Welcome to your new home! Your plant appears to be Echeveria imbricata. It is typical for Echeveria to drop bottom leaves and with time they will grow tall with just a canopy of leaves at the top. Most of us will whack the stem, leaving enough stalk to replant after a period of time to allow the freshly cut plant to callous. Most Echeveria will benefit from lots of sun and long days. Because of your location, your days and nights don't change as drastically as other locations on our planet but you probably get intense sun from time to time and should protect your plants during the mid-day sun. When a plant begins to get smaller leaves or the stem becomes narrow and elongated, it has become etiolated. Once this happens, it can take some time before the plant will begin "acquiring" a well grown appearance.

The attached picture demonstrates all of the above. The plant on the left is Echeveria imbracata. As you see it desperately needs a whack job as do the other two Echeveria in the picture. Note how small the heads have become because of lower light and short days during our winter months. Also, the color on the Echeveria 'Etna' (center) has been lost as have all of its carbuncles on newer leaves and they are much smaller. You can see the dead lower leaves on the Echeveria to the right... this is all natural for this genus, IMHO.

This post was edited by bikerdoc5968 on Mon, Feb 4, 13 at 13:25

Oh.. thank you so much!

Ok, so if I understand correctly my Echeveria Imbricata since its etiolated like you said, it should benefit from more sun, right? So perhaps I should move it to the garden then where it will get direct sun. Right now on the terrace (has a roof) it gets light from the garden but not directly.

Maybe I will place it near a plant that will provide shade through some hours of the day so the change is not as drastic.

I did not know this plant would grow like the ones on the picture! I have to learn when the time comes how to cut it.

Thanks again for your help. :)
I hope my little echeveria will get better in the sun and will return to its lovely rosette shape.

Oh! Forgot to ask one more thing.. Should I pull off the dead brown leaves?
Thanks!
:)

I grow echeveria in Texas which is pretty hot with intense summer sun. I usually let them have protection from afternoon sun or mid day sun. Some have actually grown with a fare amount of part shaded conditions and succeeded very nicely. I am very careful of what goes into full sun. It is a killer here with temps 100F (37.7C) and above. If your conditions have hot humid conditions, they might need the break of some shade. The plants will tell you.

If the leaf is brown and dried, you can remove it carefully.

Thanks for the advice. :)

Here we have pretty stable temperatures. It's almost like having Springtime all year long. Right now we are at our coldest though but still the lows in the around 63f and highest around 80f.

I placed it in the garden but in a place that gets a bit of shade from my mango tree. Lets see is she likes it there.

Ok, so I'll carefully remove the dead leaves.

Thanks again!

It is very simple to whack these.... just wait until there is enough stalk under the head of the plant to allow sufficient length to replant. I usually cut about 3" (8 cm) under the head. Allow it to callous in a shaded area for about a week, depending on the thickness of the stem and replant in whatever mix you are using. Initially, provide VERY LITTLE moisture until roots begin to grow and keep it somewhat shaded. You'll know it has roots when you try to remove the plant from the mix and it offers some resistance. Now you can water as you wish based on weather conditions and slowly acclimate it to a more sunny location.

Hi there!

Just wanted to thank everyone who helped me before and post an update. My echeveria seems much better right now. She has grown so much and seems to love it outside under my mango tree. :)

I also discovered she has a baby underneath! How can I take care of the baby plant? Is it ok to remove it? If it is, how should I remove it and when?

Thanks again for all your help.
:)

I would let the baby get bigger before I separate it. Imbricata makes many pups. It will fill an area given time.