Aeoniums have few specialized requirements to ensure that they grow strong and healthy indoors as part of your houseplant collection. Their spirals of colorful leaves are modified to store moisture for long periods of time and display vibrant colors that are enhanced by being placed in the brightest location available.
Most types of Aeonium thrive in bright direct light year round and will tolerate filtered or indirect bright light during the winter months when active growth has slowed. Placing Aeonium in low light or even medium light for extended periods will result in slowed growth, loss of vibrant leaf color, leggy growth of the branching varieties, and stretched growth for the low-growing single rosette types.
Aeoniums growing in their native habitat will tolerate lower light levels and a certain amount of shade during the hottest parts of the day. Their natural dormancy period is during the summer when Mediterranean climates are at their driest and hottest. During the active growing period in the fall and spring Aeoniums growing indoors may not receive enough direct sunlight and greatly benefit from growing under specialized growing lamps.
Best Rooms To Grow Aeonium
Typically the brightest spot in any house is a south, south-east, or southwest-facing window. Place your Aeonium directly in the window to get the brightest exposure. Moving the plant to either side of the window or opposite side of the room greatly diminishes the light level and will result in plants that stretch to the light.
Even when Aeoniums are in the brightest window they will require regular rotation of their pot so that the stems grow somewhat straight with very little stretching (etiolation).
During parts of the year, your perfectly bright sun exposure may change due to leafing out of deciduous trees in the late spring and summer. Try moving your plant to another location that has less shade from the outdoors or consider using a grow light until the fall when the shade goes away.
Another great solution is to let your Aeonium have an extended vacation during the summertime where they will thrive and require very little attention when placed on a balcony or deck with dappled sunlight or shaded during the hottest part of the day.
Providing Supplemental Sunlight To Aeonium
Supplemental lighting is sometimes the only way that a gardener can provide bright enough light for indoor growing of Aeoniums. Although it seems a bit intimidating to grow a plant under specialized lights, there are so many types of LED grow light fixtures on the market that any space can be used to grow plants unobtrusively.
Look for hanging pendant lights to brighten a corner of the room, floor lamps that can be retrofitted with a broad spectrum LED grow bulb, or a more serious setup incorporating shelving units with built-in lighting under each shelf. Grow lights are most effective when they are placed close to the plants to reduce any leggy growth due to stretching for the light.
LED grow lights are worth the investment and should be used instead of incandescent lamps which give off high levels of heat which can both damage the plant and dry the potting mix.
Sunlight Needed For Growing Aeonium Outdoors
Aeoniums will need a period to adapt to the naturally brighter light levels outdoors. A quick move to full sun on a patio could damage and burn the leaves. Allow up to a week for acclimation from full shade to filtered, full sun exposure. Every day move your Aeonium into brighter light until it is in your desired location.
Providing some sort of shade for the hottest time of the day will help to preserve dark-colored Aeoniums, which are easily sunburned.
Sources: “Plant Finder”, Missouri Botanical Garden. www.missouribotanicalgarden.org
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Author Robbin Small - Published 12-27-2024 |