In this article we deepen our knowledge of Echeveria laui, we understand why it has this appearance which is certainly not unique in the world of succulents but undoubtedly peculiar, and we learn how to grow it correctly. (…)

Premise

The Echeveria genus is part of the vast Crassulaceae family, leafy succulents with a variable shape from rosette to small tree. All Echeveria are native to the American continent and in particular to Mexico. Echeveria laui, in particular, is native to the Tomelin Caňon area, in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The name of the genus was coined by the Swiss botanist Augustin Pyrame de Candolle (1778-1841), who in this way wanted to pay homage to the Mexican artist, botanist and naturalist Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy, to whom we owe a great deal of research (together to other botanists and researchers) on Mexican flora and fauna.

The stem of Echeveria is always rosette-shaped, initially flattened but over time tending to rise slightly in height following the development of the central stem from which the leaves branch out. And already in terms of leaves, the laui species differs from the majority of Echeveria: if generally the rosettes of these plants are made up of elongated leaves that end in a point, those of the laui species are blunt, rounded, almost ovoid, and give the together an even more harmonious and “soft” appearance.

Specifically, E. laui is a species (according to some authors it would actually be a hybrid) described for the first time in 1976. The plant immediately received great favor among nurserymen and collectors precisely because of its unique appearance in Crassulaceae family.

The wax coating

The real peculiarity of the laui species, however, is the massive production of wax coating (“farina” or cuticular wax) which entirely covers the leaves. The farina is nothing other than a wax produced by many succulents and some cacti (an example above all, the genus Copiapoa with the cinerea species), which serves to limit the transpiration of the liquids contained in the stems or leaves and to protect the plant from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. The wax is whitish and it is not it that gives the plant its blue color. As in many Echeveria, in fact, it is the leaves that are blue in colour, in the case of the laui more intense: the strong presence of wax accentuates this color and gives the plant a “waxy” appearance or similar to that would be obtained by painting the rosettes with blue paint (a very different thing from the horrible practice of actually painting the succulents with brightly colored paints to increase their sales!).

In some succulent plants – for example Copiapoa – the wax coating can be compact and resist watering. This is not the case with Echeveria laui: it is enough to touch a leaf with a finger to ruin the homogeneity of the colour. For this reason this plant must be watered from below, by immersion, or by wetting only the soil, avoiding watering from above, like rain. Any treatments with products such as Neem oil, copper oxychloride, etc., carried out by nebulization, should also be avoided. Finally, be careful when repotting, for obvious reasons. The task of flaring and repotting a plant by touching it as little as possible is undoubtedly difficult, but with some precautions it is possible to carry out the operation while limiting the aesthetic damage to a minimum. For example, you can grab the plant at the base, especially if you are dealing with specimens of a certain age, since in this way you can only touch the central stem. Or you can delicately hold the plant by the edges of the basal leaves and then grab the block of soil to place it in the new pot without touching the central part of the plant.

Cultivation

The cultivation of Echeveria is simple and within everyone’s reach and the laui species is no exception (except for what concerns watering and repotting, to be carried out with the precautions described above). Echeveria laui is a robust plant and resists prolonged drought as well as cold very well. Like all Echeveria, it fears water stagnation and should therefore be grown in substrates suitable for cacti or in substrates with 40% peat and 60% inert materials such as pumice, lapillus, gravel. Thanks to the strong presence of wax coating, E. laui resists direct sun well (if gradually accustomed from the end of March) but the ideal is to place it in a place where direct sun is limited to half a day. For the rest, lots of indirect light so that the plant can produce wax coating and maintain its compact appearance.

Watering must be moderate: water from mid-March to the end of October only when the soil is perfectly dry and fertilize with a specific product for succulent plants (with low nitrogen content) a couple of times a year.

During the winter, Echeveria should be sheltered from the rain but should not be brought indoors. In fact, these are plants capable of withstanding the cold very well, even up to 2 Celsius degrees above zero, with sporadic peaks at zero degrees. It is essential that the soil is dry from the end of October and that the plant has as much air as possible available. In the cold, the blue rosettes of E. laui can take on beautiful pink shades.

Where to place succulents in winter? Two very useful handbooks.

The growth times of this species are rather slow. The young plants grow relatively quickly in the first two or three years, then they slow down and it takes six to seven years to have rosettes of at least ten centimeters in diameter (the largest specimens can reach 15 centimeters in diameter).

