Learning to care for the desert beauty Echeveria

A spectacular and at the same time unpretentious plant that does not need special conditions of maintenance is the dream of any grower. All these qualities are embodied in Echeveria: ease of care and unusual appearance allowed this desert beauty to easily win the sympathy of the owners of indoor gardens.

Varieties

Wild flower species grow on plains and mountain slopes, located mainly in the central part of the American continent. They are well adapted to arid climates and prefer stony soils. Succulents with fleshy leaves collected in a rosette are a familiar element of the landscape for the sun-scorched wastelands of Mexico, California, Texas, and some Latin American countries. They belong to the Tolstyankov family, being closely related to the young, stonecrop, Rhodiola, Kalanchoe.

The flower owes its scientific name (Echeveria) to Atanasio Echeverria, a Mexican artist whose works reflect the diversity of his country's flora. People's love for the plant can be traced in the poetic nickname "stone rose" that has been attached to it. Received his succulent for the external resemblance of their rosettes with a luxurious flower.

About 200 plant species are considered to be in the Echeveria genus. All of them are united by the presence of a rosette of dense juicy leaves. Depending on the type of flower, their length can be from 3 to 30 cm, and the width - from 1 to 15 cm. They have a flat or cylindrical shape, sharpening towards the tips. Their surface is most often covered with a waxy coating, but there are types of echeveria in which it is pubescent. The leaves are colored gray-green, their tips are reddish-brown.

In most echeveria, the stem is so short that it is almost invisible. Certain varieties of culture are strongly bushy, and in height they can reach 70 cm. This succulent is distinguished from fellows in the family by its unusual flowering. Its buds are small (1-3 cm long) bells. They can be red, orange, yellow-green. From the inside, their color is much brighter than the outside. The buds are collected in an inflorescence, the length of which can be up to 50 cm. Echeveria is characterized by the formation of an additional rosette at its end, consisting of smaller leaves.

All plant varieties are equally incapable. The following are suitable for breeding at home.

• Agave. Has a bushy shape. Leaves are light green with reddish-yellow edges, collected in a rounded rosette. Due to the coating covering them, they appear dull. They reach 9 cm in length and 6 cm in width. Outwardly they resemble a triangle with a wide base and a rounded top. In spring and summer, agave-shaped echeveria from the middle of the outlet produces a long (up to 40 cm) flowering stem, on which numerous buds are located. They can be yellow or red.
• Graceful. Its ovoid leaves are collected in a small, flat-shaped seated rosette. They are covered with a silvery coating. The leaves are smaller: their length reaches 5 cm, and their width is up to 2 cm. Their top is crowned with a small thorn. A young succulent has erect shoots, over time they stretch out, becoming creeping. Graceful Echeveria will not cause trouble with reproduction. Lying on the ground, its shoots take root easily. The flowering stem is branched. The buds of the plant are often pale pink, but they can also be bright scarlet. From above, they are shaded with a yellow border.
• Lau. The flower rosette is large (about 20 cm in diameter). Leaves are long (up to 6 cm), medium width (3 cm), painted in a gray-green tint.A thick layer of waxy coating makes them almost white. They have the shape of an elongated oval with a pointed top. A distinctive feature of Echeveria Lau is large (up to 2 cm) flowers. Most of them are bright orange, and at the tops they are deep red. The wax coating also covers them. A significant drawback of this succulent is slow growth rates.
• Bristly. It has densely packed (the number of leaves in them reaches 100) rosettes, similar to a ball. It is a bushy plant with an almost invisible stem. The leaves can be colored in different shades of green. They are lanceolate, shaped like a scapula with a pointed end, rather long (10 cm), but not wide (3-4 cm). Their surface is covered with white bristles formed by small spines. The plant blooms in summer, releasing a 30-40-centimeter stem with small yellow-orange buds.

The many varieties of Echeveria allow you to create interesting compositions. A mix of several varieties of a flower, differing in the shape of the rosette, the color and size of the leaves, but collected in one pot or florarium, looks impressive.

Lighting and temperature

Under natural conditions, Echeveria grows under the scorching sun of the deserts. Her indoor types also prefer bright lighting. Flowers need it even during dormancy. The length of daylight hours is also important for the harmonious development of the succulent. When it receives enough sunlight, the plant looks healthy and strong, has dense leaves of saturated color with a reddish border around the edges. Lack of light will lead to stretching of the echeveria. Its leaves will thin out, and the shoots will weaken.

It is recommended to grow a stone rose at home on south-facing windowsills. In the warm season, it is advisable to take the succulent outdoors: to the balcony, veranda or garden. He will not need shading. The newly acquired plant is gradually accustomed to the abundance of sunlight. If you immediately put Echeveria on a light windowsill, its leaves may become covered with burns.

