOptions":{"headerTitle":"How to look after succulents","headerSubTitle":null,"headerCta":null,"headerCtaText":null,"headerCtaLink":null,"headerBackgroundColour":null,"showSEOImage":false,"headerBackgroundImage":null,"quickLinks":null},"subHeader":"","browserTitle":null,"silktide":"eyJjbXMiOiJVbWJyYWNvIiwiZWRpdG9yVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9wcm9kLWNtcy5zY291dHMub3JnLnVrLy91bWJyYWNvIy9jb250ZW50L2NvbnRlbnQvZWRpdC81MDgzNiJ9","canonicalUrl":"https://www.scouts.org.uk/news/2020/may/how-to-look-after-succulents/"}