Tips for Growing Painted Lady Echeveria

Echeveria derenbergii

There are many types of echeverias to choose from, but if you want one that has beautiful blue rosettes with leaves outlined in red and a spreading growth habit, put painted lady echeveria on your short list!

With the right care routine, these botanical beauties will make gorgeous houseplants and develop a low-growing spread out in the landscape.

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Like all echeverias, painted lady is easy to grow, whether in a pot on your windowsill or out in the landscape in suitable regions.

Our guide to growing echeveria covers how to cultivate these delightful succulents. In this article, we’ll discuss how to grow painted lady, Echeveria derenbergii.

Ready for a peek at what we’ll cover?

What Is Painted Lady Echeveria?

Painted lady echeverias (Echeveria derenbergii) are evergreen succulents with leaves that form in clusters of low-growing rosettes.

Those leaves are spade shaped with pointed tips. And when exposed to bright light, the leaf margins and tips become outlined with a lovely burgundy color, inspiring the species’ common name.

This slow-growing species has a spreading, mounding growth habit.

E. derenbergii produces rosettes that are three to four inches tall and wide, on clumping plants that can spread from 12 to 36 inches wide.

Like other blue succulents, the foliage of this echeveria species has a layer of epicuticular wax – also known as farina – which gives it a blue tint, and helps to protect the leaves from sun, pests, and disease.

Thes bell-shaped flowers are yellow and red, appearing in winter or spring.

There’s another succulent in the same genus, E. nodulosa, that sometimes goes by the same common name as the subject of our article, but is more often known as painted echeveria.

Whereas E. derenbergii looks like its leaves were delicately outlined by a steady hand, the foliage of painted echeveria looks like it has been drawn on hastily with a broad tipped marker, widely outlining both the leaf margins and asymmetrical petal shapes on the centers of the leaves.

Cultivation and History

Painted lady echeveria is a naturally occurring species, whose native range is in arid locations in southwestern Mexico.

Photo by Diego Delso, Wikimedia Commons, via CC BY-SA.

This echeveria species was classified botanically in 1921, and is a member of the Crassulaceae or stonecrop family.

It’s related to other popular succulents you might be familiar with, including hens and chicks, jade plant, kalanchoe, and donkey’s tail.

Recognized for its ornamental characteristics, painted lady echeveria was honored with the RHS Award of Garden Merit in 1993.

These succulents can be cultivated indoors with sufficient light, or grown outdoors year round in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 12.

Painted Lady Echeveria Propagation

Your options for propagating this succulent include growing from seed, leaf cuttings, stem cuttings, or offsets.

We’ll provide guidance for each of these propagation methods, as well as directions for transplanting.

From Seed

Let’s start with propagating new specimens from seed!

You may have a hard time finding painted lady echeveria seeds to purchase, so your most reliable option may be to grow your own.

While echeveria are sometimes self-fertile, able to produce seeds when only one individual of the species is present, in general plants tend to have better pollination rates when more than one individual is involved, and this also provides better genetic diversity.

So if you really want to grow your own seed supply, start with two separate plants.

If the plants are outdoors, you may have pollinators, such as small bees to do the job of pollination for you.

When growing indoors or if there are no pollinators, you’ll need to pollinate them yourself, by dabbing open flowers with the bristles of a small paint brush.

Blooms that have been pollinated will close up, then the petals will start to fade, and star-shaped seed heads will form.

It can take one to two months for pods to ripen from green to brown, and then they will start to split open to release the seeds inside.

Try to harvest the seeds soon after the pods split, and sow them as soon as possible after harvesting.

You can remove the seeds from the pods by holding the flower over a bowl, turning the flower over, and squeezing the base.

Try to remove any debris from around the seeds, as this can cause fungal issues for the young seedlings after sowing.

Before you sow, you’ll need to make sure you have the right ingredients to make a growing medium.

For painted lady echeverias, you’ll need a growing medium that is grittier than the typical succulent and houseplant growing medium.

If you want to make your own succulent potting soil, I recommend a mix of 50 to 70 percent gritty mineral content and the rest organic matter.

If you live in a humid location or have a hard time preventing yourself from overwatering, go with 70 percent, and less organic matter, just 30 percent.

If you tend to neglect your plants or live in a dry location, use 50 percent grit and 50 percent organic matter.

For the organic matter part, I like to start with one of my favorite peat-free, all-purpose houseplant growing mediums, Rosy Soil Houseplant Mix.

Rosy Soil Houseplant Mix

Rosy Soil Houseplant Mix is available in four- or eight-quart bags from Rosy Soil via Walmart.

For the grit, mineral ingredients such as coarse sand, lava rocks, and pumice will all work nicely.

