Echeveria care: watering and light
Echeverias form perfect rosettes, like stone flowers, in shades of green, blue or pink. They’re Mexican succulents: they want sun, free-draining soil and little water.
Echeveria needs water roughly every 16 days in summer and every 33 in winter (south- or west-facing window, in a 16 cm plastic pot with a drainage hole). Before watering, always check with a finger in the soil: if it’s still damp, wait.
At a glance
- Scientific name
- Echeveria elegans
- Also known as
- Mexican snowball
- Preferred light
- Full sun
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Tolerates drought
- Yes
- Tolerates shade
- No
- Where it lives
- Indoors or outdoors
Where to put it
It needs sun: the sunniest window in the house, or a balcony. In low light the rosette opens up, stretches towards the window and loses its colour — this is called etiolation, and it doesn’t reverse. In mild climates it lives happily outdoors, sheltered from frost and heavy winter rain.
How to water
Water deeply, only when the soil is completely dry, and let it drain. Water the soil, not the rosette: water sitting between the leaves rots them. Use cactus and succulent compost and a pot with a drainage hole.
Common mistakes
Soft, translucent leaves mean too much water; thin, wrinkled leaves are asking for water. Lower leaves drying up now and then is normal. A fallen leaf, laid on dry compost, can grow into a new plant.
How many days between waterings, spot by spot
| Where it lives | In July | In January |
|---|---|---|
| South- or west-facing window | 16 days | 33 days |
| Kitchen window | 16 days | 33 days |
| East-facing window | 18 days | 37 days |
| Sunny balcony | 15 days | 29 days |