Flowering

The flowering of E. laui is not dissimilar to those of other Echeveria species: the floral stem, up to 30 centimeters long in adult specimens, develops in late spring and between the end of spring and summer. It emerges from the center of the rosette (although in some cases there may be multiple stems, one from the center and others from the sides of the rosette), grows in height and then takes on an arched shape. The actual yellow and orange flowers form from the stem, protected by thick, fleshy bracts.

Propagation

The propagation of this wonderful succulent takes place in spring and can be done through sowing or, more simply, by leaf cutting, as for any other species of Echeveria. It is sufficient to remove a well-formed leaf, let it dry for at least a week in a shaded place so that the “callus” forms on the part detached from the mother plant, and then place the leaf on sand or even peat with a few inerts (pumice, perlite). For the first few weeks you will not have to water but it will be sufficient to mist often. Over the course of a few weeks, roots or new, tiny leaves will begin to emerge from the attachment of the leaf to the rosette. For the first few months we proceed with frequent nebulizations and when the new plant begins to be characterized and equipped with roots we can proceed with the first repotting.

Adversity

Robust plants, Echeveria fear two things more than anything else: water stagnation, which leads to root rot, and cochineal. A common enemy of all succulents, cochineal can be cottony or radical. The first forms white tufts that nestle among the leaves, near the central stem; the second is decidedly more insidious since it hides in the roots and its presence is only noticed when repotting or, unfortunately, when it is too late and the plant shows signs of suffering such as the wilting of the leaves, often followed by induced rot from the weakening of the plant caused by cochineal.

To find out more about succulent parasites, learn to recognize them and intervene when necessary, you can read this article. Other articles on parasites and diseases of succulent plants are collected in this section of the site.

At this link you will find a detailed downloadable PDF sheet (4 pages) dedicated to the Echeveria genus.

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• Plant of the day
• Differences between cacti and succulents
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• Repotting: all the articles

© The texts, videos, photos and graphic elaborations of the site “Il fiore tra le spine” are original material and are covered by copyright. It’s forbidden to reproduce them in any way.

L'articolo Splendid but… untouchable: Echeveria laui, when the sky is reflected in a succulent plant proviene da Il fiore tra le spine.

In the following article we see in detail where it comes from, what are the cultivation needs of this succulent, what are its weaknesses and how it can be successfully reproduced even by those who are beginners in the cultivation of succulent plants. (…)

Description

Crassula ovata belongs to the large Crassulaceae family (also known as the “Borracina family”), made up exclusively of succulent plants. It is the third family in the world in terms of number of species and genera, immediately after that of the Cactaceae and that of the Mesembreyanthemaceae (now Aizoaceae). Just to give a few examples, the Crassulaceae family includes widespread and appreciated genera such as Aeonium, Adromischus, Cotyledon, Echeveria, Graptopetalum, Kalanchoe, Pachyphytum, Sedum and Sempervivum.

Understanding plant classification: a specific article.

With such a wealth of genera, it is not surprising that the Crassulaceae family is widespread in all continents, with the exception of Antarctica, and the plants attributable to it have adapted over the years to conditions of all kinds, from the ones offered by subtropical and tropical areas up to the mountain areas of the Alps (Sempervivum, for example).

Maps with the distribution of succulents in the world.

The Crassula genus includes between 250 and 260 species, almost all with thick, fleshy leaves. We can have Crassulas of all shapes and sizes, from herbaceous annuals to arboreal perennials. The provenance of this genus is predominantly African, in particular the southern area of the African continent. The ovata species is probably the best known and most widespread of the entire Crassula genus: it can be seen in cultivation almost everywhere in houses, on windowsills, terraces and gardens. It seems that it has been habitually cultivated as an ornamental for at least a couple of centuries. Once classified as Crassula portulacea, over the years the Crassula ovata forms real saplings which in habitat can reach two and a half meters in height, with very thick and robust brown central trunks, loaded with the characteristic intense green leaves , edged in red if exposed to full sun, which emerge from the many ramifications.

If we grow this plant in sheltered and not very bright environments we will have dark green leaves, while if we expose the already well-formed plants to direct sun we will have light green leaves with a beautiful red border. But be careful: from what I have been able to ascertain, these are plants that should be kept in direct sun only for part of the day. Too many hours of sun risk inhibiting its growth and excessively lightening the leaves until they become yellowish. On the other hand, the cold also contributes to a chromatic variation, which leads the leaves to take on a reddish color over the entire surface.

