Pleiospilos nelii

El Pleiospilos nelii It is one of those little beauties that should be kept in a pot if you don't want to lose it. One of the most interesting things about this species is that there is the green variety, which is the one you can see in the image above, which produces yellow-orange flowers; and another one in purple with pink flowers that is also really precious known as Royal Flush.

I like to call them jewels, just like Lithops, Argyroderma and similar succulents. Their size is small, but that is precisely why they are plants with which incredible compositions can be made, the kind that last. So that, let's see how it takes care the pleiospilos.

Origin and characteristics of Pleiospilos nelii

Our protagonist is a crass or non-cactus succulent plant (remember that succulents are those plant beings that use one or more parts of their body to store water, making the aforementioned often fleshy) native to South Africa, where it lives at an altitude between 870 and 1250 meters. Its scientific name is Pleiospilos nelii, and its common name pleiospilos; although sometimes it is marketed under the name of living stone, something that can lead to confusion since that is the popular name of Lithops.

Its leaves are fleshy, up to eight centimeters high, and there are, as we anticipated, two varieties:

• Pleiospilos nelii: green leaf with dots of a darker color, and yellow-orange flowers.
• Pleiospilos nelii var Royal Flush: purple leaf and pink flowers.

Blooms in spring, and even a little earlier if the winter is warm. When it does, and if it is outside, it attracts such beneficial insects as bees, who enjoy feeding. In addition, as they contain an interesting amount of pollen, it is relatively easy to get seeds, after cross-pollination (that is, carrying pollen from one flower from one specimen to another from another, either naturally as pollinators do, or from artificially with the help of a brush).

What are the care it requires?

If you want to have a copy, we recommend that you provide it with the following care:

Location

From my own experience, I recommend having it outside, in full sun. It is a plant that to be able to grow well and have a correct development needs to be exposed to the star king.

Now, if they had it protected in the nursery, get used to it little by little and gradually, otherwise it will burn.

Earth

• Flower pot: you can mix universal substrate with perlite in equal parts, but a more porous substrate is better, type pumice, kiryuzuna or even fine gravel of work (with a granulometry of 1-3mm) mixed with 30% of black peat.
• Garden: we do not recommend planting it in the garden. Due to its small size, it would be too easy to lose it, unless you had a corner a little different from the rest, for example bordered with stones, with succulents. In any case, if you want to keep it on the ground, the soil must be porous, with excellent drainage.

Irrigation

Irrigation must be low, only when the soil or substrate is completely dry. During the winter, water once a month or every month and a half.

If you have a plate underneath, remember to remove the excess water after watering, otherwise the Pleiospilos nelii it will rot.

Subscriber

The subscriber is advisable so that the plant can enjoy better health, so it must be paid from early spring to late summer with a specific liquid fertilizer for cacti and other succulents, following the instructions specified on the package.

But yes, it must be borne in mind that with this contribution of fertilizer it is not going to increase in size. That is, if we have a young plant, what it will do is remove the new leaves a little faster than it would if it were not fertilized, but it is not something that can be seen well either.

In any case, the objective of the pleiospilos subscriber is none other than to achieve that, that he is well enough so that, in case of disease or plague, he can combat them normally.

Multiplication

It multiplies by seeds in spring. To achieve them, two specimens that are blooming at the same time are necessary, to be able to pass the brush over each of the flowers (first one and immediately after the other) for several days. Thus, you will see that soon the petals will fall and the fruit will form, which will be full of seeds.

These must be sown in pots with universal substrate mixed with perlite in equal parts, covering them with a very thin layer of substrate or previously washed river sand. After watering, the seedbed is placed outside, in full sun or, at the very least, in a bright area.

If all goes well, they will germinate in about 10-15 days at a temperature of about 20ºC.

Plagues and diseases

It is quite sturdy in general. Simply you have to control the risks a lot to avoid fungal infections, and snails.

Sometimes, if the environment is dry and very warm, you could have aphids on your flowers. Still, it is not something that cannot be removed with a swab from the ears soaked in drugstore alcohol.

Rusticity

El Pleiospilos nelii it's a plant sensitive to cold and frost. Above all, frost, hail and not even snow, seriously damages its leaves. But I can tell you that if you have it for example in a sheltered area, even if the temperature drops to -2ºC from time to time, it can suffer minor damage.

In any case, if it is colder in your area, or you don't want to risk it, don't hesitate to put it in a greenhouse or indoors.

What did you think of the Pleiospilos nelii?