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Aeonium 'zwartkop' questions

greendale
10 years ago

Thought these two are all A. 'Zwartkop', but after (almost) a summer outside, I think the left one (the taller one with more green color) is something else, so what is it? Also why the length of my A. 'Zwartkop' leaf is shorter than all the pictures I saw online? Mine does not get full sun, it is under a tree, can I put them in full sun graduatly? The left one is very tall. Can I wack it and root the header, and the stem will grow new headers? When is the best time to do the wacking job?
Last question, how low the temperature they can go? Lower 50s or 40s. Trying to stretch the time they can stay outside.
TIA

Comments (12)

  • greendale
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Another angle

  • rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
    10 years ago

    ..want it upside-up?...

    (Greendale, hope you don't mind me playing with your pics...)

    This post was edited by rina_ on Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 6:37

  • rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
    10 years ago

    ...another angle?...

  • Colleen E
    10 years ago

    Yep, certainly two different Aeoniums! Hate to say it, but Rosemarie's gonna need to come in here and put in her two cents because I'm not great with Aeonium identification.

    I can see what you mean about the leaf shape of the 'Zwartkop,' but I know I've never seen another Aeonium that achieves and maintains that dark of a purple-black hue, and your plant still is pretty small. The other A., which I think has beautiful color, might be a Catlin hybrid--there are several different ones out there and perhaps Rosemarie will chime in. :) The specific hybrid can be tough to ID.

  • Microthrix
    10 years ago

    Aeoniums can go down to 32 for sure, but any lower will cause damage. At least in my personal experience. Yes, you can gradually introduce them to full sun. Mine is in full sun right now. Except they look far healthier with a bit of shade. Yours look fine, wouldnt bother.

  • greendale
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Tina: thanks for correcting the pic, I was using iPhone until I viewed this post on my laptop.

    Teatree: thanks for the confirmation of they are 2 diff A.s. and I am very flattered by your comment on the color. Thanks for saying that.:)

    Microthrix: thanks for the lowest temp info. Guess i can leave them ouside until Oct. - that's a almost 2 more monthes time for them to enjoy the summer camping. Yes, I knew what you say about full sun, I had some of my succulents in full sun but they looked damaged on the leave, after give some shade, they look much better.

  • cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
    10 years ago

    gd,

    I was thinking of your question this morning as I passed by my much-dessicated Aeoniums, thinking that it's almost time (and maybe today I'll go a little overboard and start forcing them out of their dormancy today by giving them their first drink of water in three months) to Start It Up again.

    Aeoniums are full-sun plants - if you can, give them this, but ease them into it. They'll grow best in the October - April time frame, as is their wont, if given that, some fertilizer, and weekly-10 day waterings. Of course, not knowing your exact conditions, that advice should be tempered with the YMMV initializer.

  • rosemariero
    10 years ago

    Sorry for this rushed response, but just jumping in here while trying to process 2,000 horse show pix. :P

    Thanks for the vote of confidence, Colleen, but...I'll 1st say there are new hybrids our there now that are unfamiliar to me! That said, Yes, agreed that they are 2 different Aeonium.

    Many Aeonium can take on different leaf shapes & color through the year, as well as depending on their growing conditions. So, sometimes hard to pin down.

    I do not believe the darker one is 'Zwartkop', but a hybrid with that as one of the parents.I have several 'Zwartkop' & they DO have different looks to each (some small, some large, some will short leaves & others long). But I have not seen short & wide, like yours. It doesn't mean it's not possible! It just means I haven't seen it, so it makes me believe it's a hybrid.

    I have one of the newer hybrids, named 'Kokino', that looked like yours when I first bought it. as it has grown out, its shape & color have changed. Yours doesn't look like mine at the moment, but I'm guessing we have way different growing conditions. Do you see what I'm getting at here? You may have to wait for yours to bloom & even then, may not be sure about which hybrid you own. One thing I can say for certain, if it is a hybrid, is that 'Zwartkop' is one of the parents!

    Now, the other one could be 'Blushing Beauty', & yet again, looks a bit different than ones I've seen. Jack Catlin has at least 6 hybrids using 'Zwartkop'. Other hybrids have been popping up recently. This may be one of them. Where did you buy them?

    Oh! Thanks to Rina for turning the pix around! I was cocking my neck. Seems to be an issue when anyone posts pix from their cell phones. Looks one way from a phone, another from laptop, etc. We'll get it figured out one way or another!

    Sorry to muddy the waters, but that's my take on it. :P
    Flying off now!

  • greendale
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Jeff, so summer is actually the dormant period for A.? I did not know that as I watered them once every week, sometimes even more in the whole summer.

    Rosemarie: thanks for 'muddy the waters', :) I got them either from lowes or homedepot. I can settle with A. 'Zwartkop' hybrid for now I guess.

    Also, wanted to add that most pics I saw online of A. 'Zwartkop', they are more like an umbrella shape - the center is higher than the tip of leaf more like a 'n', but mine is more like a 'u' with the center is lower than the leaf tip.
    So, if I want to wack the left plant, when is the good time to do so? (To allow the header root and the stem grow new bud.)

    Again, thank a lot

    This post was edited by greendale on Mon, Jul 29, 13 at 13:25

  • cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
    10 years ago

    You got it, but with a proviso. I had Aeoniums in San Diego which were watered all the time with no ill effects, and there are also some (I'm thinking specifically of A. smithii) which abhor summer water. These hybrids are more accepting of off-season water, but generally, yes, these are summer dormant. A little drink during then is fine, but generally they should be kept dryish from late spring to early fall. All of mine come in in September, which is just when the growing bug hits them.

  • greendale
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thought I will do an update on my 2 A. 'zwartkop'. Back on Sep I cut the head of the left one (with more green) off and rooted the head. The stem left actually was leafing out but soon the new leaves were drying and dead. And now what I left is the (rotting) stem only. I think it might because the sun is too hush or I watered too much. But the head rooted (I believe althouogh I did not actually check). See the picture, the rooted head is in the left pot.

    Also, see how the small one (with almost all dark color) changed. It's leaves grow much longer now (more align with what I saw on the internet), and more green apears (maybe because I move it indoor and it gets less sun? ). You just can not tell it is the same plant compare to the previous picture at the beginning of this thread.

  • Colleen E
    10 years ago

    Well, beheading an A. during the hot summer, during dormancy time, probably isn't the best idea and may lead to an upset, rotting remaining stem. But it may also have been an over-watering thing. In my limited experience, a beheaded rosette has been more likely to root during the late summer than the remaining stem has tended to do well. My impatient self just has to wait until fall to do my whacking. I've lost a couple stems by whacking too early, and I know one of those times it was in entirely dry soil. The weather had cooled down, I got excited and beheaded, and then the temperature ended up shooting back up, and the stem hollowed out and croaked. Not a big deal to me, but it was a stupid choice on my part.

    I love the pretty hybrid on the left, that you whacked, though. Gorgeous color.

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