Faucaria ALBIDENS

Faucaria ALBIDENS - White-toothed faucaria, Faucaria albidens.

"Living Stones" seed series.

Faucaria belongs to the family Aizoaceae. The homeland of the plants is South Africa. In nature, these are 36 species of leaf succulents growing in groups in arid regions. All of them have a shortened stem, short fleshy roots, and about 3 pairs of thick succulent leaves arranged, as a rule, crosswise. They have either tubercles or long hair-like teeth along the leaf margin. They bloom with rather large flowers of various shades of yellow.

White-toothed faucaria is a plant 5-8 cm (2.0-3.1 in) tall. The leaves are fleshy, rhomboid, about 5 cm (2.0 in) long, gray-green with gray dots, with several thin, curved teeth along the edges. The flowers are large, yellow, with a purple-pink tint on the outside.

Propagated by seeds. Sowing is superficial under film/glass. Seeds germinate at a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F). Example of a potting mix for sowing: 2 parts cactus substrate, 1 part sand with a diameter of 1 mm (0.04 in), and 1 part perlite.

© Greeniverse. All rights reserved.

Faucarias are grown mostly as houseplants. They can be placed outdoors on balconies and terraces during the warm season, but brought back indoors in autumn. Potting soil for cultivation is composed of fertile soil with sand (1:1), pH around 6. They are usually fed 3 times during the spring-summer period - fertilizer for cactus crops is added to the water for watering. Main growth occurs in summer. Plants of the genus Faucaria grow and develop well at room temperature; in winter the temperature is 5-15 °C (41-59 °F). The location for the faucaria should be very well lit, but at the same time on hot days the plant should be shaded from direct sunlight. In spring, plants should be watered carefully, moderately. Then in summer they are watered regularly and frequently. Even later, in autumn, watering is reduced, and in winter not watered at all. They are repotted in spring once every 2-3 years, at the end of the dormant period. To maintain appearance, faded flowers and damaged parts are removed.