The Ultimate Aeonium Winter Care Guide
ALL you need to know about caring for Aeoniums in winter
We know the importance of protection for these stunning plants during winter. This article covers a wide range of challenges we all face, such as extreme weather, taking cuttings, and protecting from frosty nights and days. Enjoy the read; we are sure there is some valuable information here to help you.
Summer and winter colours
A stunning Aeonium 'Blood' in summer. This darker colouration is due to intense summer sunlight. This colour is most extreme during heatwaves and droughts.
Aeonium 'Blood' in winter. You can clearly see here that the 'Blood' is greener in the winter than in the summer. It is also more open and full leaved, showcasing that the Aeonium peak growth period is in the cooler period.
Light and Temperature
Winter light is vital for Aeonium health and is essential for keeping them compact. Inadequate light can result in leggy growth and can increase vulnerability to pests and diseases.
Most Aeonium species are native to the sunny Canary Islands, where they enjoy good levels of light year round being near to the equator.
However, when cultivating them in darker and colder regions like the UK, where light levels dip, daylight hours shorten and temperatures plummet, extra care is needed. Leaving them outside to fend for themselves isn’t an option for most locations in the UK. Ideal options include a greenhouse, porch, or conservatory to shield them from harsh weather. Full sun and temperatures between 6 and 12°C during winter are ideal.
We keep and grow our plants in bright glasshouses and polytunnels. This provides them with a higher temperature when the sun is out, mimicking their natural habitat. Aeoniums grow faster when temperatures are above 15°C. This is important to keep in mind.
You may find yourself needing to bring your Aeoniums into a controlled environment, such as a polytunnel, or if desperate, into your house. If brought into your house, where light levels are drastically lower than required and temperatures are constantly above 15°C, your plant will suffer.
If keeping them in controlled environment, ensure temperatures are between that 6 to 12°C range, as higher temperatures will result in leggy, unhealthy growth, and lower temperatures may result in frost damage.
Light levels are crucial to keep your plants looking their best year-round, especially during winter. Higher light levels result in healthier plants, especially in cooler conditions. Supplementing light with grow lights is a great way to keep your plants the healthiest they can be.
These are best used when you have limited natural light levels, such as on a dull windowsill indoors.
If bright enough, grow lights can be also used as a main source of light.
Pests and disease
As temperatures cool, pest activity may decline, but don't let your guard down, they’re still around. Aphids, mealy bugs, and sneaky caterpillars can hide among Aeonium leaves. Stay vigilant and remove any you find. Pests lurking under the soil, like vine weevils, pose a threat by feeding on Aeonium stems. Signs include a shrinking rosette, excessive leaf drop, a soft stem base, or even the plant toppling over. Early detection and removal are key to safeguarding your Aeoniums.
Mealy bugs
These little white bugs are one of the most common of the succulent pests. To remove these, we simply suggest for you to physically remove them with tweezers or a fine brush. You can use neem oil or any bug clear spray too.
Caterpillar
These critters like to hide and eat away at the centre of the growth point. To stop this, we suggest inspecting your plants every so often. They like to make web nests within the leaves, so be on the lookout for those.
Botrytis
To slow/ stop the spread of this fungus, we have found that increasing airflow and keeping the plants dry is the best option. Any residual water may cause this to develop on your plant. If you do notice it soon enough, take all of the affected area away.
Aphid, greenfly and blackfly
These small, soft bugs can be a real nuisance to get rid of. One day you think you got rid of them all and the next it's like you never touched them! To get rid of them, we suggest a weekly or fortnightly douse of soapy water and a wipe with a fine brush.
Vine weevil grubs
These are silent killers as they only attack the roots and stem until it is too late. To prevent vine weevils, we suggest you repot your plants in late summer-early autumn, giving the lower stem and roots an inspection. This clears any eggs and grubs before they can do real damage.
Protecting from cold temperatures
Frost is, by far, the biggest threat to your Aeoniums in winter. Protecting them from the cold is the number one priority. This can be done by following a few different methods including shelter, positions and different tools you can use to keep the frost off of your Aeoniums.
Light ground frost can occur at forecasted temperatures of 5°C and below. Younger plants and some of the more tender Aeonium varieties, such as Aeonium tabuliforme and variegated Aeoniums, can suffer from frost damage at these temperatures. Frosts can occur at any time from early October to as late as early May in some parts of the UK. The average first frosts are around November 6th, so make sure you are as ready as you can be before this date.
In a heated greenhouse or conservatory, aim to keep temperatures above 5°C. For unheated environments, we recommend using our tried and tested top-quality fleece, protecting down to -10°C with two layers in dry conditions.
Also, keeping your Aeoniums dry encourages their natural frost defence mechanisms, allowing them to withstand slightly lower temperatures.
Hard frosts can still pose a threat in enclosed greenhouses, so monitor forecasts and act before temperatures drop below 5°C. Elevating plants onto benches or shelves in a greenhouse can offer extra protection, as temperatures can be a few degrees higher, even just slightly above ground level.
