I’ve generally never had much luck with succulents because they used to get leggy and etiolated previously. Then I stumbled upon this guy - and the good thing about him is, there’s no stem! So they grow these little rosettes without too much effort :)
Now that I have them under strong lighting, we are seeing much better growths. Haworthias are great little low growing succulents that get really fleshy leaves and almost to me look a little bit like alien mushrooms or something.
I’ve had this little one for two years now and have not repotted it yet. (Probably about time as we can see it’s leaves are starting to grow past the pot.) As with all succulents, they will require a succulent mix or gritty soil mix. Sometimes I like to add a little extra pumice to my succulent mixtures – I find that haworthias are a little less picky though, and can go with just bagged mix honestly. Also, likewise, their water needs are very low. With any succulent I live by the “soak and dry” rule - with until the soil is completely dry, then soak that ho.
We see here on mine there is a ton of new growth going on. When I got him at a box store, he was in turmoil. The soil was soaked, there were almost no leaves, and there was a bit of root rot. :( luckily as you can see it has bounced back quite lively. The soil/watering habits really make a difference! Keeping it in a drier location is best. However, its worth noting that this little guy does live in my sunroom where it is always over 60% humidity, so the water habits really come into play here.
So aside from the obvious succulent care, I really like haworthias because they spread so easily. They will easily overrake a pot with their pups. This makes such a full and lively appearance. Imagine a full pot full of moss but they feel like little bouncy balls. However, as they are very slow growers, it may take some time for that to happen.
Mine is only about 3/4" high, so a little guy. But they can reach up to only a couple inches from the soil making them a perfect little compact alien plant. They also propogate very easily from those pups or even leaves, just as any succulent would.
That’s all I have for this little guy today. If you find that I have inaccurate information or have more to add, I’m always looking for more knowledge!
I’m going to add a few more fun facts about this plant (and haworthias in general):
The leaves of this plants are somewhat translucent on the top. Why? Well, in nature it grows in very hot and very sunny locations. So much so, that it’s easy to get scorched. It actually grows with most of the plant under the soil, with only the tips poking out. But, then it’d be really hard to get enough light, right?
Well, the insides of the leaves are coated with chlorophyll. The translucent windows let in sunlight, and the plant gets to do photosynthesis underneath the soil all throughout the buried leaves! It even is able to somewhat adapt how translucent it is, depending on light supply.
Plants are so cool! 😁
This is fascinating. Thanks for adding that information! I had no idea that the leaves were transculent because of that.
I’ve got a newfound appreciation for haworthias!