Consulta Plantas

Care of the succulent plant Pachyphytum bracteosum or Silverbracts

The genus Pachyphytum, family Crassulaceae, comprises 17 species of succulent plants native to Mexico. Some species are: Pachyphytum bracteosum, Pachyphytum oviferum, Pachyphytum hookeri, Pachyphytum viride.

Common names: Silverbracts, Moon-stones, Moonstones. Scientific synonyms: Echeveria bracteosa, Cotyledon pachyphytum. This species is native to Hidalgo, Mexico.

They are small succulent plants that reach 50 cm (19.68") in height. They have thick and fleshy oval leaves with a rounded section, blue-gray color and covered with a powder that should not be touched because fingerprints are marked. The flowers are reddish, bell-shaped, open in the morning and appear in hanging spikes above the leaves. They bloom in spring.

Silverbracts is used in pots and planters, in cactus and succulent gardens and in rockeries.

Pachyphytum bracteosum prefers an illuminated exposure avoiding the direct sun in the central hours of the day. The climate must be warm and dry. In winter the temperature should not be less than 5 ºC (41 ºF).

The soil can be a commercial substrate for cacti and succulents. Transplant into a pot one size larger in early spring.

Water moderately at the rate of once a week from mid-spring to late summer and once a month in the first half of fall and spring. In winter do not water.

Fertilize monthly with mineral cactus fertilizer from the second half of spring to mid-summer.

Silverbracts does not need pruning.

Pachyphytum bracteosum is a plant resistant to pests but sensitive to excessive humidity.

Moonstones is propagated by leaf cuttings in early summer rooted in a sandy substrate and from seed sown in spring.

Images of the succulent plant Pachyphytum bracteosum or Silverbracts