How to care for and propagate your Echeveria plant

A practical guide to care for Echeveria succulents – including propagation, taking cuttings and pest control methods.

• Botanical name: Echeveria spp.
• Common names: Mexican Snowball, Mexican Gem, Hens and Chicks
• Family: Crassulaceae
• Type: Evergreen succulent
• Flower colour: Peach, pink or orange (occasionally tones of white through to yellow)
• Height: Max. 30 centimetres (some species only)
• Spread: Max. 30 centimetres (some species only)
• Time to reach ultimate size: 2-5 years

Growing Conditions

• Light: Full sun
• Water: Little
• Temperature: Not frost tolerant. Min. 1ºC
• Soil: Free-draining sandy or loamy
• Aspect: South or west-facing

What is an Echeveria?

Echeveria is a genus of enchanting, thick, fleshy-leaved, rosette shaped plants. The leaves are often blueish-grey in colour with a bloom on the surface that can mark or bruise if pressed too hard. They are low-maintenance, clump forming, come in a variety of colours and hold some resemblance to flowers in shape. This makes them a popular choice to use in terrariums and artwork; to decorate wedding cakes with; and in floral arrangements.

The Echeveria genus encompasses many stunning cultivars and varieties including Echeveria elegans, Echeveria lilacina, Echeveria glauca and Echeveria agavoides. This care guide can be applied to all Echeveria.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Where do I grow my Echeveria?

They need ample amounts of bright light – ideally they require at least five hours of really bright light to thrive. They will fail to flower and will become leggy and etiolated if they do not receive adequate amounts of light.

In the UK, it works well if you can grow your Echeveria in pots that are light enough that you can move them around easily – that way you can bring them into protection in the colder months and outside in the summer. Mine live happily in my unheated conservatory all year round – they get plenty of sunlight and it’s frost-free. During the summer, I add shading to the south-west panes to prevent leaf scorch and occasionally place some of them outside just to give them an extra boost of sunshine.

If you can’t place them outside during the summer, a really sunny windowsill will be ok – south or west-facing is best.

Echeveria like warm, dry environments. The average house temperature and humidity is appropriate for them, but this isn’t a plant for your bathroom or utility room, as its a bit humid in there for them.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

How much water should I give my Echeveria?

Like a lot of succulents, they thrive on neglect (that’s the way they evolved), so do not require very much watering. It’s always best to slightly under-water them rather than over-water them, if you are unsure. If you over-water your Echeveria it will almost certainly lead to root-rot and may result in the death of your plant, if it goes undetected.

When the soil has completely dried out, give your plant a really thorough watering - lots of water infrequently is far better than a little water, frequently. Do not kill your plant with kindness – this is not a time for the “little and often” approach.

The easiest way to check the soil for moisture is always to stick your finger into the soil. If it is dry, give your Echeveria a drink and if it’s still moist, wait a while until it has dried out.

In summer they will require more water, especially in very hot weather, and will require far less water in the cooler months.

Do not mist Echeveria – they like a dry environment.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

What soil do Echeveria like?

As with most succulents, they like a free-draining, porous soil, which stops the soil becoming water-logged and keeps excess water away from the roots.

You can buy specialist compost for cacti and succulents or you can make your own. Generally I use – 1 part sand : 1.5 parts perlite : 1.5 parts soil. The sand aids in drainage, the perlite is porous and wicks away excess moisture and the soil retains an adequate amount of water.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

What feed do they require?

Echeveria originate from Mexico where the soil is low in nutrients, so they have evolved to tolerate this and do not require additional fertiliser. You can feed them a feed made specifically for cacti or succulents during their active growth season, in the summer – but be cautious as if you feed them too much they’re at risk of “fertiliser burn”. You can also use a very diluted general, balanced fertiliser (water it down more than the package recommends).

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

When do I re-pot my plant?

This really is a low-maintenance plant, and they do not require regular repotting. It’s important only to repot your Echeveria once it has become almost root-bound and has outgrown its current pot.

Before repotting, let the plant dry out completely, then pot on to just one size up. It is best to replant your plant in spring, as the growing season is starting.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Do Echeveria need pruning?