In summer, the most comfortable temperature for a plant is in the range of 22-27 ° C, although it easily tolerates intense heat when the thermometer rises to 40 ° C. The special structure of the leaves allows Echeveria to evaporate little moisture. In the middle of autumn, the succulent hibernates, which will last until the end of winter. For this to happen, the room must be cold (8-10 ° C). But here it is important not to overdo it: at temperatures below 6 ° C, the plant will die. Succulent species that bloom in winter are kept warm.

Advice

It is not worth removing the resting Echeveria from a light windowsill - during the rest period, its requirements for the amount of sunlight remain unchanged.

Humidity and watering

The flower does not tolerate waterlogging, so it is watered sparingly. Echeveria is able to accumulate water in its succulent leaves. In hot weather, the soil in the pot with the plant is moistened 1-2 times a week. For the next procedure, its top layer should dry well. The pallet is immediately freed from the liquid drained into it. Prolonged drought will not kill Echeveria, but it will affect its decorative effect: the lower leaves of the plant will begin to die off.

Water the succulent gently. Water ingress into the outlet threatens the plant with rotting. Species with pubescent leaves are especially susceptible to it. To prevent the problem, some growers moisturize Echeveria at home in a different way. The lower part of the pot (up to ⅔ of its height) is immersed in a container filled with soft settled water, leaving it in it for 20-30 minutes.

In autumn, watering is carried out less often - once every 3-4 weeks. The frequency of humidification in winter depends on the temperature at which the echeveria is contained. The colder it is indoors, the less water the flower needs. At rest, 1-2 waterings may be enough for a succulent.

Nature has endowed Echeveria with the ability to survive in very dry air, so there is no need to increase its humidity at home. The close proximity to heating devices will not harm the flower. Spraying the plant is contraindicated. Water does not linger on its leaves, flowing into the center of the outlet and causing it to rot. Humid air strips the flower of its protective wax coating, making it vulnerable to fungal diseases and sunburn. As a prophylaxis against pests, a variety of succulents with undisturbed leaves can be periodically wiped with a damp cloth.

Top dressing and pruning

Competent care for Echeveria provides for feeding. While the flower is actively developing (from early March to late September), they are held once a month. The nutritional composition is prepared on the basis of a complex fertilizers for cacti and succulents. So that the roots of Echeveria do not suffer from burns, its concentration is made half the recommended by the manufacturer.

Top dressing is combined with watering, starting 2-3 hours after moistening the soil in the pot. Such care must be carried out carefully. An excess of nutrients will not benefit the plant. Its symptoms are the drying up of part of the leaves and the discoloration of their color. In the autumn-winter months, Echeveria is not fed at home.

The succulent does not need formative pruning. But its lower leaves wither and die over time. To keep the flower beautiful, they will have to be removed. Do this when the sheet is completely dry. In the winter months, due to a lack of light, the shoots of Echeveria can stretch out. Pruning them will help to restore decorativeness to the plant.

How to transplant a flower

Echeveria prefers loose soil with a neutral or slightly acidic reaction, in which moisture does not stagnate. In a store substrate, the plant will not be able to fully develop, therefore, after purchase, it is advisable to transplant it.

The soil for the succulent is prepared by mixing the following components in a 3: 1: 1 ratio:

• garden land;
• peat;
• small stones or broken brick.

A little crushed charcoal is added to the substrate. It will serve as both a baking powder and a fertilizer and will protect the roots of Echeveria from decay. A handful of soil is squeezed in the palm of your hand. If after that it crumbles, and does not gather into a lump, the flower will be comfortable in it. Otherwise, a little more baking powder is added to the substrate.

Advice

Due to the property of vermiculite to retain moisture, it cannot be used to lighten the soil for succulent.

You can prepare the soil for echeveria at home from black soil and washed coarse sand. They are taken in equal volumes. Charcoal and fine gravel are also mixed into the substrate. You can do the same with ready-made soil for cacti and succulents.

Echeveria does not need a deep pot, its roots are located almost at the soil surface. The planting container should be wide and have drainage holes. That's right, if its diameter exceeds the leaf rosette by 1-1.5 cm. Young Echeveria are transplanted every spring. For adult plants, the pot is changed when it becomes cramped in the old one. But they need an annual renewal of the upper layer of the substrate.

Echeveria transplant requires caution. You cannot touch the leaves of the flower: the wax coating on them is easily erased, and they themselves are very fragile. The optimal time for the procedure is the beginning of April, when the dormant period has already ended, but the succulent has not yet entered the stage of intensive growth. Some time before transplanting echeveria, they stop watering it. The procedure is started when the soil in the pot is completely dry. The flower is removed from it along with the soil clod. Old soil from the roots is removed by light tapping. The underground part of the plant is carefully examined. Damaged or rotten roots are pruned. Wounds are treated with a fungicide.

