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Question 1: What plant is this... a cactus growing in a stem between two leaves...? Never saw that at stores, I think! It got so heavy that it started falling, I'm keeping it up straight with the help of a metal. We would like to know how to best take care of it. Being a cactus, I keep it in direct sunlight for about 4 hours, and the rest in shade. Very little water once a week. enter image description here

Question 2: Does this plant below (succulent, right?) look healthy to you? It was growing well but suddenly it started growing small "leafs" at the top (sorry don't know the right term), and stopped growing overall. It has been like that for a few months. We don't keep it under direct sunlight, only close to the window (shade) I'm putting indoor plant food once a month, but it did nothing. We water once a week (very little). enter image description here enter image description here

Thank you!

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  • Thank you for your question & good illustrations; if could include overall height, soil, size of container, average day temperature, average night temperature, and if some coarse gravel in the bottom & a hole in the bottom for good aereation & drainage, could also be helpful. The two question parts in your question vary enough that they could be answered more compactly if you edit them to form two separately asked questions. We encourage you to take the Tour, and browse through the Help center, especially How to Ask, and How to Answer, to learn more about how the site works! Thank you! Welcome to the site!
    – M H
    Aug 24, 2020 at 17:26

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For question 1, your cactus has grown from a seed. The first two "leaves" are the cotyledons which protect the shoot as it emerges from the ground, and often look completely different from the normal leaves of the plant.

Most cacti do not have true leaves, but the spines are highly modified leaves.

Now the plant is big enough to handle, you should transplant it and bury the base of the "main stem" in the ground.

The length of the stem below the "leaves" suggests it is not getting enough light. The rims of the two pots would be creating a lot of shade when the plant was very small.

For question 2, it is hard to make out what is going on from the pictures, but if the compost only reaches half way up the "goldfish bowl" pot, the bottom of the plant will not be getting enough light to grow properly. The glass bowl presumably doesn't have any drainage holes either. In the long term, the plant will do better in a proper plant pot.

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