Although they're in the minority, there are a lot of succulents that grow in the winter, for example many of the mesembs from South Africa. Your plant might be a Tylecodon, kinda looks like a Jade Plant, but is a winter grower. If you have a pic, that would help :)

Some succulents are also "opportunistic growers," meaning they will continue to grow as long as they are watered. If your plant has grown over the summer, it may be one of those. But most of the opportunistic growers still need a dormant period, so to make that happen, you just have to cut back drastically on watering.

HTH,
-R

Julia,

As -R says, many will grow when given warm (but not hot) temperatures, water, some suitable soil, and light. There are many in the Crassulaceae (the plant Family which your referenced jade, Crassula ovata, belongs to) which have their prime growing season in the winter, when those conditions are met. When it's too hot, they shut down until it's cooler. Some are cold-hardy, but most succulent ones are not.

Resembles a jade plant but something different? I'll lay odds it's a Crassula, but it could be a Kalanchoe or a Cotyledon - those are just some of the Old World Crassulaceae. There are New World ones, too, hundreds of them.

How about a picture?

Julia,

I forgot to add - many cacti do so, and there are some succulents which don't want winter water, but also as -R says there are many that do their primary growth in the winter. There are also a number which are dormant in the summer.

The answer to the original question is yes, all succulents will go dormant if it is cold enough.

Many/ most S African species grow very well when it is cool especially at night, but good sun and some moisture is also needed. If you cannot provide adequate light, then it may be better to intentionally keep the plant colder so that growth halts. Warm + poor indoor light = poor growth. Cold = no growth. Seasonal no growth is better than poor growth.

In my opinion, with almost all succulents, best growth is obtained outdoors, weather permitting. If, like me, you cannot leave most plants outdoors during the winter, try to find a cold spot where you can keep your plants in "suspended animation" until they can be placed outdoors again. An unheated garage is perfect. Light is a bonus, but not required.

YMMV

x

>Many/ most S African species grow very well when it is cool especially at night, but good sun and some moisture is also needed. If you cannot provide adequate light, then it may be better to intentionally keep the plant colder so that growth halts. Warm + poor indoor light = poor growth. Cold = no growth. Seasonal no growth is better than poor growth.

X_NYC, I hope you aren't implying that most South African succulents grow during the winter, coz that's not true.

-R

here in the (usually) hot and muggy south they are more likely to go dormant in the middle of the summer. Nights are only a couple of degrees cooler than days. Even with this "cold" weather we are having right now I've only got a couple of things that are dormant.

Good luck with it!
Tally HO!

land:

No I'm not implying S Africans grow in the "winter". I apologize if my message wasn't clear.

I don't like the term "winter grower". It is meaningless and useless. Most S Africans are more like "spring and fall growers", but even that is not always so.

My main point was that if possible, it is better to force a cold dormancy in the winter than to try and grow a plant in poor conditions indoors.

x

There are plenty of South African succulents from the winter rainfall parts of the Western Cape/Karoo and transitional winter rainfall areas of the Eastern Cape that do grow in the winter, and easily do so here in similar West Coast/California conditions where it seldom freezes. Examples would include Aloes, Cotyledons, Lampranthus, Drosanthemums, Senecios,etc. Many of the various Kalanchoe species are also starting to bloom in winter here. Also, here in California our native succulents such as the various Dudleya species are also winter growers. Winter growing is a fully appropriate term for winter rainfall Mediterranean climate zone species that are being grown in similar conditions to habitat. Even some of the succulents coming from Mexico with predominantly summer rainfall, can also be actively growing here in the San Francisco Bay Area in winter. Sedum palmeri, S. confusum, S. dendroideum are just a few that come to mind, as they put on significant growth year round in our conditions.

See my recent topic on my Aloe Vera blooming. Not only is it blooming, all of my succulents are growing like crazy! And I never fertilize either.

Mine has to do with the direct light coming in the windows this time of the year.

My Hoya's are growing like weeds, along with other succulents.

I'm a firm believer that it's the light and to water often because of the dry heat in the house. Let the plants dry first though.