Identification: Fuzzy Succulent ID?

Discussion in 'Cacti and Succulents' started by mollykemp, Jan 23, 2010.

  1. mollykemp

    mollykemp Member

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    Hello to all,

    This is my first post and I hope you guys can help out a newbie to this forum and plants in general.

    I was browsing the local plant center in August '09 when I came across this sad looking succulent on clearance for $0.75. I typically kill everything I touch when it comes to plants so I thought I would give this one a chance since it looked like it was going to die. I hit pay dirt. This thing is thriving! Succulents are my thing since I forget to water!

    So, what exactly is this thing? It was only this size of a half dollar. Now it has what seems to be two babies and a long arm thing sprouting. I am guessing I need to repot the babies and so on and so forth, but I don't want to kill this thing I saved. Any help would be great!

    Oh I know I need to turn it! I didn't think about it until just now which is I guess is why it is leaning in one direction.

    If you need bigger pictures I can get you those.
     

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  2. Rosemarie

    Rosemarie Active Member

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    Your plant is an Echeveria...and growing quite nicely! No need to repot the babies, unless you feel the need to do so. It can form a nice little shrub. :) The long arm is an inflorescence, which will be giving you blooms (as long as a month away). Do you see any buds forming at the end yet?

    As for species, it could be Echeveria pulvinata (or hybrid of). If the leaves were thinner I'd guess possibly Echeveria harmsii (the size of the flowers would help ID this, as they are the largest of Echeveria).

    Please post again when it blooms.

    Don't over water it & give it as much sun as possible. Looks like you're doing all the right things with it already!
     
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2010
  3. mollykemp

    mollykemp Member

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    It did bloom about a couple of months ago. It was a little yellow flower. The little baby in the first picture, how hard/detrimental to the plant would it be to get it out. My sister-in-law loves plants and I was thinking about gifting it to her for her up coming birthday.
     
  4. Rosemarie

    Rosemarie Active Member

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    Did you get a pic of the flower, by chance? Was the bloom an orangish-yellow? Were the blooms at the end of that long arm or has this grown since the blooming? You can also take the leaves off the bloom stalk (before it dies back) & start new plants with those. That could become a nice little project all by itself! :)

    The baby can be remove from the mother plant by cutting. Not detrimental to the plant at all. It looks like its stem is under the soil. It would be good if it has some roots of its own, but still okay if not. If attached to the mother plant's stem, make a clean cut...let the cut callous over (sit out)..before potting in soil. Don't water it too much in the first weeks (misting would probably work better).

    Others on this forum (like Joclyn) could probably give you better advice than I on starting plants from cuttings/babies.
     
  5. mollykemp

    mollykemp Member

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    The bloom was orangish yellow and at the end of the long arm. I didn't get a picture of it but I. Will look at pictures on the net to see if any match.

    The reason I wanted to do thatr baby was that I had to lift the momma off of it to get a picture of it. I was thinking it might not grow up. But I do like the idea of growing babies from the long arm thing. I just need instructions for dummies.
     
  6. joclyn

    joclyn Rising Contributor

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    echeveria are REALLY cool plants!! they multiple so easily!

    the pups are easy to cut off and repot. i do try to let them get to a fairly decent size so that they're not just living off 'mom' and have started to form their own roots - makes it much more likely that they'll survive on their own. gently move the soil away so that you can see the connecting stem that goes to mom. if there are no roots already started, cut the stem as close to mom as you can without damaging her or her roots. new roots will form off the base of the stem and the longer it is, the more stable the babe will be in the new pot/soil.

    yes, let it callous over for a day or so - somewhere that is not in direct sun - and then pot it up. let it sit in the dry soil for a week and then lightly water and continue light waterings every 3 weeks. by the end of march, you should be seeing new growth and the growing season will be starting so you can start doing watering every 2 weeks.

    the soil should be very well-draining and be a bit light/airy. a mix of plain potting soil, some bark bits, some peat and perlite or small stones (for extra drainage). and make sure the container has drainage holes in it!

    you can either take the leaves off the flower stem, let callous and then put into soil or place the stem on top of the soil and then lightly cover with soil and they should root. the same thing as above when it comes to watering. it can take a bit that way. i've never had the best results with this technique - others have though.

    there are a lot of varieties of echeveria. some have fuzz like yours and others don't. a big variety of leaf colors also. some are hardy enough to be in the ground - up here where i am, zone 6, with extended cold in winter! they make a really nice ground cover - and usually fill the area in pretty quickly because they can be so prolific!
     

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