How to Grow Sempervivum

Houseleeks, or Hens and Chicks

There are a few rules and requirements, but honestly, you’ll find these beauties very relaxed in their needs.

Here are the rules for successfully growing Sempervivum:

• No waterlogged soil especially during the winter – this is critical, as even a healthy happy plant will succumb very quickly to wet roots, mainly causing rotting of the root system and eventually the crown of the plant.

  Once that’s gone, nothing will revive them.

  Hopefully, they will have formed some chicks, which seem a little less inclined to die from wet conditions.

• Well drained soil – add at least a little pumice, granite chips or lava rock to the planting area – even better are raised beds with sharply draining soil.

  If you’re lucky enough to have a sandy or gravelly soil, Sempervivum will thrive for you. Clay soils, not so much, so be prepared to add some faster draining soil in a raised bed.

  Sempervivum in the rock garden

• Mulch with lava rock or other mineral mulch to drain moisture away from the crown.

That’s it for growing Sempervivum in the ground – very simple and undemanding, despite their appearance.

Sempervivum in succulent crafts or root planters are a different story, as in most cases the soil will be almost non-existent and there is air all around the succulent topiary, succulent mosaic or containers for succulents.

Using a moisture retentive soil in these kinds of situations will be fine.

To safely over winter your crafts and ensure the survival of the plants, even though they’re perfectly cold hardy when planted in the ground you’ll have to heel them in or put the craft in an out of the way bed in some leaves.

Only put those in their winter storage area after the first few frosts, as mice and other vermin can do a lot of damage on the tender succulent growth.

Don’t make the mistake of coddling them or bringing them in to a warm house; they much prefer being left to their own devices and allowed to adapt to the outside conditions.

How to grow more Sempervivum

As easy as they are to grow, once you get some you’re guaranteed to want more. Buying or trading via a succulent swap online is a great way to increase the varieties you have.

Shipping them is really easy – luckily, they don’t mind being sent in the mail bareroot, and once you unpack them and put them in the garden they quickly recover from their journey.

Sempervivum mosaic

Sempervivum reproduce by way of propagules, or chicks held on a flexible stolon or umbilical cord from the adult rosette or hen.

Once the chicks are big enough to handle you can pluck or cut them off and put the end of the stolon into a crevice in rock walls or succulent crafts where the chick will quickly root.

Colonies of Sempervivum will cover a wide area within a few years, forming a textured carpet or mosaic.

Growing Sempervivum using seed propagation is relatively easy – I highly recommend this if you want a lot of different types for crafts, as seed grown plants will display a wide array of different characteristics.

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Sempervivum

Sempervivum Picture Gallery A-D

Sempervivum Picture Gallery E-L

Sempervivum Picture Gallery M-P

Sempervivum Picture Gallery R-Z