In colder regions, insulate the greenhouse with horticultural bubble wrap, and consider using heaters to ward off extreme cold.
Cuttings
Winter is still a viable time to take Aeonium cuttings, as long as you have a bright, airy environment to grow them in.
However, we don’t recommend you to take cuttings for propagation in winter time as wintery conditions are not the best for rooting Aeoniums. Spring and late summer are the best times to take them.
Large, mature Aeoniums can be difficult to move into a safe space due to their size and weight. It can be difficult to know what to do with them at this stage.
Taking cuttings can be a good way to preserve your beloved plant.
Once the cut end has dried, plant it in a 50/50 mix of multipurpose compost and horticultural grit or perlite. You can dip the cutting in rooting powder before planting to encourage roots, but this isn’t required.
Keep it in a bright spot with good airflow, and it should root between 3-5 weeks. Keep the soil slightly moist, not too wet, for best results.
To take your cutting, use sharp, clean garden snips to cut a rosette with a 3-4 inch stem. Let the cutting callous over for 3-5 days in a cool, bright area. This drying process is essential to help prevent rot.
Firstly, you will want to find an older stem to cut from your plant. Young cuttings don’t root very well in winter and may rot, so making sure you have an older stem, like in the image shown, is a good idea.
You can tell its older due to to the woody, brown coloured stem.
Growth rate
In their natural habitat of the Canary Islands and northern Africa, Aeoniums spend their mild winter months growing at their peak rate as they are mostly dormant over the hot summer.
In colder climates, like the UK, Aeoniums slow down their growth rate dramatically during the coldest periods. April - late September, excluding mid summer, are the peak growing periods for Aeoniums in colder climates. In winter, the average temperature is usually too low for fast, sustained growth.
You may notice your indoor plants growing faster than ones kept outside over winter. This is due to the heating of your house stimulating their growth. Without the correct lighting, this can cause abnormal, leggy growth to occur. Limit the temperature to below 15°C or increase light levels to mitigate this issue.
Dealing with extreme weather
In extreme cold, protecting Aeoniums outdoors or in an unheated greenhouse can be challenging. If a potential hard frost is forecasted, -5°c or below, fleece by itself may not be enough to keep the frost away.
In these extreme cases, it may be worth considering trimming rosettes or harvesting entire plants and bringing them indoors.
During the cold spell, place the cuttings in empty pots without soil, letting them stand in the pot in a dry, frost free place until the hard frost passes. They can be kept without soil for long periods of time, as long as the environment is bright, airy, dry and cool. If frost clears, place them in their original spot.
If another cold snap occurs, bring them back inside. By spring, roots are likely to have developed, and you can then pot them up into free draining compost.
Wrong winter locations
Avoid placing Aeoniums in a garage, dark room, or enclosed shed during winter. These environments can lead to accelerated leaf drop, leggy stems, and untidy growth by spring – if they survive at all. They also invite pests, leading to further damage. Instead, keep them in bright, cool conditions with adequate airflow for the best results.
Watering and Feeding
Your Aeonium will require less watering over winter compared to the rest of the year, and there are some guidelines to follow for the best results.
Lower temperatures and diminished light levels mean slower plant growth, reducing the need for watering and feeding. Our practice involves watering, on average, every six weeks and stopping the feeding routine until spring. We want the plants to almost go to sleep during winter, as this will make them more tolerable to frost.
Unlike the growing season where we drench the soil, we limit the water they receive so the soil can dry out efficiently, just wetting the soil.
Avoid watering the leaves and foliage as this may cause fungus to spread. Just wet the soil slightly.
Allow the soil to dry between waterings to boost their health. Excessive water during winter would mean the plant is also holding more moisture, which isn’t good when combined with freezing temperatures.In the face of an imminent frost, it’s advisable to abstain from both watering and feeding altogether.
Outdoors if you can, indoors if necessary
Outdoors
Growing Aeoniums outdoors in winter is more feasible in coastal regions and inner cities, where temperatures are milder.
Growing your Aeoniums in pots, rather than in the ground, is advantageous because they can be moved into a sheltered spot during cold weather.
Microclimates within a garden, such as near windows, where escaping house heat provides warmth, are ideal.
However, cold weather can still leave them vulnerable, so using protective structures, such as a cold frame with fleece, during exceptionally cold nights can make the difference between survival and loss.
Protect your plants from winter storms and hail, as these can damage leaves. Pot them in well-draining soil and shelter from rain to prevent stem rot during wetter months. Feeding is unnecessary, and potentially harmful for Aeoniums during winter.
Indoors
Aeoniums can be grown indoors, but a bright, cool area with good airflow is crucial for their health.
Ideally, a well ventilated glasshouse with parrafin heaters, grow lights, fans to circulate air and extra thick fleece on hand would be perfect, but of course not everyone has the means for this.
If natural light is insufficient, grow lights can help. Even small inexpensive ones can be sufficient to get your plants through to the spring.
Fans also encourage healthy plants by circulating air in between the leaves, reducing the chance of fungus.
