Echeveria

Fat family. Echeveria is native to semi-desert areas of Central America, Mexico and northwestern South America. There are evergreen species in the genus and deciduous, in total more than 100 source species (some are officially registered, some do not have a certain status, can be assigned to other genera). There are many hybrids and cultivars.

Almost all echeveria look the same: the leaves are fleshy juicy, spineless, sessile, alternate, collected in a dense rosette on a thick stem. Some species are squat - short-stemmed, grow ground-cover curtains (for example, Echeveria bella, Echeveria glauca, Echeveria globulosa), others - with an elongated stem, first erect, then lying (Echeveria prolifica, Echeveria nodulosa). Peduncles are long straight, leafy - at first an arrow with rare leaves is formed, at the end an umbrella inflorescence. The flowers are usually brightly colored (yellow, orange, salmon, red), fleshy, bell-shaped with five petals, about 1 cm long. The color and shape of the leaves show a rich variety of species: colors vary from bright green to blue-green, from purple to pink, the base of the leaf can be bluish, and the edges are pink, but in general, the intensity of coloring is influenced by lighting; the shape of the leaves is oblong, pointed at the end, to broad-lobed with a straight or wavy edge. The dimensions of the outlet in some species are from 1-2 cm to 60 cm in diameter.

With age, the lower leaves of most echeveria age, in winter they can dry out very actively.

Among echeveria there are many polycarpic species, i.e. flowering many times in their life, in contrast to some thick monocarpic, for example, Aeonium eoniums, which bloom and die. Sometimes Echeveria is confused with outwardly similar representatives of a different genus - Sempervivum (Molodilo, Zhivuchka) Sempervivum, which differ significantly from Echeveria in physiology and requirements.

Care for Echeveria

Temperature

Most species of Echeveria grow in the highlands of Mexico, where there is low humidity and not too high temperature during the day, on average not higher than + 30 ° C, but quite sharp daily temperature fluctuations. Therefore, the optimal conditions for growth are 22-26 ° C during the day and 16-20 ° C at night (the daily difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures of 10 ° C is ideal). At temperatures above 32 ° C, move the pots to a cooler place or provide shading. Echeveria is very demanding on fresh air, closed unventilated rooms are not for them, if possible, ventilate or place pots in the fresh air as often as possible (balcony, canopy, veranda).

In winter, the temperature should be reduced - ideal conditions for the winter period are + 15-16 ° С during the day, about + 8 ° С at night, with a significant limitation of watering. Many species echeveria grow in nature in colder conditions, when the temperature drops to + 4-6 ° C at night, but Dutch (Polish, etc.) plants grown in greenhouses, especially varietal and hybrid ones, are more capricious and do not tolerate such harsh conditions, for them it is enough to set a minimum of + 12 ° C. However, constant year-round cultivation in warm indoor conditions, especially with autumn-winter lack of light, seriously depletes succulents. If it is impossible to ensure cool wintering, illumination is required.

Lighting

Echeveria needs very good bright diffused light during the day, direct sun in the morning or in the evening. In central Russia, shading from 12 to 16 hours from March to August (February for the weather). The north-facing windows are too dark. Between September and the end of January, shading is not required, and if the room is warm, then ideally you should put pots on the southern windowsill, or organize lighting with lamps (daylight, fluorescent) so that the total daylight hours are 12-14 hours.

In
• lighting, try to avoid three things: upkeep on north windows, a dramatic change in sunlight and a scorching afternoon sun in spring and summer.

Watering

In the warm season (spring-summer or warm wintering), watering is regular and plentiful, in the cold period (in winter and summer during cold snaps), watering is moderate. What does it mean:

• abundant watering - watering frequency immediately after complete drying of the soil, on the same day or the next day (depending on the temperature)
• moderate watering - watering frequency - after complete drying of the soil watering in a few days, depending on the temperature, for example, at 18 ° С - after drying wait 3-4 days, if 14 ° С - about 7-10 days, if + 8 ° С - watering once a month or less. Why the temperature range: depends on how stable they are, because there are daily fluctuations and fluctuations during the month, which means that the grower needs to navigate and make a decision himself. Remember that when the temperature drops, it is better to underfill than pour.

General irrigation rules:

1. Do not pour water on the leaves and base of the outlet.
2. Use only soft water (filtered, boiled), it is not allowed to use water softening agents, except for special means for preparing aquarium water (topical fish).
3. After watering, the soil should be completely wetted, after strong overdrying, if the water does not seep immediately or quickly flows down the walls of the pot, you need to spill several times in a row, then drain the water from the pallet, this ensures that all the soil and root mass get wet. With uneven wetting, part of the roots remains dry and dies.
4. Before the next watering, the soil in the pot should completely dry out.
5. Do not keep the soil moist for too long, if the pot does not dry out longer than 1-2 days, then you have the wrong soil!
In
6. general, echeveria do not like either constant dampness or dryness of the soil.

Air humidity: echeveria perfectly tolerates dry air, does not need spraying.

Fertilizing

Feeding can be carried out only 2 months after transplantation, during the vegetative growth season (when leaf extensions occur). Fertilizers are suitable for cacti and succulents, for orchids or bromeliads - breed according to the instructions. It is permissible to use chlorine-free and non-alkaline fertilizer for flowering indoor plants, but dilute at a dose half the recommended by the manufacturer. Feed with water for irrigation once 2-3 weeks.

Flight connections

Echeveria must be transplanted as the outlet and root system grow, i.e., as necessary. On average, annually or every two years. In an individual pot, its diameter should be such that it does not exceed the size of the outlet by more than 1 cm.

