Hi FC,

Don't know where you are in the country, but Aeoniums need practically full sun to do well. I tried growing them for a while indoors & even tho' I've got some good western exposure, it was never enough sun for them.

I don't know what Hypertufa is. I'd suggest fastest draining mix for these & smallest pots possibe.

I'd think they'd grow stems, not expand flat (not sure what that means either).

Pls. search for Aeoniums here, I believe you'll find everyone who's growing them here & showing them in pix here is growing them outdoors, largely in Calif or Texas, just so you know.

Hi, Pirate Girl, thank you for your information.

I did read as much as I could from this forum, including a very useful one, warning about the dangers of shifting succulents to fast-draining potting medium. I am in the same zone and coast as you, actually, so they will have to stay indoors. But they will have the prime spot on one unobstructed south-facing window where they will get a lot of sun.

Thanks for telling me about the pot size---that's exactly the kind of information I needed. Does that mean their roots need to be constricted? I had been meaning to plant them in a 4-inch deep container along with other succulents that need sun and protection from the extremes.

This is the one identified as a Caitlin hybrid.

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This is the one labeled "assorted rounds".

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Also, my plan was to mix 50 percent soil, 25 percent pumice and 25 percent vermiculite which provides aereation but retains moisture more than perlite normally would.

Ignorantly yours,

FC

Some aeoniums grow tall stems, while other grow practically no stem and stay flat on the ground.

Hi FC, Nice to see you delurk for awhile! LOL Come on back sometime!

My first thought was that, no matter where I lived, I would not attempt to grow Aeonium indoors. But, after reading your situation...I think living in the Philippines (temps warm, aren't they?) & you giving plants a southern exposure...they ought to have a fighting chance! =)

Funny, their description of "assorted rounds"! Yeah, what DOES that mean?? As for the other, it is a Catlin hybrid (his name was put on tags as "Caitlin" way back & it has been passed along as such).

Yes, your plants will grow stems (sometimes bare stems), probably not bush out too much. Hypertufa sounds good, but I've always wondered (since I considered making them myself), do they have any drainage holes? The mix you've described sounds good. Just don't over water them & know that they are winter growers (not so much in summer, when the rosettes-some, not all, will close up). Indoors, potted, they probably won't grow as they would outdoors & you'll probably have to deal with them etiolating. If your window is as bright as you say, maybe it won't be a problem.

No, roots don't have to be constricted. I believe Karen told you about using smaller pots, because many people use ones too large for the succulent & then the soil watered (especially if it doesn't drain well) would retain too much for the plant's needs. If your Aeoniums put on any stem height & the rosette is a large one (Catlin hybrids can be very large), you would need to be concerned about the pots tipping over. If you're using Hypertufa, that might not be a problem either! =)

Oh! Congratulations for rescuing them!

Some of mine on south side of house (southern California), still in pots & LEANing ~staging area for plants waiting to get PIG (Planted In Ground) in front yard~ rooted into ground (shows how LONG they've been waiting). Most of these have 2 foot bare stems, the heavy rosette helping them lean. :P

click for larger view:
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Karen, hypertufa is a mix of cement, sand, and peat (sometimes other additives as well) that can be used to make containers -- typically for outdoor use though there is no reason the containers couldn't be used indoors as well. The containers are rather heavy -- hardly surprising considering the cement component -- and tend to be very durable even in northern areas which experience frequent freeze/thaw cycles.

Thanks Paul.

Okay hang on. IâÂÂm actually located in Zone 7a of the US East Coast now (battling a case of stomach-curdling homesickness). So, unfortunately for all the plants I have âÂÂrescuedâÂÂ, there are two huge things I donâÂÂt know how to deal with: plants (lol) and seasons (lol).

In fact, this whole adventure in vegetation started when my sister (who is in the Philippines), bought a pot of Adenium obesum. So I ordered one online (well, okay, three). Reading up on how not to kill my adenium, that opened the entire can of, well, succulents; so that I now have a few haworthias, some sempervivum and--I swear this is the last--two "rescued" aeonium pots. Succulents are the most incredibly bizarre and unspeakably cool plants!

So, thank you, everyone. My plants are dependent on your patience and generous wealth of information (no pressure there). My ultimate goal is to bring these plants to the point where they would thrive on benign neglect but I know it will take a lot of work to get there. That means you will have to excuse my lack of knowledge and general inability to filter the information I find here and elsewhere on the net.

I promise to only ask questions when the search algorithm of this web forum fails to return the information I need.

In this case, I think I will leave the aeonium in their nursery pots (even though I think they are potted in what looks like mostly peat) for a week to let them get used to the room. Then I will repot them in the faster-draining mix I mentioned earlier in this thread.