As a rule, you do not need to prune your Echeveria, and they take care of themselves. However, if they have become elongated and stretched (usually due to insufficient light levels), you may want to prune it to keep it looking its best and to make it stronger.

Pruning of most succulents is best done in springtime, during its active growth phase.

Do this when your plant develops a leggy stem to help get its more compact appearance back.

• “Behead” the rosette – Using a clean, sharp knife or pair of shears, cut the rosette off the top of the etiolated plant.
• Place this cutting in pre-watered soil to take root, in indirect sunlight. Mist once a week.
• Once rooted, place it in a brighter, lighter location, to prevent it becoming leggy again, and resume normal Echeveria plant care.
• That’s it – this rosette will continue growing as a far sturdier, shorter, Echeveria (given that it continues to receive adequate light).

• Take stem cuttings – Using a clean, sharp knife or pair of shears, cut the stem into 2.5 – 5cm lengths. The cutting must include at least two nodes (the little nobbles that the leaves grow from).
• Place in bright, indirect sunlight to callous over for a few days.
• Plant these, upright in pre-moistened succulent compost, in a suitable container with drainage holes. Grow on for a couple of weeks out of direct sunlight and mist just once a week.
• Once rooted, place it in a brighter, lighter place, and resume a normal Echeveria plant care. It will begin to grow new leaves from the stem cuttings themselves. 

• The original stem – Make use of what’s left of the original cut, rooted stem, by leaving it in its pot. Ideally, it must have at least two nodes left on it.
• Move the container to a bright location, out of direct sunlight, until the cut end calluses over (this will only take a couple of days).
• Once calloused over at the end, place it in a brighter, lighter location, to prevent it becoming leggy again, and resume a normal Echeveria plant care. It should begin to grow new leaves from the stem.
• I’ve gone into detail about my preferred way of propagating Echeverias below, and how to take other kinds of succulent cuttings. There is a bit of a crossover between stem cuttings and pruning, so I have mentioned them under both headings.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

How do I propagate Echeveria succulents?

Without doubt, one of the main reasons I love succulent plants so much is because they are so easy and fun to propagate. For succulent lovers like me, this is such good news as it means we can expand our collection easily and completely for free.

Most Echeveria can effectively be propagated by separating the little “chick” offsets that the mother “hens” produce – by taking leaf cuttings. I find leaf cuttings the best way to propagate this type of succulent as they readily root and sprout a baby plant – you don’t have to wait for the parent plant to produce an offset (you can take the cutting whenever you want to). Using offsets is perhaps the most intuitive method, and the plant does nearly all the hard work for you.

Echeveria can also be propagated by stem cuttings (as described above where I have talked about pruning) and by seed germination. Propagation by stem cutting is generally quite a successful method, but for plants such as these that are low-growing, it’s not the most appropriate method. It's a great method for etiolated plants though. Seed germination is a little more complicated, and a slower process, but quite possible. One thing to note if you are going to attempt to collect your own plant’s seeds it to be sure that the particular Echeveria species you are collecting seeds from, produces viable (non-sterile) seed. Many hybrids have sterile seed – and if they’re sterile, they’re never going to germinate!

• Keep and eye on the main, parent rosette plant. Have a look at it’s base to see if it is forming any chicks. You may need to lightly brush the soil away so you can get a good look at this area.
• Once you have identified the offset to propagate, cut or pinch it off.
• If it is attached tightly to the stem of the hen, use a sharp, clean knife to detach it, carefully.
• Or, if it has grown a bit and has already started to develop its own roots, you may be able to gently pull it away (be careful not to damage the roots and keep them intact with the offset itself).
• Brush away any soil or debris that has collected on the separated chick and leave it in a warm spot for a few days for the cut to callous over. If you do not allow it to dry out before planting, the offset is more likely to rot or become diseased when planted in soil.
• Plant the chick – Fill a pot with an appropriate potting mix and lightly tamp down. Wet the soil before planting anything - not too wet!
• If the chick has a stem or roots, make a shallow hole to plant it into, and lightly backfill with soil to give the plantlet some support – don’t plant it too deep (the rosette itself should be sitting just above the soil’s surface, not buried).
• Or, if the chick is just a rosette without roots or any stem, place it on the surface of the soil (making sure it is the right way up).
• Place the planted offset in bright, indirect sun, whilst the roots develop. Don’t water.
• For the next few weeks, you need to water the plantlet very lightly. Don’t overwater and keep the soil relatively dry to encourage the roots to develop (as they search for water). You can mist the soil lightly once a week and this should be sufficient (try not to wet the chick itself too much).
• Once you notice your cutting is firmly rooted (try gently tugging on it to see if there is resistance) it is ready to repot.
• Now continue with normal plant care for the young plant, as outlined above.

