How to Care for Succulents That Naturally Have a White Powder Coating

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Photos: Qingmeng

Fellow succulent lovers have surely come across plenty of succulents with a white powder coating on their surfaces, such as Echeveria laui, Echeveria 'Mexican Giant', the genus Dudleya, Sedum 'Chihuahua Pearl' (Sedum pachyphyllum 'Chihuahua Pearl'), Echeveria pulidonis, Echeveria 'Bluebird', and so on.

These succulents are not particularly afraid of being watered, but touching them with your hand will definitely leave fingerprints.

Since succulents come with this white powder coating naturally, it proves that the powder serves a purpose for them.

In fact, this white powder helps succulents block part of the ultraviolet rays and also effectively helps prevent moisture loss from their bodies. The powder can also prevent rot and bacterial infection caused by water accumulating at the growing point, because water droplets do not easily linger when they slide across the leaf surface, though there is nothing to be done when a heavy rainstorm hits. If the powder is rubbed off, these succulents are more prone to sunburn and their leaves will go soft from water loss. So all we can do is try our best not to damage it deliberately and to protect it on purpose.

So how exactly should these succulents that naturally have a white powder coating be cared for?

1. You must never deliberately touch and rub off their white powder with your hands!!! Do not think this is fun. Some succulents will regrow the powder, but some will not, and succulents that have lost their powder will also have weaker resistance.

2. When watering, be sure to avoid the leaves and do not pour water directly onto them.

3. When planting succulents, if you have a tool, be sure to use it to hold the roots of the succulent while planting. If you do not have a tool, gently support the outermost leaves with your fingers; you may touch the outermost leaves with your hands, and even if the powder comes off, there is no need to be afraid, because succulents go through metabolism, and when the outermost leaves use up their nutrients and fall off, the whole succulent will become very beautiful.

4. If there is water on the leaves, do not just wipe it off with your hand or anything else; you should blow it off with your mouth.

5. For succulents with a powder coating, the thicker the powder, the more sun-tolerant they are, and the stronger the sunlight, the thicker the powder. Those leggy succulents with a white powder coating basically have very thin powder.

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