You may notice lower leaves dropping off. If they are yellow and full of water, reduce watering or take the soil away as the plant is overwatered. If they are dry, this is natural and nothing to worry about.
Selecting the right plant for your environment
Selecting the right Aeonium for your environment is crucial, as their hardiness varies. Some, like Aeonium ‘Phoenix Flame’ or Aeonium ‘Emerald Flame’, exhibit remarkable resilience, enduring temperatures as low as -6 or -7°C. To assist in identifying plants suitable for your garden, explore our website’s hardy section for tailored recommendations.
Green Zone = Hardy to -15°C
Amber zone = Semi hardy to -3°C
Red zone = Tender, keep above 3°C
Most Aeoniums don’t grow indoors very well, so we don’t often recommend you grow them indoors as they much prefer to be outdoors. But not everyone has outdoor growing space.
Some Aeoniums, such as A. tabuliforme, and some variegated varieties such as A. ‘Sunburst’, can grow happily on a bright windowsill.
Fleece usage
Using fleece to protect your plants during winter is an excellent strategy and extremely cost-effective.
Fleece creates a barrier between the plant and environment, keeping frost and rain off of your plant.
We use fleece at temperatures of 5°C and below as we have noticed the risk of frost increases at these temperatures.
The fleece we use, and also sell on our website, is an excellent fleece. It is strong, thick and durable. At 60 g/sm, it is 4x more heavy duty than regular horticultural fleece found at garden centres.
This is great as it gives us the assurance that it will prevent frost damage and the durability keeps holes and rips from forming. These holes can let frost to enter the fleece and damage plants.
In extreme cases, where temperatures are forecast at -2°C, the ground temperature can reach as low as -7°C and lower in cold pockets, so we will take extra precautions for frost damage.
In these scenarios, it is advisable to double layer the fleece over your plants to make sure no damage occurs. Also, ensure there are no gaps in the fleece, making sure no cold air can get to the plants.
Pinning the fleece in place is advised too, as even a slight gust can move the fleece enough to expose the plants. Rocks and pegs are a great way to keep it in place for the night.
You can also use the fleece as a rain/ hail shield. It is water resistant and can keep your plants dry underneath.
It works much better if dry, so if it does get wet, ensure to dry it again for full frost protection effectiveness.
In heavy rain, it is advised to use two layers spaced apart, one keeping the plants frost free, and the other keeping the underneath layer dry.
Once the sun comes up and is shining on the area, you can remove the fleece and allow the plants to breathe. You can also inspect the plants at this point to make sure there are no pests resting in the warm blanket.
If the frost persists throughout the day, where forecasted temperatures don’t get back above 5°C in the day, keep the fleece on the plants. In an area with full sun, the plants will get enough light to stay happy underneath.
The fleece can be left on for days at a time with minimal impact to the plant’s health, but it is recommended to let the plants breathe and see the sun when the weather allows.
Rescuing Aeoniums from Winter Darkness.
During the winter, even after your best efforts to protect your plants, they may have still suffered from the poor weather conditions.
After each frost, it is important to inspect your plants for frost damage, pests and rot. These problems are magnified in winter as Aeonium growth rate is lower, reducing their ability to ward off disease by themselves. You can if your plant has been damaged by frost from the darkened, wilted leaves.
If the entire plant looks frozen, it may be too late to save it, but it is worth cutting it back to see if it will resprout. If the stem is soft after thawing, it may be completely dead. This is why it is so important to ensure you have the correct winter protective measures for your Aeoniums.
You may not be able to tell if your plant is frost damaged until it has thawed, so wait until it softens and then take action.
Cut off any damaged areas and inspect the plant often to make sure the rot doesn’t set in. The outer leaves are more exposed than the inner crown, so these are usually first to get damaged.
The one in the image shown is an example of a plant that had sustained major frost damage, but not enough to kill the plant. As you can see, the centre of the plant is still undamaged. Aeoniums get damaged by frost once the leaves are frozen. Ice forms in the cells, expanding them and breaking the cell membranes and walls, killing the cells. Once these cells die, they will likely rot in the damp, cool weather and spread botrytis fungus very rapidly. It is essential to remove them as soon as identifiable.
Preparing for spring and flowering
As the Aeoniums prepare themselves for the following season, you may notice them beginning their flowering phase, if they do decide to flower. This process typically initiates with rosettes changing shape, often noticeable as early as November, readying a spectacular spring showcase. Gradually feed every 10 days with a well-balanced fertiliser as the warmer weather takes hold to encourage a more impressive flowering display. The long-lasting blossoms serve as a remarkable nectar source for bees, butterflies and other insects, especially outdoors in a sunny spot.
Shop Aeonium
Thank you for reading!
If you have any other questions on care advice, please drop us an email (info@surrealsucculents.co.uk) and we will be happy to answer this for you.
For alternate care advice, please find our other care guides in the Plant Care & Advice section.
We are adding new advice all of the time, so consider subscribing to our mailing list to make sure you do not miss out on any crucial information on how to care for your succulents. This can be done at the bottom of the page.
