Growing Crassulas: Tips at a Glance
Crassulas are succulents that like dry soil, warm air, and indirect sunlight. The best known Crassula, the jade plant, is a hardy houseplant even in low light.
- Type Succulent
- Lifespan Perennial
- USDA Zones 9-10
- Light Partial sun
- Water Allow soil to dry
- Where to Plant Gritty cactus mix
- Design Tip Prone to tip
- Companions Ornamental grasses
- Peak Season Winter flowers
Crassulas: A Field Guide
Jade plant, the most famous Crassula, has hogged the limelight long enough. With nearly 150 species, this genus of hardy succulents includes many candidates for “world’s perfect houseplant.”
From spiky Crassula ‘Green Pagoda’ to drapy Crassula rupestris ssp. rupestris, crassulas like dry soil, warm air, and indirect sunlight. In other words, these succulents have been waiting all their lives for a chance to live in the weak light from your north-facing apartment window. Outdoors, depending on the cultivar, crassulas can behave like ground covers, evergreen shrubs, or bloomers with long-lasting clusters of tiny flowers.
Crassulas’ pillowy, water-storing leaves range in color from blue-gray to bright green, tinged with an outline of lipstick pink coloration. To propagate a Crassula, take a leaf or stem cutting and gently press the cut surface into moist (not wet) soil.