Having laid a drainage layer on the bottom of the pot, it is filled ⅔ with fresh substrate. So that the transplant of echeveria does not affect the health of the flower, the soil is pre-disinfected (the easiest way is to ignite or steam it). The plant is placed in a pot and, carefully distributing and directing its roots down, sprinkle them with soil. Care in the form of watering for the transplanted succulent is resumed after a week.

Reproduction

Echeveria can be grown from seeds, but this process takes a long time and requires a lot of labor. At home, vegetative reproduction of succulents is more often practiced. To do this, you can use:

• leafy cuttings;
• apical rosettes;
• root rosettes.

The lower leaves of an adult echeveria are suitable as cuttings. They must be large and healthy. It is better not to cut off too old and lethargic leaves - they take root poorly. The cuttings are slightly dried (from 2-3 hours to 1-2 days). For plant propagation with a leaf, a substrate is prepared from 2 parts of garden soil and 1 part of coarse sand, filling it with a wide and shallow container. The cuttings are placed in the ground at a slight slope, slightly pressing the break point into the soil. After spraying the leaves with a spray bottle, put a plastic bag on the container.

Further care of the cuttings consists in periodically moistening the substrate, ventilating the mini-greenhouse and maintaining a constant temperature at 25 ° C. The rooting process will take 2-3 weeks. Young rosettes near the place of break will form in 1-1.5 months. But you cannot disturb them at this stage. Before transplanting Echeveria into separate pots, you must wait for the mother leaf to dry.

Reproduction of the flower by rosettes gives faster results. They form a full-fledged plant in a year. Separating the rosette from the adult echeveria with a sharp knife and removing the lower leaves (3-4) from it, it is put to dry in a dark place, where it is kept from 3-4 hours to 1-2 days. Then it is placed in garden soil, mixed with brick chips in a 1: 1 ratio. The bottom leaves of the rosette should be flush with the substrate. Finish planting with moderate watering.

Sockets take root at a temperature of 22-24 ° C. The potted substrate should be slightly damp, but the plant should not be poured. After about a month, the rosette will start growing slowly. Echeveria is transplanted into a permanent pot no earlier than 1-2 months later. If the young plant develops slowly, the procedure can be postponed until next year.

Echeveria seeds are sown in late winter and early spring in a substrate of equal volumes of peat and coarse sand. Slightly pressing them into the ground and spraying them from a spray bottle, cover the container with glass or film. Crop maintenance involves regular moistening, airing the greenhouse and removing condensation. At a temperature of 20-25 ° C, seeds germinate in 2-3 weeks. After 2-3 months, the seedlings will need to be picked into individual small containers. Here they are left until the diameter of their rosettes is 3 cm.When this happens, echeveria is transplanted to a permanent place. Flowering from such a plant will have to wait 3-4 years.

Possible difficulties

Echeveria is not attractive to pests. Even if the succulent pot is on the balcony, you should not be afraid of their invasion. The main reason for the appearance of insects on it is improper care, due to which the plant has weakened.

Pests that can infect Echeveria:

• mealybug;
• aphid;
• spider mite.

Harmful insects are destroyed by treating the flower with special preparations with an insecticidal effect. In most cases, one spray will be sufficient. If the insect colony has grown too large, you will have to repeat the procedure.

The key to the health of echeveria is competent watering. By yellowing the leaves, the plant reacts to an excess of soil moisture, and their lethargy indicates a lack of it.Stagnation of water at the roots of a flower is especially dangerous if it is combined with cold. Echeveria will tell about its trouble by reducing its decorative effect: first it will lower the leaves, and then it will begin to shed them.

Having found signs of decay on the plant, urgent action is needed. In advanced cases, it will not be possible to save it, but you can separate it from the flower and root the sockets untouched by the disease. Spots on the leaves of Echeveria appear due to moisture trapped on them and the destruction of the wax coating. But they can also signal the onset of a fungal infection.

The stretching of the succulent, which is usually accompanied by lengthening and thinning of its leaves and a decrease in the density of rosettes, is fought by rearranging the flower pot to a lighter place. But with severe deformation, it will not help to restore its former beauty. Prolonged drought is fraught with growth retardation and shredding of leaves for the succulent. The appearance of these signs with sufficient watering is a reason to remember how long ago the transplant of Echeveria was carried out. Do not sound the alarm if the lower leaves of the flower dry up. This is a natural process for him. When they die off, young rosettes will form in their place.

Echeveria will be a profitable acquisition for those flower growers who appreciate unusual plants, but are not ready to spend a lot of time and effort caring for them. Bright lighting and moderate watering are all that she needs for harmonious development. Echeveria is grown in separate containers or used as an element of spectacular desert-themed compositions. It goes well with other succulents, cacti and lithops, and the space between flowers can be filled with large stones, decorative pebbles, dry twigs, cones, shells, coarse sand - the scope for imagination and experimentation is boundless here.