Hi All, I am new to caring for these fabulous plants. All I have is a couple of echeveria maria's that i am worried about. I am scared to overwater them and rot the roots but I can't help thinking the leaves should be a bit more plump
I place them on the window cill where it is dry, reasonably warm and tere is sunlight. At night i move them to a table in the middle of the room overnight.
What do you think of their condition?
Is how open or closed the leaves are a good indicator of condition?
Do succulents or at least this type of succulent, sort of hibernate in colder months?
They look OK, probably a little stretched and open.
These are quite cold hardy, they should be fine in an unheated greenhouse if kept dry over winter. They certainly don't need to be moved into the centre of a room overnight.
UK winters have very little daylight, so it is best for many succulents to keep them cool and dry over winter. If it's too warm, it encourages growth, but this will be weak, leading to the stretched, open look you are getting. Healthier compact growth occurs when daylight (especially sunlight) is stronger and extends for more hours.
esp wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 3:31 pm
They look OK, probably a little stretched and open.
These are quite cold hardy, they should be fine in an unheated greenhouse if kept dry over winter. They certainly don't need to be moved into the centre of a room overnight.
UK winters have very little daylight, so it is best for many succulents to keep them cool and dry over winter. If it's too warm, it encourages growth, but this will be weak, leading to the stretched, open look you are getting. Healthier compact growth occurs when daylight (especially sunlight) is stronger and extends for more hours.
Thanks very much. Should they be watered over Winter?
If there is no ideal spot for daylight would some electrical lighting of a particular colour temperature help?
esp wrote: ↑Wed Nov 15, 2023 3:31 pm
They look OK, probably a little stretched and open.
These are quite cold hardy, they should be fine in an unheated greenhouse if kept dry over winter. They certainly don't need to be moved into the centre of a room overnight.
UK winters have very little daylight, so it is best for many succulents to keep them cool and dry over winter. If it's too warm, it encourages growth, but this will be weak, leading to the stretched, open look you are getting. Healthier compact growth occurs when daylight (especially sunlight) is stronger and extends for more hours.
Thanks very much. Should they be watered over Winter?
If there is no ideal spot for daylight would some electrical lighting of a particular colour temperature help?
Here are 2 comments that I hope may be of some use to you:
I only water members of the stone crop clade (during their mostly dormant period) if the following symptoms are observed ; either through noting abnormal shrinkage of their leaves, or from any notable discoloration from what's typical for the specimens under your cultivation.
I leave my handful of Echeverias dry over the winter. They are variously cold or frozen. The only losses in an unheated greenhouse have been from botryitis on E. setosa rather than the cold, which I suspect was too damp going into out usual dull humid autumn. There may be some species that are less hardy, and possibly some of the thinner-leaved species would want water, especially if indoors.
I'd echo the previous comments. I have several forms of Echeveria agavoides, and they are all hardy to at least a few degrees of frost, if dry. E, agavoides is quite fast growing, I'd give this a larger pot (I'd wait for spring, though I know some are happy to repot in winter) and definitely more light - as much sun as you can in spring when it starts into growth. You'll get much better foliage colour as well as avoiding etiolation.
