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Cacti & Succulents

Echeveria and sedum winter care

8 years ago

I just starting caring for a couple succulents this year, and I'm beginning to think how I'll continue to care for them this winter. I live in Minnesota, and over the summer I was able to leave them in the window sill and they were fine. But in the winter, the window gets cold and drafty. How can I ensure they're getting the proper lighting/temperature this winter?

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Comments (3)

tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
8 years ago
Depending on where in Minn you are and what type of sedum you have, it may be best to store them outside planted in well draining soil. As for the echeveria, a south facing window would do ok but at our latitudes we need to be diligent about turning the plants daily or every other day.

tj
bikerdoc5968 Z6 SE MI
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
What tj is saying is that some sedum, NOT ALL SEDUM, are winter hardy and may be grown outside. This is an example of a sedum growing on my rock wall. A picture of your plants would be helpful to provide the correct information.

While Echeveria don't do a tremendous amount to 'growing' during our winter months in the more northern climates, without enough strong light, they will become etiolated as tj has mentioned. The reason for turning plants is because they respond to external stimulus, like light. This is called phototropism and your plants will grow toward the light. So to keep them on "the straight and narrow", you must turn them every few days. This light response is most noticeably seen with inflorescences.
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My daughter has S. dashyphyllum and it survives winters in z6. It is planted in a rockery, on a good slope - I am sure that helps. I have one too - in winter of 2017, I kept part of it in unheated sunroom, with temps dropping to well below freeing - it survived without any problems. I left part of plant outside, and it survived too. Not sure about this winter - there is still snow around and I can't see it. It has been colder winter this year. Worse is cold and wet. I take all my succulents outdoors and leave them there until Fall, when overnight temps stay constantly at 50*F and above. Many will survive less than that, but I do not bother with taking just a few outside. Besides, weather is still finicky and there is almways chance of some days or nights being too cold, and perhaps wet.
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breton2
8 years ago
Also, indoor temperatures are unlikely to be cool enough to harm your succulents, they can tolerate pretty low temperatures as long as they are dry.

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