The soil for Echeveria, like all succulents, is not rich in organic matter and highly porous. Such that after watering it is instantly and evenly wetted. This helps prevent moisture retention and root decay. The right substrate for cacti and succulents: when you strongly squeeze a handful of moist soil into a fist, and then unclench - it crumbles apart, does not hold a lump. Do not forget that echeveria grow mainly in rocky areas, not on sand in the desert, but on rocky areas, cliffs and steep slopes, where excess water quickly flows into crevices.

And you can get such soil qualities only by composing your own mixture of ordinary soil and drainage particles in equal parts. You can take sheet earth (from under birch, beech, linden) or (universal soil, for example, Terra Vita living earth) and add fine gravel to it. River sand is not suitable for us - it is too small, it will clog air pockets in the soil and cement it. We need pebbles, pebbles, even better white quartz sand - all particle sizes from 4 to 6 mm. Vermiculite and perlite are not suitable, but cat filler zeolite pellets (Barsik type, which do not clump or dissolve) can be used. The granules need to be thoroughly washed and only large ones selected.

You cannot take the soil and make the upper drainage from pebbles - the drainage should be part of the soil, and not just at the bottom or on the surface! Moreover, if your roots are in ordinary soil (garden land, leaf, peat, sod - it does not matter), and on the surface, under the leaves, a thick layer of stones, it is even sadder and more dangerous than just sinking into the garden land. That's why: after irrigation, water lingers in the soil layer, stones poured in a thick layer on the surface do not allow it to evaporate, and the roots cannot suck out moisture all at once - not such a large evaporating surface for succulents, in comparison with ordinary plants. With such a landing, rooting is inevitable. Upper drainage is needed in the form of rare stones, when the outlet literally lies on the surface of the soil - 2-3 pebbles larger on different sides under the outlet. The rest of the drainage is particles of 3-5 mm uniformly mixed with the ground. The lower drainage can be made from shards of clay pot or shells of broken coconut (hump up).

• Read also on the forum Echeveria care and cultivation

Reproduction

Echeveria reproduce with leaves, cuttings, basal rosettes, shoot tops (in long-stalked species) and seeds.

Seeds can be sown at any time, if artificial lighting is made, if only natural lighting is planned, then you need to sow in late February - early March. Seeds are small, they do not need to be sprinkled with earth, spread over the surface. The soil is a mixture of universal peat soil and coarse sand in equal parts. Seeds germinate at a temperature of 20-24 ° C, with moderate soil moisture (drying is not allowed) and regular ventilation. Seedlings appear in the second or third week. Immediately you need to increase the lighting (you can put seedlings under the lamps). When they grow up, plant in pots with a diameter of up to 5 cm, in a mixture of sheet earth and coarse sand (2-4 mm) in a ratio of 2:1. When the rosette of leaves reaches 3 cm, you need to transplant again, also in a mixture of leaf earth (or universal peat soil) and small gravel in a ratio of 1:1 (as for adult plants).

To breed with cuttings, they need to be slightly dried (put in the shade for 2-3 hours). Prepare pots by socket diameter and soil of soil and gravel (1:1). Stick the cuttings into the hole and slightly moisten (remove 3-4 lower leaves from the cuttings). It is important to water as soon as the soil in the pot dries. You can transplant for the next year or in 2-3 months if the outlet grows very vigorously.

When propagating with sheet, the technique is different: we compose the soil from sheet earth (universal soil) and coarse sand (fraction 2-4 mm) in a ratio of 2:1. Then we pour a layer of sand about 2-3 mm, put leaves on it (the breaks should dry out) obliquely so that the base is slightly pressed into the sand, at a distance of about 1 cm from each other, you do not need to tightly stuff the leaves into the plate - they will shade the growing young rosettes. Moisturizing from the spray gun. Whether or not to cover with glass depends on the temperature, it is important that the sand remains moderately wet, does not dry out too quickly. After a couple of weeks, a small bunch of leaflets forms at the base. Make sure there is enough light, otherwise the young growth will stretch out.

Growing problems

If winter was too warm and low-lit for echeveria, the sockets stretch out, the leaves sit loose, loose, too pale at the base. They will not change species if conditions improve, so it is easier to renew the plant from the leaf (to re-root individual leaves).

On especially hot days in summer, in small pots, the earth can dry out literally in hours. If you inadvertently forget to open a window on a sunny balcony, plants will burn or suffocate. Unsealing heavily dried specimens will not help to protect plants from drying out during the hot season, do not leave them in sunny places or shade the pots with white paper; transplant in time (if the ends of the leaves protrude beyond the edge of the pot); water in the morning, if the heat does not subside in the evening, and the soil is dry, water again.

In general, echeveria can be described as follows: these are drought-resistant plants when there is no intense heat. In the apartment, the ideal place for them is the windowsill of the southeast window or the very bright east one.

Diseases and pests

Mealy worms, fungal infections (powdery mildew) and root rot (from constant dampness) pose a serious danger.

To protect the plants from the worm, sterilize the soil before planting. Regularly inspect plants displayed on an open balcony or in the garden, special attention is paid to the basal zone, the base of the outlet. Actara treatment (spraying and watering).

Powdery dew becomes noticeable in the form of whitish, as if dusted with flour on the leaves. It can get with the wind if infected trees and shrubs grow under the windows, in this case you need to treat the leaves with fungicides (for example, Topaz).

The settlement of watering according to climatic conditions and properly selected soil (drying for no longer than 2 days) will help to avoid root and stem rot, and as a preventive measure, it will not interfere with watering the soil with a solution of biofungicides (phytosporin, trichophyte, etc.) in the off-season.