How to Grow and Care for the Succulent Plant Sedum 'Angel's Tears'
Angel's Tears is also known as Beauty's Tears, Round-leaf Sedum 'Yachiyo', etc. It is a Crassulaceae succulent that looks somewhat like Sedum 'Yachiyo'. In cultivated horticultural varieties, the leaves are larger than those of 'Yachiyo'. The pale green leaves stay tender all year round and barely change. The stem is not very thick but can form woody branches, and it will gradually form clusters over time. Let's take a look at how to grow the succulent plant Angel's Tears!
Growth Habits of Angel's Tears
Angel's Tears originates from Mexico. It is a succulent that goes dormant in summer, but the dormant period is not obvious. It grows quite fast and likes light. Under sufficient light, the leaves of Angel's Tears will be arranged more compactly, with more white powder on the leaf surface. In addition, with the large temperature difference between day and night in autumn and winter, the leaf color will take on a hint of yellow, which is very striking. Under insufficient light, the leaf arrangement will appear looser and the leaves will be more slender.
Morphological Characteristics of Angel's Tears
1. Leaves: The leaves of Angel's Tears are ovate with white powder. The leaf surface is smooth, the curved back of the leaf is very rounded, the leaf tip is noticeably swollen, and the leaves grow in a ring around the branches.
2. Branches: The branches of Angel's Tears can keep growing upward. Side buds easily sprout from the lower part of the branches, forming branches.
3. Flowers: Angel's Tears produces clusters of small yellow flowers in late spring or autumn. The small flowers are bell-shaped, produced in large numbers, and have a faint fruity fragrance.
Propagation Methods of Angel's Tears
1. Stem cuttings: During the growing season, you can twist off the buds sprouting from the base of Angel's Tears, let them dry for a few days until the wounds are dry, and then insert them into akadama soil.
2. Leaf cuttings: Angel's Tears can also be propagated by cuttings using complete, plump leaves, but the success rate is not high.
3. Sowing: Angel's Tears can also produce seeds through artificial pollination. Once the seeds mature, sow them immediately after collection, but seedlings from sowing vary considerably, so care should be taken to select seedlings of good quality.
How to Grow Angel's Tears
1. Soil: The potting soil for Angel's Tears should be loose, breathable, well-draining, and have a relatively coarse particle size. At present, in China it is commonly grown with akadama soil mixed evenly with humus soil or leaf mold and peat soil, plus a small amount of bone meal and other calcareous materials.
2. Temperature: Angel's Tears likes a warm environment and has the characteristics of going dormant in high summer temperatures and growing slowly in low winter temperatures. In winter, if the minimum nighttime temperature is not below 10°C and there is a day-night temperature difference of about 10°C, you can water normally so the plant continues to grow.
3. Light: The growing season of Angel's Tears is in spring and autumn, and it requires sufficient sunlight. Insufficient light will cause the plant to become leggy and the plant shape to be loose. It needs sufficient sunlight for the leaf color to be vivid, the plant shape to be more compact and attractive, and the leaves to stay short rather than leggy. Too little sunlight makes the leaf color pale and the leaf arrangement loose.
4. Watering: For watering Angel's Tears, follow “do not water until dry, and water thoroughly when you do”, avoiding water accumulation in the potting soil so as not to cause root rot. After Angel's Tears has clustered for many years, the plant is very spectacular, and the growing medium must be dry before watering. Angel's Tears blooms with yellow clustered flowers, and the flowers are quite beautiful.
5. Fertilizing: Because Angel's Tears grows slowly, do not fertilize it. You can place granular slow-release fertilizer on the surface of the soil for the plant to absorb slowly.