Echeveria Info, Photos & Varieties

Here you'll find expert advice to help you grow echeverias perfectly, with a gallery of 150+ beautiful, notable species and cultivars. Learn about the plants' native habitat, optimal care, light and water requirements, flowering, soil, fertilizer, pests, and propagation.

Origin

Echeverias are native to remote, mountainous terrain between 1,000 and 4,000 feet elevation. They range from Mexico to Argentina and grow in rock faces and ledges on near-vertical cliffs. Many of the 150 recognized species have been crossed to make new cultivars, of which there are well over a thousand. Most echeverias that are cabbage-like, ruffled, crinkly or bumpy are hybrids (names shown in single quotes).

Echeveria 'Chroma'

Seasonal Care

Echeverias look good in spring due to fresh new growth, but autumn is when they attain their best color. In summer the leaves can be weak and brittle. In winter, plants go dormant and dry lower leaves hug the stem to protect it from cold. Wait until spring to remove dead leaves and tidy the plant.

Air circulation

Echeverias do best in dry air and dislike high humidity. Good air circulation keeps pests from settling in.

Temperature

Ideal daytime temps are in the 70s F; nighttime, 40-60 F. They can’t handle soil temps above 100 F or below 32 F. “They like to cool off at night,” says expert Dick Wright, adding that similar day and night temps are one reason echeverias don’t do well in Florida and Hawaii (that, and high humidity). In his greenhouses on cold winter nights, Dick uses heat mats to warm the soil. “Warm roots keep plants from freezing,” he says.

Light-deprived (etiolated) echeveria

Care

Protect echeverias from intense summer sun, hail, and excessive rain and humidity. Most handle some frost, but none do well in desert heat. Because echeverias grow in the direction of greatest light, they may become unbalanced, so rotate the pot 180 degrees every so often for even exposure.

Will Echeverias grow indoors?

Unless you have a greenhouse, it's best to grow echeverias outdoors where they'll get balanced sun and good air circulation. In low light, echeverias flatten to expose more leaf surface to available sun. Stems stretch and new growth is pale. Reintroduce such etiolated plants to greater sun gradually, lest they burn.

Light Requirements

To bloom, echeverias need both intensity and duration of light—two separate things, Dick notes. "In summer the light is intense, so plants need only two hours of full, south-facing sun a day.” In his greenhouses during long winter nights, he increases the duration of light with 7-watt bulbs.

Echeveria flowers

Echeveria Flowers

Echeveria blooms make lovely, long-lasting bouquets. The main flowering time is spring, but some species bloom at other times of the year. Nurseries and collectors may remove flower stalks because they make the plants lean toward light and drain their vitality.

>> Should you cut the flowers off echeverias?

Watering Echeverias

As with most succulents, drench soil and then let it dry between waterings. When echeverias are actively growing, keep soil moist. When they’re dormant, keep it on the dry side (in winter, water sparingly every two weeks).

Soil

These cliff-dwellers need superb drainage lest roots and stems rot, and they like rich soil. Repot every year or two (less often when plants are mature).

Dick Wright’s soil formula:
     6 parts pumice or perlite
     2 parts compost 
     2 parts washed concrete (builders') sand

OR simply use equal parts bagged cactus mix and standard potting mix.

Fertilizer

If you use bagged soil, don’t fertilize the first year. Feed when the plants are actively growing, but not in autumn in order to heighten color. “Don’t fertilize when they’re really pretty,” Dick advises, and “don’t use anything that’s more than 5% nitrogen, or the plants will grow awkward. Use 5-2-2 or 10-5-5 half-strength. Quit in November and don’t feed again until February."

Mycoplasma infection

Pests

Echeverias are prone to mealy bugs in leaf axils and aphids on flower buds. Remove dry leaves and cut off bloom stalks, and/or spray with 70% isopropyl alcohol.

Crackling and scabby areas on leaves indicate mycoplasma bacteria. “It’s not worth trying to treat it,” Dick says. "It's best to simply discard the plants."

>> Learn more about pests and problems affecting succulents

Propagating Echeverias

Echeverias attain maturity (maximum diameter) at two to three years of age. Rosettes typically end up atop stems pocked where leaves were attached. These growth nodes are capable of producing roots and new little plants. Even large rosettes can be severed from their stems (beheaded) and rooted as cuttings.

>> Propagating succulents is easier than you may think! See my video series on succulent propagation for simple tips and techniques.

Beheading Older Plants

The longer, thicker, and older an echeveria's trunk, the smaller the rosette at the tip will be. Behead an echeveria when the rosette is still large in proportion to the stem. Once it's thick and woody, it's not as likely as a green stem to produce roots or offsets.

>> See echeveria beheading in action in this video.