School Project

by Ken
(Toronto)

Here's some snapshots from our terrarium. After a little browsing around your site, I'm reasonably confident that these are echeveria maybe a pachyveria. I also found the pruning page and believe that in order to get some nice large rosettes, they will need to be pinched, low.

Thanks, again, in advance!!

Drought Smart Plants reply:

Hi again, Ken - glad you could find out what they are. Pruning (or pinching, it's called if done really early) will certainly help to keep the plants compact. Keep in mind that you will probably cause it to break into several rosettes, not just one, but they will definitely be lower to the ground.

Don't discard the parts you cut off, as they will again form a new plant.

Picture #2 looks like some kind of Sedeveria (a cross between Echeveria and a tender Sedum). The rest of them I think you've got the right identification, but it's hard to tell since they're so small. As they gain in stature, they'll be easier to compare to mature plants and identify them.

Have fun with your project!
Jacki

Comments for
School Project

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Oct 26, 2011

RE: School Project
by: Ken

Thanks Jacki!

You're too good! We're really grateful.

Ok, so one more question...Pinching these new plants will create more branching but how might we keep them close to the ground, in rosettes, like the parent plants? The 'baby' plants just seem to want to grow vertically (jade like)?

Perplexed,

Ken and the class.

Oct 26, 2011

Nature, not Nurture
by: Jacki

Hi Ken, I guess I should have enlarged on this part of your question originally.

No matter what you do, if the plant is not of a naturally rosette forming type, then it will of course revert back to its usual growth habit - what you have in some of your plants are some type of Sedum or Sedeveria, which have the genetic pre-disposition of upright growth, not rosette forming. Once the cuttings start growing, the tendency is to reach for the light, and form a stem with leaves at certain spacing, called 'internodes' - this genetic trait is unchangeable.

To have the rosette type of growth you'll have to locate some rosette forming plants. This is not something you can train the plant to do, except for a very short period of time when you first take the cuttings.

Look for some of these types of plants if you require more rosette type plants (these too, can eventually start growing more upright, and end up like a palm tree with a clump of growth at the top but at least they will start out lower)

Echeveria 'Black Prince'
Echeveria 'Black Knight'
Echeveria 'Curlylocks'
Echeveria elegans
Echeveria glauca

These are all tender so can't withstand any frost or cold temperatures. See more Echeveria hybrids and Echeveria species here.

For hardy types, there are many that will survive extremely cold temperatures such as Sempervivum and Jovibarba, both of which are rosette forming types. These won't however, be happy indoors, but if you have an outside garden that needs some plants, these would work well, as they're low maintenance, and hardy.

Oct 27, 2011

Not Enough Light?
by: Jacki

Hi Ken and Class,
Keep in mind that these plants originate in a desert, and as desert plants they've evolved in a very bright environment. This certainly plays a part in their growth habit, and if they don't get enough light, they'll try and find it by stretching.

The parent plants that you took the cuttings off could have been in a a very bright place, and now the offspring are in a place with less light. This calls for more experimentation!

Grow lights are really inexpensive, and a small timer to get the right 'photoperiod' for the plants (hint: around the equator where a lot of these plants originate, it's always 12 hours of daylight, and 12 hours of darkness).

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