A Low-Maintenance Houseplant

The Echeveria Miranda is a beautiful houseplant. Although it prefers direct sunlight, this plant is tolerant of less water and can thrive without extra fertilizer.

It is drought-tolerant and prefers well-draining soil. It does not need any additional fertilizer to thrive.

In fact, it is a good choice for a first-time plant grower as it is a low-maintenance houseplant.

The ideal temperature for Echeveria Miranda is around 65F (18C) in summer and 50F (10C) in winter. A controlled-release fertilizer may be used to boost the plant’s health.

Use a balanced 20-20-20 fertilizer for mature plants, and a fertilizer with less nitrogen for younger plants.

Echeveria Miranda Care

Echeverias require two hours of sunlight a day, the same goes for the Echeveria Miranda variety. If the temperature drops below 41F (5C), they will die or produce yellow leaves.

The compact rosette of leaves on Echeveria Miranda is adorned with red markings. The plant grows into a dense rosette of leaves, and the foliage becomes a reddish-pink color when placed in direct sunlight.

The flowers of this plant are pinkish-red and appear in cymes up to 20 inches long. Echeveria Miranda will look gorgeous in any garden.

If you’re considering growing this succulent, keep in mind that it needs bright light and should be kept indoors over the winter.

It is particularly sensitive to frost, so you should carefully plan the time and place for the plant’s growth.

The Echeveria Miranda is a succulent native to Mexico. It is popular as a wedding flower arrangement. Due to its ability to store water in its thick stems, leaves, and roots, it can survive prolonged periods of drought.

In fact, the Miranda succulent can survive for two to three weeks without water. They are versatile enough to be used in a variety of pots and containers.

It is easy to keep this plant alive and beautiful in a terrarium or other indoor environment.

The Echeveria Family Of Plants

Echeverias are diminutive plants, like sempervivum and the low sedums, that draw the eye with their neat rosettes, making them excellent for modern containers and carpet bedding displays.

But while the latter two are hardy little things, echeverias are only frost-tender so are mainly grown under cover as houseplants or in the greenhouse.

There are a few species that may be risked outside. The toughest is Echeveria rosea, followed by the E. agavoides Award of Garden Merit (AGM) and E. elegans AGM.

They suit rockeries, but only in the mildest areas. Generally, echeverias will cope down to -5°C – their native habitat is on the mountains, rocky hillsides, and cliff faces of North and South America so they are tolerant of cold temperatures – but it is the winter wet that will kill them off.

Because of this, most are planted out in the warmer months and then dug up or grown in pots that may be stood outside but are taken in as temperatures drop.

Within the genus, there is a variety of forms and coloring. The rosette size ranges from a few centimeters across to around 50cm.

Small ones look great massed together to create displays in unusual containers and hanging baskets. Larger ones make dramatic single specimens in pots.

The leaves can range from pastel shades of green, blue, lilac, and pink to darker maroons and purples, and there are rosettes with bi-colored leaves such as E. agavoides ‘Ebony’, which has green leaves with dark-red edges.

There are some with light blue/grey leaves that are covered with a fine powder, including E. peacocfeii, that are best displayed out of the way of rain and touching hands.

Then there are plants with ruffled and curled leaves, crinkly contrasting edgings, or strange, warty outgrowths. E. setosa AGM even has a covering of dense white hairs.

Being succulent, they store water in their fleshy leaves and stems, making them low-maintenance plants able to tolerate long periods without watering.

Growing Echeverias

If being grown outside, they need to be planted in very free-draining soil, almost gravel – ideally in a rockery, up against the stone. If grown in pots, they again need free-draining compost.

While they can be watered once a week in summer, this should be reduced from the end of August, and by November it should be minimal. If the plants look like they are drying up, as shown by leaves shriveling, pour a little water into a saucer under the die bottom of the pot.

Pests

The major pests to watch out for are vine weevil and mealybug. Both can be pretty harmful. Vine weevil can be prevented with insecticides added to the compost in liquid or granular form, or cultural controls can be used.

Mealybug is less easy to treat chemically. The Australian ladybird larvae, Cryptolaemus montrouzeri, can be effective against the pest.

The most difficult pest to eradicate is mealybug – isolation is recommended for new plants. It is evidenced by cotton wool-like patches in the growing center, in which eggs are laid by the wax-covered bugs.

Few insecticides get through to them. A dry period in the winter is recommended, but a little water in a saucer to just stop the roots from drying out completely once a month is needed if they shrivel over much.

Species And Varieties

• E. affinis has fresh green rosettes with red-brown edges. Long cream flower stems emerge in summer. The plants form solid mounds. Height and spread: 15x25cm.
• E. agavoides AGM (HI) forms large clumps of rosettes with thick, light apple-green, reddish/brown tipped leaves. It produces red and dark-yellow flowers in the spring through to early summer. Height and spread: 15x30cm.
• E. Albicans forms an attractive rosette of thick, powdery grey-blue leaves. It also produces orange flowers. It is a hardy, slow-growing plant that will reach 10cm across.
• E. ‘Black Prince’ produces clumps of low rosettes with thin, triangular leaves that emerge green but darken to brown, almost black. It also produces dark-red flowers on short stalks. Squatter with more triangular leaves than the similar ‘Black Knight’, as well as being a more prolific clumping plant. Width: 25cm.
• E. ciliata is an interesting smaller species with closely packed deep green leaves edged with silvery hairs. Produces orange/yellow flowers.
• E. elegans AGM (HI) offsets freely to form a dense, small mound of tight rosettes with grey leaves. Pink flowers are produced on arching stems in late winter and spring. Height and spread: 10×10-50cm.
• E. lilacina or the ghost echeveria is an attractive but slow-growing variety that forms immaculate, symmetrical rosettes of pale whitish-pink grey leaves. Coral-colored flowers emerge on reddish stems in spring. Good in containers. Width: 12-20cm.
• E. peacockii is covered in a white powder, giving it a distinctive pale blue/grey color. Forms small rosettes with pointed leaves that have a very distinctive ridge along with them. Width: 15cm.
• E. ‘Perle von Nürnberg’ AGM (HI) is a highly attractive purple-leaved variety with pink flowers. It does well on the patio or bedded out for the summer. Can be brought inside the conservatory or house, but plants may survive winters in the UK on a favorable site. Ultimate spread: 30cm.
• E. secunda var. glauca AGM (HI) forms clusters of rosettes of narrowly wedge-shaped, pale, glaucous-grey leaves, with cymes of nodding red and yellow flowers. Ultimate height and spread: 30cm.
• E. setosa AGM (HI) is distinctive for its spoon-shaped green leaves, which are covered with dense white hairs. In late spring, vibrant red and yellow flowers are produced on one-sided racemes. Height and spread: 10×10-50cm.
• E. subrigida is one of the largest of the echeverias, forming substantial rosettes of wide blue/green leaves. They are deeply channeled, with dark-pink margins. In late spring into midsummer, coral pink flowers with orange centers and red nectaries are produced on upright stalks. Height and spread: 25x45cm.