Aeonium is a succulent plant, originally from the Canary Islands, which have an unusual appearance ranging from long, arching stems and rosettes of leaves that can reach from 5-6 feet, to 5-inch stubby rosettes.
Their true growing season is winter through to spring, when temperatures are cool and damp.
Aeoniums don’t like extremes in the weather, hot or dry, and don’t require excessive watering, except in extreme dry conditions, noted when their leaves curl preventing water loss.
Aeoniums have a shallow root system, as they store their water supply in their leaves and stems.
They require very little pampering and unlike other succulents prefer moist, but not wet, soil. Make sure roots do not dry out and give a little feed during the growing season, with a half-strength balanced fertiliser monthly.
They can produce roots along their stems, which if the plant gets pot bound or the stems fall off and touch the soil, the stem will root and new plants will grow.
Leggy branches tend to fall over and snap off from the weight of the rosettes. If this occurs re-plant the broken stem.
Most Aeoniums are monocarpic, which means that the mother plant dies after flowering. If the plant has produced side shoots, shoots will live on.
During winter water whenever the top inch of soil dries out. Too much moisture or allowing them to sit in wet soil will cause root rot.
