Graptosedum Bronze - A Great Houseplant

Greetings Steemians,

This winter has been rough on my houseplants. I've lost one already and another looks like it might not make it. They are both succulents, and over watering was the cause of their demise.

Three of my plants are thriving however. Green onions, Philodendron, and the amazing Graptosedum Bronze.

I'll take photos of the green onions and Philodendron another time. This post is specific to the Graptosedum Bronze.

What I love about this plant is how forgiving it is. It can go quite a while without water, and even if you over water it the plant generally seems to recover just fine. It is important to have a proper soil mixture with this plant, but I've found that it's even relatively forgiving in this department as well.

I've run many soil experiments and this plant has survived them all. The only issue I've run into is etiolation. Fortunately I solved this etiolation problem with LED lights!

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These LED's can be picked up cheaply at Walmart, use very little energy, have a long life expectancy, and the plants absolutely love them!

If interested in reading about grow lights, this Wikipedia link is pretty informative.

So let's have a look at how my beautiful plants are doing!

The one in the center is the mother plant. I've started many new plants from petals off of this one. They are technically clones.

At one point I had to behead it from etiolation, but the beheaded top is thriving now! (and no longer etiolated) Check it out!

I used a combination of gravel, sand, and soil for the planting medium. The gravel and sand I had to get from the aquatics department. A Walmart rep said they didn't have these items when I asked in the garden department, but they did. It instantly dawned on me to check a different department. I feel like it should have dawned on the service rep too, but hey that's life.. 😉

The brown stuff on top is cinnamon. I have a newfound respect for fungus gnats.. If I slip even a little bit, they breed a colony in like a day. I am utilizing hydrogen peroxide to eradicate larva, and cinnamon to keep the gnats from hanging out on my plants. I'm also using fly sticky tape in the lighting area. This seems to be working great, but I have to stay on top of it.

They have a lovely "sun blush" from red spectrum light. (This is good and indicates they are getting plenty of the correct light spectrum.)

Before switching to LED, this plant was very green, thin, and stretching for light. The sun blush and more compact/fat petals is an indicator that the environment I am providing them is very good for this particular plant.

Despite losing one of my succulents recently, and another in terrible shape at the moment, I couldn't be happier with my Graptosedum Bronze. I've been meticulous with the care, have done my homework, and it is paying off.

I would recommend this plant to someone who's interested in succulents. If you live anywhere near a Walmart, you likely will find one of these plants in the garden department. For around 20 dollars you can get everything you need (including the plant) to care for this breed, and as I mentioned above, it's pretty forgiving if you over/under water.

Thank you for stopping by. I hope you're all having a wonderful day!

Photography with Samsung WB100

Posted with eSteem Surfer