Propagation by leaf cutting - This method of propagating takes longer than the offset propagation, but it’s so much fun to observe. I find it the most compelling method – quite enchanting and almost magical. Because Echeveria have nutrient-filled, plump leaves, they lend themselves to this way of propagating, because the leaf can sustain the development of the new plant.

Your Echeveria may naturally propagate this way on it’s own when a leaf detaches from the main plant – it either falls onto the soil’s surface and roots, or starts to develop roots as it comes away from the parent. Leave them to do their own thing and you’ll get little Echeveria, or help them along by potting on these emerging babies into new containers.

To take leaf cuttings yourself –

• Remove a healthy leaf from a healthy plant – select a mature leaf from towards the base of the rosette (the ones on the top, in the middle are too new and small) –
• Carefully pull the chosen leaf by wiggling it until it comes away. If it doesn’t come away easily, it is probably not a good candidate...try a larger, lower down leaf (I always pick from the lowest “tier” on the rosette).
• You want to keep the whole leaf intact, and don’t want to squash it or snap it. The meristematic cells are responsible for kickstarting root production, and these are found at the base of the leaf (where it joins the stem of the plant). So discard any torn or “leaky” ones.
• Pull off a few more leaves than you need, for contingency!
• As with all succulent cuttings, leave the leaf cuttings in a warm, dry area, with bright, indirect light, until the wound calluses over (this takes a few days).
• “Plant” the leaf cutting –
• Fill a tray or shallow container with an appropriate, free-draining growing medium (see above) and gently firm down.
• Wet the soil.
• Lay the leaf cuttings on the surface of the soil.
• Place in bright, indirect sunlight (so they don’t burn or shrivel before the new plant can start to grow).
• Mist the cuttings lightly over the next few weeks, to keep the soil moist but not really wet – do this every couple of days and you will start to see roots and then rosettes developing!
• As the roots develop, cover them really lightly with a bit of soil and continue misting. The soil over the roots will help to “anchor” the cuttings and encourage them to root into the soil below.
• Once you notice your little leaf cutting has grown roots and has rooted well, water it lightly (after about 2 to 4 weeks). You may need to occasionally recover it with a bit of soil if it’s lifted up, and gently firm it in every now and again.
• You will see there will be a teeny, tiny plant growing at the end of the leaf. Treat your mini plant with care and from now on, you can allow the baby plant to dry out between waterings.
• When you see significant new growth, and the plantlet has rooted, it can be repotted carefully and moved to an area with more direct light, and given normal care, as discussed previously in this post.
• The “mother” leaf will naturally shrivel up and die, so there’s no need to remove it, however, if it remains, and you’d like to, you can gently remove it during repotting. Only do this when it's dry and is no longer a plump, fleshy leaf (when the new, developing plant has exhausted all of its nutrients and resources).

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

What pests and diseases are Echeveria prone to?

Mostly, they are pest-free when grown indoors, but like many houseplants can be at risk of an infestation of mealybug and vine weevil.

Echeveria are not particularly susceptible to disease but are prone to overwatering – causing root-rot. Mulching the plant with gravel or sand can stop them coming into contact with the wet soil, which can cause rotting. mulch right up to the crown of the plant at its base, under the bottom leaves.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

Help! I still have questions about my Echeveria. What can I do?

If you have questions about how to care for your Echeveria, please get in touch and I will be happy to try and help.