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Echeveria help!

maggy.millsmaggy.mills Posts: 4
in Plants

Ok so what the heck should I do with this? I bought it a couple of months ago and it was bendy but upright - just! Clearly I don’t know anything about plants so I was hoping someone can advise what’s best for this. 

The plant is growing and feeling ‘full’. I water only once the soil is completely dry. I water by placing the pot in a bowl of water with a little babybio food. I like strange looking plants but this one may need reigning in!

Posts

  • KeenOnGreenKeenOnGreen Posts: 1,831
    I don't know that exact hybrid, but I'd suggest using it to propagate some new plants, and then eventually get rid of the distorted master plant.  To do this, pull off some of the leaves, but make sure to get the whole leaf, especially the bit where it connects to the stem (as that is where it will successfully root from).  

    The standard method is to leave them aside for about 48 hours, to callous over.  You can then plant in them a free draining compost, water well, and leave in a bright place (but no too much direct sun).  Alternatively, you can leave them to callous over as above, and then put them aside in a bright place (without putting them in any growing medium), until you see small roots appearing.  This should happen after a couple of weeks, and you can them plant them in some free draining soil, and water.

    A more successful and easier propagating method, is to take your leaves, and put them into a shallow container of water.  You only want the base of the leaf to be in the water, the rest of the leaf should be above the water level.  After a week or two, you should see some strong roots developing, and when these are a centimetre or so long, you can then plant them.  In my experience, this water method is much more successful.  Good luck.
  • pews70pews70 Posts: 17
    It needed more light.  I 'beheaded' mine for the same reason, it's lovely now.  You tube have videos on it.
  • maggy.millsmaggy.mills Posts: 4
    KeenOnGreen said:
    I don't know that exact hybrid, but I'd suggest using it to propagate some new plants, and then eventually get rid of the distorted master plant.  To do this, pull off some of the leaves, but make sure to get the whole leaf, especially the bit where it connects to the stem (as that is where it will successfully root from).  

    The standard method is to leave them aside for about 48 hours, to callous over.  You can then plant in them a free draining compost, water well, and leave in a bright place (but no too much direct sun).  Alternatively, you can leave them to callous over as above, and then put them aside in a bright place (without putting them in any growing medium), until you see small roots appearing.  This should happen after a couple of weeks, and you can them plant them in some free draining soil, and water.

    A more successful and easier propagating method, is to take your leaves, and put them into a shallow container of water.  You only want the base of the leaf to be in the water, the rest of the leaf should be above the water level.  After a week or two, you should see some strong roots developing, and when these are a centimetre or so long, you can then plant them.  In my experience, this water method is much more successful.  Good luck.
    Thank you! It’s called Red Sky on the label? I will give this a go, I will tray couple of methods. Thanks again. 
  • maggy.millsmaggy.mills Posts: 4
    pews70 said:
    It needed more light.  I 'beheaded' mine for the same reason, it's lovely now.  You tube have videos on it.
    Thank you. This gets full sun from dawn until 3pm. I have a few succulents and they seem to do well over the years but this one is different and I think it’s because it’s overgrown so I will follow the other posters advice and try to rescue it. 
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Babybio might be a bit strong for an echeveria. Too much nitrogen in the NPK ratio. There's a liquid feed called Cactus Focus which is better for succulents or a diluted tomato food might be ok.

    What I've done with my bendy ones in the past is cut the head off at a point where it looks tidy and just laid that on top of a new pot of gritty compost. Then cut the rest of the plant down so there's only a few leaves left and it will throw out new side shoots soon enough. You can make new plants out of what's left of the middle section or just compost it if you don't want to be overrun with the things. Trying to grow from single leaves takes forever but a cutting with several leaves and a bit of stem really speeds things up.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • maggy.millsmaggy.mills Posts: 4
    wild edges said:
    Babybio might be a bit strong for an echeveria. Too much nitrogen in the NPK ratio. There's a liquid feed called Cactus Focus which is better for succulents or a diluted tomato food might be ok.

    What I've done with my bendy ones in the past is cut the head off at a point where it looks tidy and just laid that on top of a new pot of gritty compost. Then cut the rest of the plant down so there's only a few leaves left and it will throw out new side shoots soon enough. You can make new plants out of what's left of the middle section or just compost it if you don't want to be overrun with the things. Trying to grow from single leaves takes forever but a cutting with several leaves and a bit of stem really speeds things up.
    Ooh ok that sounds a better way as there’s so much of the thing! 

    Thanks for the feed info too 
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