Gadenin日本語Get the appThe shape of the year
Most echeverias have two growing seasons rather than one. They push new leaves and roots in spring and again in autumn, and they slow down or stop in the heat of high summer and in cold winter weather. Almost every serious mistake comes from treating the year as a single long growing season with a winter at the end of it.
Once you have the shape in your head the year is simple: do all the disruptive jobs in the two growing windows, and do almost nothing in the two pauses.
| Season | The plant | Watering | Jobs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spring | Growing strongly | Full soak when it dries through | Repot, divide offsets, take leaves, start feeding |
| High summer | Slowed or paused in heat | A little every two or three weeks, in the morning | Shade in a heatwave. No repotting, no feeding |
| Autumn | Growing again, coloring up | Back to full soaks | Repot, propagate, bring pots under cover |
| Winter | Slow or dormant | Very little, or none if cold | Keep dry and bright. Do not cut or repot |
Spring: the main working window
As nights settle above about 50F (10C) and you can see new leaves appearing in the center of the rosette, the plant is growing and can take being disturbed. This is the time for everything on the list: repotting, separating offsets, beheading a stretched plant, taking leaves.
Increase the light gradually rather than putting a plant that wintered indoors straight outside. Leaves formed over a dim winter have no sun protection and scorch within a couple of days of full sun. Move it out on an overcast day, start in bright shade, and add an hour of direct sun every few days over two or three weeks.
Start feeding only once new growth is clearly moving, and keep it to a half-strength balanced feed every few weeks. Overfeeding produces loose green rosettes that will never color up.
High summer: the pause people miss
Above about 86F (30C) most echeverias slow their growth, and above 95F (35C) they effectively stop. The compost still dries fast, so it feels obviously right to keep watering, and that is exactly how good plants are lost in the hottest weeks of the year.
Cut back to a small amount of water every two or three weeks, given in the early morning so the pot is not warm and wet overnight. Keep the plants where air moves freely and shade the pots, not the foliage, in extreme heat.
- Water before dawn or early morning only A pot that is warm and wet at night is the classic summer rot condition. Watering early lets the surface and the leaf axils dry through the day.
- Keep the rain off A summer downpour fills every rosette with water that sits there in the heat. Stand outdoor pots under an overhang or a clear roof for the whole wet part of the season.
- Do not repot or propagate in the heat Cut surfaces in hot damp conditions rot rather than callus, and disturbed roots on a plant that is not growing will not recover. Wait for autumn.
Autumn: the best season of the year
Autumn is when echeverias look their best. Cool nights combined with strong light bring out the pink, red and purple pigments, and growth picks up again after the summer pause. It is also the better of the two windows for propagation, because there is a long mild spell ahead rather than a summer.
Water fully again as soon as the worst heat breaks. Stop feeding by mid-autumn so the plant is not carrying soft new growth into cold weather, and start moving pots under cover before the autumn rains set in.
Winter: keep it bright and dry
Most echeverias tolerate a light frost if they are bone dry, and none of them tolerate cold and wet together. Indoors above 50F (10C) they keep growing slowly and want a light watering every three or four weeks. In a cold greenhouse or an unheated porch they go dormant and want nothing at all.
The problem indoors is light rather than temperature. Winter light through glass is weak and short, and a plant brought into a warm room and kept watered will stretch badly over a few months. Give it your brightest window, keep it on the cool side, and water as little as you can.
Slightly wrinkled leaves through a dry, cold winter are normal and plump up again in spring. Watering because of them, when the plant is cold and not growing, is the single most common way an echeveria is lost.
What to record over a year
Echeveria problems run on an annual cycle, so a handful of dated notes turns next year from guesswork into a plan. None of it needs to be detailed.
Note the date you first saw new growth in spring, the date you moved the plant outside and how quickly you increased the sun, the date growth stopped in the summer heat, and the date you brought it back under cover. Add the date of any rot or pest outbreak. After one full year those dates tell you when your own plants change gear, which is far more use than any general calendar.