Horticultural Pumice

If you don’t already have any on hand, you can pick up a bag of 1/8-inch horticultural pumice from General Pumice Products via Amazon.

To sow seeds, prepare a small nursery pot with growing medium, sprinkle the seeds onto the surface of the medium, and moisten with a spray bottle.

Keep the pot or tray on a heat mat and under a humidity dome, and keep the growing medium moist until the seeds have germinated.

Then acclimate the young seedlings to ambient conditions and wait about a year before transplanting them.

Find step by step guidance for propagating succulents from seed in our guide.

From Leaf Cuttings

Painted lady echeveria can also be propagated from leaf cuttings.

To do this, remove a leaf from the bottom of the rosette, then allow the wound to callus over for around a week.

Small, hair-like roots may also form at the wound during this time.

Once the leaf has a callused wound and possibly roots as well, place it horizontally in a two-inch pot filled with growing medium, and spray the medium with a water bottle, so that itis moist but not soggy.

A plantlet will grow at the leaf wound.

Want to learn more about propagating succulents from leaf cuttings? Read our article!

From Stem Cuttings

Stem cuttings can also be harvested to grow new specimens.

Using a clean, sterilized pair of garden snips, take a four- to six-inch long cutting including a rosette and a length of stem.

Trim the cutting so that there’s about one inch of stem left below the rosette.

Place the cutting in a dry location out of direct sunlight for about a week to allow the wound to callus over.

Once the wound has callused, fill a three- or four-inch nursery pot with growing medium, poke a hole in the middle of the medium, and insert the stem.

Rather than watering right away, wait a week.

From Offsets

E. derenbergii produces offsets around the base of the mother plant, and these can be separated to grow new echeveria specimens.

Remove an offset from the mother plant, allow it to callus over for a week, then plant it in a small nursery pot filled with potting medium.

Give the offset a week to acclimate to its new set up before watering it.

Learn more about propagating succulent offsets in our guide.

Transplanting

Later in the article, you’ll learn more about when to repot a painted lady echeveria and when to wait.

For now let’s talk about the steps needed to transplant one of these beautiful echeverias from one container to another.

In addition to growing medium, you may also need a different pot. If the plant you’re transplanting is rootbound, choose a container that is just one size larger.

Whatever type of container you choose, make sure it has drainage holes! This is an important step in avoiding disease problems.

Once you have both some growing medium and containers, you’ll be ready to start.

If the echeveria specimen you’re transplanting has a small root system, fill the container with growing medium leaving half an inch to one inch of space from the rim of the container.

Poke a hole in the center of the growing medium, then insert the plant’s roots.

If you’re transplanting a painted lady echeveria that has a developed root ball, you’ll proceed a bit differently.

Is the plant rootbound? If so, use the tines of a fork to loosen up the outer edges of the root ball.

If you’re changing to a new type of potting medium, try to remove as much of the old medium from around the root ball as possible.

Next place a shallow layer of growing medium in the bottom of the pot.

Hold the echeveria in the pot with one hand, and use the other to fill in around it with potting medium. Cover the root ball, but not the plant’s foliage.

Rather than watering right away, allow the plant to settle in to its new container for a week.

How to Grow Painted Lady Echeveria

Let’s start with sunlight, because if you get that right, it will be easier to manage the rest of this plant’s needs.

Adequate sunlight is also what will bring out the beautiful red hues of the leaf margins.

Painted lady echeveria plants need at least six hours of direct sunlight per day.

However, it’s also a good idea to situate these succulents where they will receive some light shade during the hottest part of the day during the summer months.

If you aren’t growing these succulents outdoors year round, choose a sunny, south-facing window, and turn the plants each time you water.

You may also need to supplement with a grow light, since even sunny, south-facing windows don’t usually receive full sun all year long.

To check that the plant is receiving the right amount of light, you may want to use a light meter.

You’ll want to make sure that these plants are receiving at least 800 foot candles for six hours or more.

There are different types of light meters to choose from, depending on which light sources you are using.

Next, let’s talk about soil because your watering routine will be a failure if the potting medium you choose isn’t right.

What do these plants want when it comes to soil?

Drainage, drainage, drainage!

In addition to a pH range of 5.6 to 7.8, as mentioned, these plants need a growing medium made up of 50 to 70 percent mineral content – which will provide that drainage! – and the rest from organic matter such as coconut coir.

If you have a bag of cactus and succulent soil on hand and want to use it, go ahead and amend it with some grit. Too much grit won’t hurt but too much organic matter can lead to oversaturated soil.

When you have the right potting medium for your succulent, your watering routine will be less anxiety-ridden, because most of the water you pour in will just filter right through all that grit and out of the bottom of the pot.

