Echeveria
The rosette succulent people buy on impulse and then keep on a desk, which is the one place it cannot be happy. Echeverias want more light than almost any houseplant: without it the rosette stretches into a pale tower and the colours that sold it disappear within months.
They are otherwise forgiving — summer-growing, easy from a single leaf, and tolerant of far more cold than they are of wet. A plant kept dry survives temperatures that would shock you; the same plant watered in November rots at the neck.
Care
Needs more sun than most houseplants to keep a compact, colourful rosette shape.
Allow compost to dry out completely between waterings.
Free-draining, gritty cactus/succulent compost.
Remove dead lower leaves; behead and re-root a rosette that has become leggy from insufficient light.
A half-strength cactus feed twice over the summer is enough. Fertiliser on an echeveria buys size at the cost of colour and form — the rosette opens out and the red edges fade.
Twist a whole leaf off cleanly at the stem, let it callus for a few days, then lay it on gritty compost and barely water until a rosette and roots appear at the base. A beheaded leggy plant also reroots, and the stump usually sprouts offsets.
Month by month
Months change with the climate: in southern Italy tomatoes go out two months earlier than in England.
- AprilLight monthly feed through the growing season, dilute cactus feed. how ›
- AprilRepot every 2 years, or pot up offsets. how ›
- NovemberWater very sparingly through winter. how ›
Months based on climate: UK. Your choice stays on this device.
- AprilLight monthly feed through the growing season, dilute cactus feed. how ›
- AprilRepot every 2 years, or pot up offsets. how ›
- NovemberWater very sparingly through winter. how ›
Months based on climate: Northern Italy. Your choice stays on this device.
Common problems
How to spot it. Pale, leggy growth reaching for light.
What to do. Move to a brighter spot, behead and re-root if badly stretched.
How to spot it. From overwatering.
What to do. Water less.
Popular varieties
Questions
Echeveria: is it hardy?
H2: Tender. It survives down to 1 °C.
Can it grow in a pot?
A classic windowsill succulent, needs excellent drainage.
Echeveria: when do you prune it?
Remove dead lower leaves; behead and re-root a rosette that has become leggy from insufficient light.
Echeveria: when does it flower?
In the climate of UK it flowers in May–August.
When do you feed it?
A half-strength cactus feed twice over the summer is enough. Fertiliser on an echeveria buys size at the cost of colour and form — the rosette opens out and the red edges fade. Feeding months, UK: May, July.