The three great beauties of succulents: clustering, fasciation, and variegation - do you understand them all?

Whether you are a succulent lover who has just fallen into the hobby, or one who has been drifting through the "succulent pit" for a long time and has slowly become an experienced expert, you are sure to be very familiar with "clustering, fasciation, and variegation." Perhaps some succulent lovers do not know exactly what state these three conditions represent, but they can certainly feel the price difference directly!

Today, Huizhang will fill in some knowledge on this subject for succulent lovers who still do not know about clustering, fasciation, and variegation. Those who already know can also leave comments to add anything Huizhang has not mentioned.

Clustering

Let's talk about clustering first. Quite a few succulent lovers got into the hobby after seeing beautiful photos of clustered plants. After all, one beautiful succulent has enough appeal, and a cluster of beautiful succulents doubles that appeal instantly!

Clustering mainly refers to the state in which the main body of the plant has multiple growing points, each growing point produces new branches and side shoots, and they all grow together。

Clustering is relatively easy to achieve. Even if you do not do anything, time will slowly cause the succulent to cluster. If you want it to happen faster,the simplest method is beheading. Behead an old-stem plant, and after removing apical dominance, a large number of new side shoots will appear.

Generally speaking, it can be donepreferably in autumnIn regions where summer is not too hot, it can be done in spring, and in regions with warming measures, it can also be done in winter.

If you want to grow clustered succulents but do not want to behead them, then grow some succulents that cluster easily, such asSedum dasyphyllum, Orostachys iwarenge, Echeveria 'Mebina', Graptopetalum mendozaeand others.

Fasciation

Fasciation refers to abnormal mutation, belonging to a type of morphological variation.The main cause of fasciation in succulents is unknown external stimulation, including factors such as watering, sunlight, temperature, chemicals, and sudden climate changes. The apical growing point of the plant divides abnormally and doubles, thus forming many small growing points, and these growing points develop horizontally into a line and eventually grow into a flat fan shape or cockscomb shape.

Although this sounds very similar to clustering, clustering does not change the form of the succulent, while fasciation is different.

Among the factors that produce fasciation, leaf propagation is more common. You can give it a try, but if you want to propagate a fasciated succulent and plan to take cuttings, remember to cut off the fully fasciated part of the plant, as this makes it easier to maintain the fasciated characteristics; some individual growing points, once cut and planted, will grow into ordinary plants;the probability with leaf propagation is even lower than with cuttings。

If you obtain a fasciated succulent, be sure to remember that fasciation is not permanent. Some fasciated plants may return to normal form, so tomaintain the fasciatedcharacteristics, remember to remove the normally growing parts and keep the abnormal ones!

Variegation

Variegation in succulents is actually variegated markings, which is of course a mutation phenomenon, but in terms of color.Variegation mutation refers to a color change occurring in parts such as the stems and leaves of the plant. For example, if the original main color of the plant is green, and then variegation mutation occurs, white or yellow markings grow from the center or edges of the leaves.

Generally speaking, variegation is not a change inthe entire leaf color, but only a local color change in the leaves or stems. With variegation, the colors of the succulent are indeed more beautiful and ornamental, but we must be clear that coloring is not the same as variegation.

When a succulent changes because of factors such as light and temperature, the color change is not variegation. Variegation is specifically a lack of chlorophyll, and chlorophyll is an essential element for photosynthesis. This is also why fully variegated succulents are close to death. If a green plant cannot carry out photosynthesis, can you still expect it to survive?

For an in-depth analysis of variegation, interested succulent lovers can go read Teacher Yan Ming's article "A Discussion on the Mechanism of Variegation in Succulents." Huizhang will not go into too much detail here.

At present, the propagation of variegated succulents generally usesleaves that already have variegationora certain branchto propagate. If you want to cultivate an ordinary succulent into a variegated one, currently there arenatural variegation and artificial selectiontwo methods.

Natural variegationmeans trying your best to create an environment suitable for mutation and waiting for the succulent to mutate on its own, but this is basically something you can only encounter by luck, not by seeking it. If you are lucky, it is possible.

Artificial selectionFor variegation, you can propagate the leaves or branches of an existing succulent with the plant whose color is closest to what you want, then continue selecting the closest one for propagation, and keep going until the succulent shows the final color. As for whether it succeeds, that is also uncertain.

Of course,chemical inductionalso exists. As for the success rate or how great the impact is on the succulent itself, Huizhang cannot estimate it either. It is just that variegated markings, like fasciation, are not permanent and may still fade due to various factors.

So when a succulent becomes variegated, you must cherish it, because this most beautiful appearance is displayed by the succulent at the cost of its life. Once a succulent becomes fasciated or variegated, give it special care!