Care Instructions For Echeveria – Echeveria Succulent Plant Information

The sheer variety of these plants and other succulents means they lend themselves well to group displays. Potted displays with several varieties or different types of succulents and cacti make attractive additions to the home interior or exterior. Mix and match colors and sizes for unique settings.

Echeveria elegans

White Mexican Rose is a perennial succulent that is native to Northeastern Mexico and grows well in sub-tropical climates such as Southern California. The plant grows in rosette-shaped clumps and has striking flower stalks that bloom from late winter to summer.

Here in North Carolina, Echeveria is grown most often as a houseplant in shallow containers. The plant is also used outside in rock gardens and in containers on sunny, dry spots such as decks or patios. Echeveria plants do well in full sun to partial shade and are relatively disease-free. The most common problem with these plants is overwatering as they prefer dry, well-drained soil. They are easily propagated with cuttings or leaves or division of the offsets or “pups” that are produced by this plant.

VIDEO Created by Elisabeth Meyer for “Houseplants, Succulents, and Cacti”, a plant identification course offered in partnership with Longwood Gardens.

• Attributes: Genus: Echeveria Species: elegans Family: Crassulaceae Life Cycle: Perennial Recommended Propagation Strategy: Division Leaf Cutting Country Or Region Of Origin: NE Mexico

• Whole Plant Traits: Plant Type: Herbaceous Perennial Houseplant Perennial Succulent Habit/Form: Clumping Mounding Rounded Growth Rate: Slow

• Cultural Conditions: Light: Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours) Soil Texture: Loam (Silt) Sand Shallow Rocky Soil Drainage: Good Drainage Occasionally Dry Available Space To Plant: Less than 12 inches USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11a, 11b

• Fruit: Fruit Type: Capsule Fruit Length: < 1 inch Fruit Width: < 1 inch Fruit Description: Inconspicuous capsules

• Flowers: Flower Color: Gold/Yellow Orange Pink Flower Inflorescence: Raceme Flower Value To Gardener: Showy Flower Bloom Time: Spring Winter Flower Shape: Tubular Flower Petals: 4-5 petals/rays Flower Size: < 1 inch Flower Description: Long slender stalks of 5-7 pink tubular flowers with yellow tips in winter and spring. Blooms multiple times in the plant's lifetime.

• Leaves: Leaf Color: Blue Gray/Silver Green Leaf Feel: Fleshy Smooth Waxy Leaf Value To Gardener: Long-lasting Showy Leaf Type: Simple Leaf Arrangement: Rosulate Whorled Leaf Shape: Oblanceolate Leaf Margin: Entire Hairs Present: No Leaf Length: 1-3 inches Leaf Width: < 1 inch Leaf Description: tight rosettes of pale green-blue or silvery-green fleshy leaves. Up to 2.5 inches long and .8 inches wide.

• Stem: Stem Color: Gray/Silver Green Stem Is Aromatic: No Stem Surface: Covered with a powdery bloom (glaucous) Stem Description: Grayish green fleshy stems

• Landscape: Landscape Location: Container Patio Landscape Theme: Drought Tolerant Garden Rock Garden Design Feature: Small groups Resistance To Challenges: Drought Dry Soil Heat

Echeveria elegans

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Care Instructions For Echeveria – Echeveria Succulent Plant Information

Succulent plants are easy to love. Their ease of care, sunny dispositions, and moderate growth habits make them perfect for warm seasons outdoors or well lit interiors. The Echeveria succulent plant is just such a specimen, thriving on brief periods of neglect and low water and nutrients. Echeveria care is practically foolproof and grows well in either containers or toasty garden beds. The many varieties and colors of Echeveria plants provide wonderful tones and texture for mixed beds and pots.

Details on Echeveria Plants

Echeveria spp. stem from thick-leaved rosettes. The leaves are fleshy and have a waxy cuticle on the exterior. Often the leaves are colored and a firm touch can mar the skin and leave marks. The Echeveria succulent plant is slow growing and usually doesn’t exceed 12 inches (31 cm.) in height or spread.

Native from Texas to Central America, the plants prefer desert conditions, but will tolerate periods of moisture as long as they are allowed to dry out before applying more water. Growing Echeveria in an unglazed clay pot, which will allow water to evaporate, is ideal. Otherwise, they need full sun and well drained soil.

There are 150 cultivated varieties of the plants, one of which is probably right for you.

Growing Echeveria

These easy little succulents produce offsets or baby plants nestled against the mother rosette. These are easy to separate and grow. Just pull the little rosette away and replant in a cactus mixture or homemade blend of equal parts sand, topsoil, and compost.

You can also start new plants from leaf cuttings. Simply lay the leaf on the surface of the soil. It will root within a few weeks and soon a small rosette will grow next to the rooted leaf. The leaf will dry up and crumble off of the new plant.

Care Instructions for Echeveria

The most important part of good Echeveria care is watering. The biggest issue with the succulents is overwatering. Provide moderate amounts of water in the hot, dry season. Let the soil dry out completely before you irrigate again. Potted plants should not be left in a wet saucer. Soft rots and root rot issues occur when the plant is too wet.

The only other issue of concern is the mealybug. Their feeding behavior can seriously minimize the plants vigor.

Situate the plants in full sun and mulch around them with gravel or sand to help prevent weeds and conserve moisture.

Protect the plants from freezing temperatures and store potted plants indoors in winter. The plants do not need pruning, but you may pinch off damaged or errant growth as needed.

How to Use Echeveria

The sheer variety of these plants and other succulents means they lend themselves well to group displays. Potted displays with several varieties or different types of succulents and cacti make attractive additions to the home interior or exterior. Mix and match colors and sizes for unique settings.

Put the larger varieties in the center and the trailing or shorter types at the edges. Continue general care instructions for Echeveria, which will also work for most other types of succulents.