How to Take Care of Pink Moonstone

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Nothing completes your succulent plant pot like a pink moonstone with the fancy botanical name Pachyphytum oviferum moonstones. It is a popular choice for a sunny spot in the home or garden.

Best of all, it is a low-maintenance plant that fits nicely into a pot or landscaping. If you have not yet started your succulent garden, this should be your first investment in succulent plants.

And if you have already included it in your landscaping, we will help you care for it with some helpful gardening tips.

Moonstone Plant Care

moonstone succulent plant

The moonstone succulent is a small to medium-sized plant that belongs to the Crassulaceae family. It is a Mexican succulent found growing in the mountains. It has a chubby look with tightly packed leaves shaped like eggs or, as some would refer, the sugar almond plant.

For container gardens, it is ideal as it grows up to four inches tall and 12 inches wide. The moonstones’ light shade of pastel colors in yellow, orange, pink, blue, to purple look stunning. Still, when you look closely at the foliage, you see a dense white powdery coating called the farina.

Your plant sprouts in late winter to early spring and displays bell-shaped white flowers that hang in clusters on separate stems from the middle of the plant. The outer edge of the petals is green-white with beige to bright pink to orange.

Soil Mix Suitable for Sugar Almond Plant

When your plant or repot, your Pachyphytum oviferum moonstones needs a few drainage holes in the pot with a potting mix that is loose, gritty, and must be well-draining soil. Hence, this eye-catching succulent needs aeration allowing the air, nutrients, and water to reach the roots.

You can also invest in a pre-made soil mix like a well-draining cactus or succulent potting soil. These are great options as they contain coarse sand, perlite, or pumice. To create your soil, you can use two parts sand with two parts gardening soil and then one part pumice or perlite.

Some great containers are clay pots with a drainage hole to ensure the excess water drains freely from the root system.

Sunlight Needs for Moonstone

moonstone succulent lighting outside

Whether you grow your moonstone plant indoors or outside, it needs a sunny spot to thrive. So, for indoor gardens, it helps to have your plant at a window where it can receive adequate sunlight.

Alternatively, you can use grow lights if there is not enough natural light in the home. Keeping your moonstone succulent outside helps you choose a spot with full sun if you do not live in the intense summer heat.

If you have hot summers, we recommend a spot with part shade in the afternoon to protect the foliage from too much sun exposure.

Watering Needs to Prevent Root Rot

Your chubby succulent Pachyphytum oviferum plant thrives on minimal water. But, as with other succulents, it stores water in the leaves and stems, making it reasonably drought tolerant. So, the best rule to follow when you water plants with succulent leaves is to let the soil dry between watering.

Neither should the roots sit in water as it can develop root rot. Hence, you can check the soil moisture using your finger or look at the leaves to see if they are plump. Another difference to most succulents is that your moonstone needs more water in winter as it is its growing season.

Moonstone Succulents Needs Protection from Intense Summer Heat and Cold

Pachyphytum oviferum

The moonstone art delicate succulents prefer temperatures between 65°F to 80°F with low humidity. Unfortunately, those plump leaves are not cold hardy to withstand freezing temperatures.

So, check your USDA plant zones if you live in cold weather regions where it gets freezing. If grown outdoors, we recommend providing your moonstone with a light blanket like your other plants to protect them from the cold.

Alternatively, you can move your plants indoors if they grow in terracotta pots for overwintering. The reason is that succulent plants can blush or even turn to different shades with fluctuating temperatures.

Repotting

Your plants thrive in a mineral grit potting mix and can tolerate temperatures that are not too hot or cold. Yet, while it is a thick plant, your plant grows slowly and will only need repotting every few years.

The best time to do this is after flowering, as it helps the roots replenish to receive nutrients from the soil. These plants remain relatively compact, and when choosing a new container, select one about up to two inches bigger.

When you remove your plant from the pot, it helps to rinse off the old soil and remove any damaged roots. Then leave your succulent roots to dry and avoid overwatering your plant after transplanting.

Fertilizing and Grooming of Moonstone

Ideally, you should feed your moonstone succulent an organic fertilizer at the beginning of spring. The slow-growing plants are not heavy feeders.

The moonstone plants thrive well with little pruning and the only time you need to take cuttings is when removing dead leaves.

Neither should you touch the healthy leaves, as the oils from the foliage can leave behind marks.

Propagation of Pachyphytum Oviferum

The best way to achieve a newly propagated plant from your moonstone is through leaf cuttings. The best is to select healthy leaves that are plum compared to flat leaves. Then, with your clean fingers, you can twist off a leaf or a couple from the mother plant with your thumb and forefinger.

Here the important thing is to remove the entire leaf with the base, or it will not survive. Then place the leaves into callous over for a few days in a sunny window. When calloused, you can dip the stem end in rooting hormone but optional.

Then place the cut side down into some potting mix and keep them in a dappled shade away from direct light. With time you will notice pink roots developing with a new rosette forming. When it grows a bit more with enough rosettes, you can remove the original cutting from that rosette to place it into another pot, with the last one in another container.

Pachyphytum Varieties

Now, if you want, you can create a succulent terrarium with different plants in the Pachyphytum genus, as seen here:

Pachyphytum compactum

Pachyphytum compactum

The little jewel is a perennial succulent native to Mexico. It has a short stem growing up to six inches long with some branches to the base. It has cylindrical fleshy leaves with a light grey-green color, purple tips, and white veins.

The blooms have a yellow center with an orange border in late winter to early spring.

Pachyphytum hookeri

Pachyphytum hookeri

It is another slow-growing plant from Mexico with a small compact growth with thick leaves growing in a rosette form. The stems can reach up to 20 inches, and the foliage has different colors from purple, orange, to green.

Compared to the other succulents, this is a late summer bloomer with small green or red bell-shaped flowers. It has a unique, attractive, aesthetic structure to add to your houseplant collection.

Pachyphytum glutinicaule

Pachyphytum glutinicaule

The sticky moonstone is also a slow-growing native to Mexico. The fleshy leaves display different colors, from purple and orange to green. It forms a loosely shaped rosette with small white to red flowers in spring and summer.

Moonstone Diseases and Pests

These succulents are reasonably pest and disease-resistant plants compared to most other plants. Bugs that tend to harm your plant are mealybugs, and you can remove them with some rubbing alcohol for small infestations and insecticidal soaps for more significant problems.

Frequently Asked Questions

In the USDA plant zones, nine to ten, you can keep your Pachyphytum oviferum outdoors most of the year. But when the frosty season arrives, we recommend taking your plant indoors, and the same applies to intensely hot summers in the afternoon.

This is one of the safest plants to have around kids and pets. In addition, it is listed on the ASPCA list as non-toxic for dogs and cats. Still, if your pet consumes large amounts of it, they can get an upset stomach, and it is best to contact your veterinarian.

It is one gorgeous plant that is visually appealing to grow indoors and outdoors. You can grow it inside with your other exotic plant collection or in a rock garden outside.

You can find these beautiful succulents at your local garden center as they are not rare plants. But you can get the moonstone plants here at Plantly to deliver to your front door.

Whether you want to buy, sell or simply reach out to other plant enthusiasts, Plantly is the right place to be!

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