Family: Crassulaceae
Habitat: Hybrid – not present in nature
Cultivation: Pachyverias are easy to grow, like most Crassulaceae. Choose a bright spot to enhance the colorful tinges of its leaves, water regularly in the spring and summer with plenty of water
Curiosity: Pachyveria is a hybrid between Echeveria and Pachyphytum. That’s the reason why in front of its name there is often an “X” just as there is for other hybrids.

KEY FEATURES

Pachyveria is a hybrid of Echeveria and Pachyphytum. However, it is not always easy to distinguish the different species of Pachyveria and the plants from which it is derived.

Pachyverias are short-stemmed evergreen plants that tend to wood up with age. Long, narrow if compared to other crassulaceae, pointed succulent leaves sprout from the stem. They grow arranged in beautiful abundant rosettes.

The color of the leaves is usually light green or blue-green, with the tips sometimes fading to reddish. An exposure to direct sunlight enhance this feature, which may be hidden in plants growing in the shade. In some species, leaves are covered in a whitish itch. They are usually gut-shaped, with a tip more or less marked depending on the species. In some species, on the other hand, they are more elongated and cylindrical, similar to little fingers.

The inflorescences sprout from the center of each rosette at the top of an elongated stem. Flowers are yellowish-green, sometimes pink or orange, usually inconspicuous and tubular-shaped.

When grown in pots, it tends to grow many elongated stems that can take on a falling habit, being the perfect decorative solution for a little balcony well-exposed to sunlight.

VARIETY AND TYPES

Here below are the cultivars of Pachyveria that you can find in the market today:

• P. clavifolia
• P. draco
• P. pachyphytoides
• P. “powder puff
• P. scheideckeri

Check our online shop to find them!

TIPS FOR GROWING

Pachyverias are hardy and easy to grow just like most crassulaceae. Here are our tips:

• Choose a position in full sun to enhance the plant’s beauty: the rosettes will be much more compact and the leaves will take on the typical reddish hues. Be careful only in the hottest hours of the day, in the middle of summer.
• Although it can occasionally withstand lower temperatures, we advice to keep your Pachyveria always above 7°C or so.
• Water regularly every 2-3 days in spring and summer with plenty of water, and stop the irrigation in winter. If you water too much, the soil will not dry up properly between one watering and the next; if too little, the rosettes will shrivel up. Be careful not to wet the rosettes because stagnant water inside them could make them rot.
• Use a standard cactus soil or a mix of fertile soil and sand. It is important that this is not too rich and very draining.
• Fertilize in spring, once a month, with a specific product for succulents.
• Pachyverias grow rather quickly. Choose sufficiently large pots and repot them every 1/2 year.

They reproduce through cuttings. As cuttings you can use the suckers sprouting at the base of the plant (small rosettes or twigs), which take root easily. Single leaves can also be used, but their development will be slower and more difficult.