Little Jewel Care Guide

Little jewel, botanical name: x Pachyveria Glauca

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Condition Requirement

Water and Hardiness

• Suitable to grow in mild temperature in spring and autumn
• Does not have good resistance to extreme cold weather
• When the temperature is higher than 86F in summer, little jewel may enter its dormancy. (less water and fertilizer needed)
• When the temperature is lower than 41F in winter, it is recommended to move it indoors to avoid irreversible frostbite or even death.
• Its growing season is in spring and autumn, and it needs a little water
• In summer and winter, when it enters the dormancy period, watering should be reduced.

Sunlight

• Needs sufficient scattered light which should be bright and transparent
• Strong sunlight in summer may burn its leaves and stems
• When exposed to the sun, it tends to grow slowly or even stop growing, its leaves grow compactly and internodes shorten (shorter plant)
• In summer, set up a sunshade for it or move the potted plant indoor

Soil

• Must be loose and ventilated.
• Soil divided into three layers:
  • Top Deco Soil – paved on the soil surface for the decoration and fixation of plants. Example: white peddle, akadama soil, kiryuu sands, kanuma soil, etc.
  • Middle Layer Soil – fix plants and provide nutrients for plants to grow. You can buy directly in store or buy soil materials to mix by yourself. The common soil formulation is peat moss: perlite: volcanic rock: vermiculite = 4:2:2:2
  • Lower Hydrophobic Layer – placed at the bottom of the flowerpot or garden pit. It can evacuate the excess water. The hydrophobic later can be made of ceramsite, volcanica stone, or other large scale culture media. Coal slag or charcoal are also good choices.

Care Guide

Planting

• First, add the soil of the lower hydrophobic layer to the flowerpot, and then add a small amount of soil of the planting layer.
• Then spread out the root system of the plant and put them in.
• Cover the plant root with planting soil slowly, then add the top deco soil, and finally pour water once.
• If planted in garden, dig a pit 1.5-2 times the size of the root system first before following the above steps.
• It is recommended to repot in spring and autumn
• Before repotting, stop watering a few days in advance, after the soil is dried, you can gently knock the pot outside.
• It is better to avoid planting succulent plants with different growth habits together.

Water

• Little jewel doesn’t need much water, but paid more attention to the state of the succulent plant and specific weather conditions
  • Weather: in hot weather of low temperature, succulent will enter dormancy. Reduce watering to once 1-2 weeks. Frequent watering can cause succulent plant to die due to black rot.
  • Time: In summer, it is better to water in the evening to avoid the sun at noon. It does not matter in other seasons.
  • State of succulent plant: Leaves will wrinkle and even curl up when they are short of water. Leaves will droop and slouch when short of water.
  • Soil: Weigh the pot in your hand to simply judge the amount of water left in the soil. In addition, if there’s a gap between the outer edge of the soil and the inner edge of the pot, or the soil surface cracks, that is also a sign of water shortage.
  • Pot: Good air permeability such as red pot, which is not easy to keep water, so the watering frequency can be higher; for white porcelain pot or pot without holes, the watering frequency can be lower.

Fertilizer

• Most succulent plants are used to growing in the wild where the environment is poor, so they do not need fertilization in their growth cycle.
• You can ass a little slow-release fertilizer in early summer, and it’s fine if you do not apply fertilizer.
• Please remember, don’t fertilize during its dormancy period, because too many nutrients may cause damages to its growth.

Pruning

• Tools for pruning mainly include knife, scissors, and some medicines (such as sulfur powder).
• In order to propagate new plants, we can also cut some leaves in spring and autumn.
• Stout stems with 5-6 leaves are often selected: cut it off with a knife, then smear the wound with sulfur powder, and plant it after the wound is healed.
• It is recommended to use a watering can to slightly wet the soil used for cutting.

Propagation

• Seeds can be collected for sowing, but they are difficult to germinate.
• It is more common to use leaves for cutting propagation, generally in spring and autumn
• Select a whole leave of healthy plant, cut it off with a knife, and lay it flat on the slightly humid soil, with the leaf base close to the soil.
• Provide it with suitable temperature 77F and light bright scattered light.
• In a week or two, a bud will grow at the leaf base.

Seasonal Precautions

• In summer, there are several ways to ensure ventilation:
  1. Use loose soil
  2. Use ceramic pot with good air permeability
  3. Keep potted plant in a multi-ventilated environment
• In summer, it is necessary to avoid strong light and necessary to avoid direct sunlight after watering as this will burn the leaves
• In high temperature, varieties with thick leaves need to reduce water supply earlier, because they have high water content in their leaves
• Reducing water supply can make plants enter dormancy state smoothly and avoid being hurt by high temperature in summer.

Common Problems

Q: Why do its leaves turn yellow and withered?

A: It’s a natural phenomenon that its old leaves turn yellow and wither. Don’t panic. If new buds turn yellow and withered, it is abnormal. It may be caused by lack of some mineral fertilizer or by sunburn.

Q: Why do its leaves wrinkle?

A: It’s generally due to water shortage. When the succulent is lacking water, there will be wrinkles on leaves, or leaves will shriveled, which reminds you to water them.

Q: Why does it have a very high stem but few leaves?

A: It is mostly due to the lack of sufficient light, which is the same principle as the growth of common mung bean sprout in Asian market. Lack of light can lead to spindling of plant internode and vulnerableness of plant tissue, which makes the plant prone to injures. If you’re in a similar situation, place the succulent in a well-lit area, ad then the situation will slowly improve over time.

Pest & Diseases

• Recommended to sterilize the succulent plant one month before summer
• Carbendazim mixed with water in 1:1000 is selected and evenly sprayed on the plant leaves and stem
• Black Rot is the most lethal disease for succulent plants
• Cut off diseased part and smear wound w/sulfur powder or carbendazim to avoid secondary infection
• Spray the whole plant with carbendazim mixed with water.
• It is better to apply insecticide in the evening in ventilated environment.