Cultivation

The cultivation of Crassula ovata is decidedly simple and also suitable for beginners. The plant, as mentioned, has a high adaptability and tolerates many of our mistakes. It can be kept in the apartment or in closed places, as long as it is near a bright window, as well as outdoors in full light for a few hours (preferably in the morning until noon).

The suitable substrate can go from the common mix based on pumice, lapillus and peat in equal parts, to a soil a little richer in organic matter (even 50% peat and 50% various aggregates). Clay is also suitable, provided that a good part of organic matter is added (at least 30% peat or earthworm humus) and aggregates such as gravel, sand, pumice. In summary, the soil must be richer than the one we use for cacti but still loose and draining, able to dry in a few days.

Watering can be frequent and abundant (even once every two or three days in the warmer months) in the growing season and heavily spaced in the autumn and winter months if we keep our Crassula in cold environments. I keep my specimens in the greenhouse with low night temperatures around zero degrees and from November to March, for example, I limit myself to wetting them in moderation only when I see that the leaves begin to wrinkle. If, on the other hand, we grow Crassula at home, in winter it is good to water a few more times, but always in moderation because the plant slows down the vegetation anyway.

As far as temperatures are concerned, I have seen that if the Crassula spend several nights below zero it is easy for them to start to deteriorate and lose their branches. I guess it’s a defense mechanism that leads the plant to sacrifice the “periphery” to safeguard the “center”. It has happened to me several times, in the past years, that I have had to intervene by cutting cleanly dried branches during the winter, until I have almost completely pruned the plants. Over the course of a growing season, the central part emits new branches and new leaves and returns to full shape, but it is clear that to have large specimens it will take much longer. For some years now I have kept my Crassula in the greenhouse but covered by a couple of layers of non-woven fabric, so that the temperatures do not drop below two or three Celsius degrees on the coldest nights.

The growth of these succulents is relatively fast and, if you water and fertilize regularly during the growing season, within a few years from a simple twig we will have a beautiful shrub which we can also give a tree shape with appropriate pruning (to be done in late spring).

Flowering

Flowering is winter: generally, in my area (Northern Italy) between the months of November and December. The flowers are small, white and with some pink hues, but all in all inconspicuous. They are very simple and decidedly unattractive when compared to those of other succulent plants, and are collected in inflorescences supported by thin stems that emerge from the grafting of the leaves. The flowers of these plants last a few weeks and this is also thanks to the low temperatures that characterize the flowering period.

Reproduction

The reproduction of Crassula is very simple and is done almost exclusively by cuttings. In spring, it is sufficient to cut a well-formed branch with a garden shears and let it dry in a shady place for a couple of weeks and then plant it for a few centimeters in very sandy soil (or rich in pumice). For the first two/three weeks it will be sufficient to nebulize both the leaves and the surface of the soil every day, then the substrate can be moderately wet directly. A month later, if we see new leaves appearing, it will mean that the cutting has rooted and we will be able to slightly increase the frequency of watering. The following year it will be possible to repot the new plant in a larger pot and in a soil richer in organic matter. Leaf cuttings can also be made, substantially with the same procedure described above, but I have never tried it directly since the branch cutting obviously ensures much faster development times for the new plant.

Pests and diseases

Crassula is a robust and rustic plant. This does not mean that it doesn’t have its own weak point: in fact it seems to be particularly appreciated by the cottony cochineal, which nestles among the leaves and on the branches, sucking the sap from the plant. For this reason it is always good to keep our specimens under control and, if we identify the cochineal, intervene immediately. If the attack is still contained, it is sufficient to remove the insects with a toothpick, but if the attack is massive, the plant must be immediately isolated and treated with specific products.

Other varieties

Crassula ovata can come in several forms, including some man-made cultivars. The most common variant is the “monstrous” Crassula, also known as the “hobbit” Crassula. It differs from the typical shape for the leaves, which are not wide and flat but almost cylindrical and resemble green “tubes” with reddish ends. The cultivation of the “hobbit” form does not present particular difficulties and is substantially identical to that of the traditional ovata.

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Correlated articles

Succulent plants
Substrates for cacti and succulents
Watering succulents
Classification of succulents

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L'articolo Crassula ovata, “Jade Tree” or “Money Plant”: here’s how to grow this beautiful succulent proviene da Il fiore tra le spine.