How to Grow Orostachys Succulents? Let Me Teach You the Propagation Method

Succulent cultivation is very popular among young people. On one hand, growing succulents can cultivate one's temperament, and beautiful, lovely succulents can greatly delight one's mood; on the other hand, growing succulents and keeping pets have many similarities, and both can do a very good job of enhancing a person's sense of responsibility.

How to Grow Orostachys Succulents

1. Choose a suitable container

When I first started growing Orostachys, I kept it in an ordinary flower pot, and it often rotted at the roots and died. Yet in the gaps between roof tiles on an old roof, although there was not much soil, the Orostachys grew very well. This may have been because there was too much soil in the flower pot, and after watering, the pot soil was too wet. Therefore, to grow Orostachys well, you have to create an environment similar to the gaps between roof tiles. Later I tried using a small plastic box for biscuits as a container, filling half of it with nutrient soil at the bottom and half with coarse river sand on top, then planting small Orostachys seedlings. Because there was not much soil, it dried quickly after watering, and root rot never happened again. Later I used a small pot with a diameter of 3 cun, with 3 cm of gravel at the bottom, 3 cm of nutrient soil, and 2 cm of coarse river sand, and the effect was also very good.

2. Choose a suitable transplanting time

For spring transplanting, choose the dense rosette-shaped leaf clusters after overwintering; after surviving, they can bloom that same year. For summer and autumn transplanting, choose one-year-old small seedlings. In fact, plants from the place of origin are relatively easy to cultivate; only cultivated varieties such as “Fuji” need attention to ventilation in summer, and watering must be controlled during high temperatures. The mother plant will produce offsets around it, which can be used for propagation.

In short, the most important thing in planting and caring for Orostachys is to avoid root rot, which means preferring dryness over waterlogging, as well as the soil medium.

How to Propagate Orostachys

Self-reliant Orostachys: Orostachys has extremely strong vitality, and its reproductive capacity is like that of weeds, multiplying madly by producing offsets. Those who have bought succulent seeds should know how tiny succulent seeds are, and a single seed pod can hold dozens, hundreds, or even more seeds. When an Orostachys blooms, it produces a single flower spike. One flower can develop into five seed pods. When Orostachys blooms, it desperately uses up all its nutrients to complete pollination, and the pollination rate is very high. Leaf cuttings: If your Orostachys has not yet bloomed and you need to propagate it, you can use the leaf method. Twist off a few leaves, use a pair of skillful hands, add a bit of patience, and slowly wait for the leaves to sprout roots. Division: Around the mother plant of Orostachys, there are often some small seedlings, which are her offsets. These small seedlings can be gently separated and transplanted into other containers.

The Efficacy and Effects of Orostachys

1. Efficacy

Orostachys is the whole plant of the Crassulaceae plant Orostachys or Orostachys erubescens, widely distributed on sunny slopes in deep mountains and in rock crevices, and also grows in the gaps of old roof tiles. It is drought-tolerant and cold-tolerant. It has the effects of clearing heat and detoxifying, stopping bleeding, draining dampness, reducing swelling, and treating hematemesis, epistaxis, bloody dysentery, hepatitis, malaria, heat strangury, hemorrhoids, eczema, carbuncle toxin, ding sores, and scald burns. For Orostachys grown at home, after it blooms and fruits and completes its mission of reproduction, you can pick the leaves, dry them in the sun, grind them into powder, and keep them for medicinal use.

2. Effects

① Anti-inflammatory

Research found that large doses of Orostachys suppositories have a significant inhibitory effect on inflammatory granuloma pain in rats (P<0.05); they have a significant therapeutic effect on rat hind paw swelling, and the therapeutic effect clearly increases with increasing dose, suggesting that Orostachys suppositories have a clear anti-inflammatory effect.

② Antibacterial

Through antibacterial tests of crude extracts of the Chinese herbal medicine Orostachys against clinical strains such as Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria, it was confirmed that the crude extract of Orostachys has a clear antibacterial effect. Orostachys also has a clear inhibitory effect on Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and alpha-hemolytic streptococcus commonly found in the vagina.

③ Cardiac strengthening

Orostachys glycoside was extracted from the flowers and leaves of Orostachys. Orostachys glycoside significantly increases cardiac output and work in living toads, and can enhance multiple myocardial contractility and pumping function indicators in living rabbit hearts.

Morphological Characteristics and Growth Habits of Orostachys

Orostachys is 10-40 cm tall. The stem is slightly slanting and extending, and the whole plant is powdery green. (Within the genus Orostachys, there is Orostachys erubescens, which appears pink or dark red.) The basal leaves form a dense rosette, linear to oblanceolate, 2-3 cm long, green with purple, or covered with white powder, with fringed cartilaginous pieces and 1 needle-like sharp spine at the edges. The leaves on the stem are linear to obovate, with long tips. The flower stalk branches, growing laterally on the stem, densely covered with linear or long oblanceolate bracts; the flowers form a terminal, fleshy, spike-like panicle, while on young plants they are loosely arranged, forming a corymbose panicle.

Among succulents, Orostachys has a relatively short lifespan. One spring, summer, autumn, and winter make one cycle of life. Wild Orostachys grows on rocky slopes and rocks, as well as on the roofs of tile houses or thatched houses. It is widely distributed on sunny slopes in deep mountains and in rock crevices, and also grows in the gaps of old roof tiles. It is cold-tolerant and drought-tolerant. Home care techniques are simple and convenient for cultivation. The flowering period is July to September. The fruiting period is August to October.

Orostachys is one of the more tenacious succulents. Although growing Orostachys is not as delicate as other succulents and does not require especially careful attention, growing succulents still requires a certain amount of basic knowledge, so that you can be better prepared and confident in the process of succulent cultivation.