Pachyphytum hookeri: characteristics and most important care

Pachyphytum hookeri

Do you like succulents? They are plants that have so many varieties and types that it is practically impossible for you to have them all. One that is not well known, but can be a nice choice, is pachyphytum hookeri.

Discover what are the characteristics of this plant as well as the care that you must provide it. Do you want us to talk about her? Well, keep reading and you will know how it is.

How is pachyphytum hookeri

succulent plant

The first thing you should know about pachyphytum hookeri is that sometimes stores don’t sell it as such, but as an echeveria. It is a plant that is characterized by its bluish-green leaves. But don’t be fooled; and it is that when the sun hits them, the tips of those leaves turn red (more or less intense depending on the solar exposure to which you submit it). That is why it is so striking, because of its combination between bluish green and red. As for those sheets, you should know that they are tubular (not typical of echeverias), and which also end in a point.

Also, this plant blooms. It is not difficult to achieve it, we already warned you. You will be able to tell that it does when you see a protruding flower stem that grows taller than the plant itself. From this will come the little flowers, which will be pink and will have a bell shape. These almost always appear in the months of April and May, but in already established and adult specimens you may find that they will flower several times a year if you take good care of them.

It can easily reach a size between 40 and 60 centimeters in height. Also, being perennial, it will brighten your eyes at any season of the year (as long as you take good care of it, of course).

Pachyphytum hookeri care

Suculenta echeveria Fuente_Sharkar Farm

Now that you know the pachyphytum hookeri a little better, how about we leave you a guide with the most important care to take into account? Being a succulent you can be sure that you will not have to be very on top of itbut it does not hurt to know the needs it has to adapt the environment to it.

location and temperature

Pachyphytum hookeri is a plant that requires full sun. The more hours of sunlight it has, the better because it will develop better. For this reason, we recommend that you put it outside (on the terrace, garden, balcony…). If you have to have it inside the house, look for one of the sunniest windows.

However, unlike other succulents, this plant does not handle low temperatures very well. In fact, if it falls below 10ºC, it may deteriorate, although in some cases it can tolerate up to 1ºC. But if where you live it is usual for temperatures to drop a lot at the end of the summer, it is best that you protect it, either in a greenhouse or indoors.

Substratum

The ideal substrate for this plant should be light and well drained. That is why it is recommended that you mix universal substrate (or soil for cacti and succulents) with some drainage like perlite, clay or 50% akadama in both cases to give you what you need.

This mixture will serve you both to have it in a pot and for the garden itself.

Irrigation

How to propagate this succulent Source_ Surreal Succulents

Fuente: Surreal Succulents

Watering the pachyphytum hookeri will not give you problems. To begin with, it will be consistent with the location where you have placed it in such a way that if it gets a lot of sun, you will have to water it once or twice a week during spring and summer. In autumn, once every fortnight will be enough.

And in winter? Many recommend not watering it if there is enough humidity in the environment because it could feed on it. If you water it, you run the risk of rotting easily.

Subscriber

Although succulents are not plants that have to be fertilized, in the case of pachyphytum hookeri it does appreciate it. Of course, you only need a subscriber every two months during the spring and summer.

You can provide a liquid fertilizer with irrigation water. Of course, make sure it is rich in nitrogen.

Plagues and diseases

Usually, Pachyphytum hookeri is not a plant that has many pests or diseases to worry about. But we are not telling you that it does not have them either.

With regard to diseases, the most worrisome can come from poor irrigation, almost always due to excess rather than lack. When this happens, the leaves become flooded inside and are released from the plant, in addition to rotting..

Another problem that you can find is that it loses color. This may be due to a lack of sun. So if you change the location, it should improve.

In the case of pests, snails, as well as mealybugs, will be the most problematic, although in some cases aphids also do their thing. In either case, a good manual cleaning of the blades to remove them (with a cloth dipped in soapy water, alcohol, and soap) can free you of them.

Multiplication

Finally, with the issue of propagation, you should not worry too much since pachyphytum hookeri is easy to reproduce. To do this, you can do it in different ways:

Using sheets: you can pluck a leaf (always from the base), let it heal and, finally, plant so that a new plant grows from it. This should be done during the spring or summer as this is when you can make sure it pulls through (and does it quickly).

With suckers: When the plant is well adapted to the environment and is a few years old, if the care has been adequate, it is easy for suckers to come out of it, that is, smaller plants that will be ready to “cut”. You just have to do it, let the cut heal and plant them so that they develop roots and thus have a new plant.

As you can see, the pachyphytum hookeri is not difficult to care for, and we are talking about a succulent that is not very well known. Would you dare to have it in your garden?

Pachyphytum hookeri: characteristics and most important care

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