Speaking of filtering through – just because these are drought tolerant plants doesn’t mean you should only give them a few drops of water at a time.

Instead, when you do water, place the pot in a bowl, pour water evenly over the growing medium using a houseplant watering can.

Pour enough water so that liquid comes out of the drainage holes in the bottom of the pot. Repeat, then allow the pot to drain before you return the plant to its usual location.

There’s no precise time frame for watering, as this will vary depending on the conditions in your home or yard. Just be sure you don’t water the plant until the potting medium has dried out thoroughly.

Learn more about the right type of water to use for succulents in our guide.

The ideal temperature range for painted lady echeverias is between 60 to 80°F. Watch out for cold spells – these are only cold hardy down to 15 to 20°F.

And there’s no reason to purchase a humidifier for this succulent plant – it will thrive in humidity levels between 40 to 50 percent.

If the humidity in your home is higher than that, you can compensate by providing more air flow.

Are you cultivating these plants in your yard year round? Find tips for growing succulents outdoors in our guide.

Growing Tips

• Expose plants to at least six hours of direct sunlight with shade at midday during hot periods.
• Only water when the growing medium is completely dry.
• Provide excellent drainage via the potting medium and container.

Maintenance

There are a few other maintenance tasks besides providing adequate light and water that you’ll want to do to take care of a painted lady echeveria.

Let’s start with repotting.

You’ve already learned the steps involved in repotting in the transplanting section above, but let’s consider when you should repot – and when you shouldn’t.

You should consider repotting if the succulent is rootbound, if it is planted in the wrong type of potting medium, or if it has been two or three years since the last time you repotted.

Only increase the pot size, however, if the plant’s roots fill the container its currently growing in. Otherwise, repot it into the same size container.

If the painted lady echeveria is growing into a container much too big for its size, then you’ll want to choose a smaller pot.

Repot in spring or summer preferably, unless the succulent is growing in poorly draining growing medium, a pot with no drainage, or an oversized pot.

Wondering when you shouldn’t repot?

There’s no need to repot frequently, as these plants don’t have large or fast growing root systems.

Avoid repotting when the painted lady echeveria is in bloom – when the plant’s energy is going into flower production, it will have a harder time producing new roots.

Winter is a time of rest for echeverias, this one included, so the colder months are not the best time to repot if you can avoid it.

And when you’ve just brought home a new plant, unless there’s a drainage problem with the potting medium or container, wait a month or so before repotting.

Echeverias waiting to be repotted.

You may also wonder if you need to fertilize your painted lady echeveria.

As with most other succulents, a little gentle fertilizer will encourage robust growth.

But it’s important to apply it only during the growing season and to use a gentle fertilizer formulated for succulents.

I recommend Dr. Earth’s Succulence Cactus and Succulent Plant Food, available in 16-ounce pump bottles via Arbico Organics.

Dr. Earth Succulence

Read our guide to fertilizing succulents for more tips.

There are a couple of other tasks that will help the succulent stay healthy and beautiful.

When you water, always check the bottom of the plant for dead leaves and remove any you notice.

And if blooms form, once they fade you can prune them off with a pair of sterilized garden snips. However, if you’re interested in saving seeds, first inspect the flowers and make sure they haven’t been pollinated.

Pollinated echeveria flower petals will fade and you’ll see star shaped seed pods that swell and turn from green to brown.

When flowers have faded or all seeds have been harvested, you can snip off the flower spike close to the rosette.

In addition to these maintenance tasks, when handling the plant, avoid touching the foliage with your hands.

This plant will resist both deer and rabbits, and isn’t particularly bothered by insect pests either, particularly if you remove dead leaves and flowers.

However, there are a few pests to keep your eye out for: scale, mealybugs, and succulent mites.

Succulent mites can be particularly difficult to see, but the damage they inflict causes discolored foliage.

Learn more about identifying and controlling succulent mites in our guide.

As for disease, the one you’re most likely to encounter is rot.

What causes succulents like painted lady echeveria to rot? It happens when we’re not getting those basic needs right: the proper combination of water, light, and drainage.

If your succulent is rotting, go back and review the how to grow section of this article to make sure you’re providing the right amount of light, water, and drainage.

And to learn more about how to deal with rotting succulents, read our guide.

Best Uses for Painted Lady Echeveria

Painted lady echeverias can make wonderful houseplants as long as you provide at least six hours of direct sunlight, or the equivalent from a grow light.

They are considered nontoxic, so are ideal if your household includes vegetation-munching felines or toddlers that can’t stop putting things into their mouths.

Feeling whimsical? Why not include one in a succulent fairy garden?

Outdoors in USDA Hardiness Zones 9 to 12, these xerophytes can also be used as ground covers in rock gardens or xeriscapes.