Name: Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant
Brand: Surreal Succulents
SKU: C603-PICKLE+K702
Rating: 5.0 (7 reviews)

Potted Pickle Plant succulent plant with small white flowers on a white background

Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant

£7.50

At a glance

Light: Full sun5+ hours of sun
Lowest temperature: 2°C Keep it frost free
Mature size: 40cm x 15cm Height x width
Growability: BeginnerWhat this means

Where it grows best and how to care for it

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What arrives

Sent by Royal Mail, with tracking
Unless stated otherwise, grown in a 6cm pot and around 5-7cm wide. Size guide
Sent bare-root, so it travels safely. Why we ship without pots and soil
Packed without plastic, apart from the plant label
Grown at our nursery in Cornwall and picked by hand for your order

The plant you receive may not look exactly like the photos.

This quirky succulent gets its nickname from the tiny, soft bristles covering its green, gherkin-like stems — giving it the look of a miniature pickle! Native to South Africa, Delosperma echinatum forms a low, shrubby clump and can trail over pots or containers with time. Its unusual texture and playful appearance make it a standout in any succulent collection.

Fleshy, bristled stems resemble mini pickles
Compact, shrubby growth with light trailing habit
Produces small, daisy-like yellow-white flowers
Prefers bright, indirect sun and well-drained soil
Drought-tolerant and ideal for quirky container displays

Great for collectors who love characterful plants with a story.

We send everything by Royal Mail, and you'll get tracking updates once your order is on its way.

Standard: we send your order within 3 working days by Tracked 48, so it takes 3 to 5 days to arrive.

Super Express: order before 2pm on a working day and it goes out the same day by Tracked 24, arriving in 1 to 2 working days.

Our packaging is 100% plastic-free. The plant label is the only plastic in the box.

Your plants travel bare-root, nested carefully in the packaging.

Light

Full sun

5+ hours of sun

Full shade
Partial shade
Full sun

Lowest temperature

2°C

Keep it above 2°C, so it needs protecting from frost.

2°C

Good places to grow it

Hanging basket
Sunny windowsill
Conservatory
Outdoor tabletop
Patio

Growability: Beginner
Growth form: Ground/ pot cover
Growth rate: Fast
Mature size (H x W): 40cm x 15cm
Foliage colour: Green, Yellow, Red, White

Customer reviews

On arrival

Unpacking and planting

Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant is delivered bare-root. Unpack it promptly and either pot it up or plant it out into gritty, sharply drained compost or soil, spreading the roots naturally and keeping the crown level with the surface.

Settle it in with one light watering, then let all excess drain away. A bright, sunny, open spot suits it best; a bare-root ice plant may look limp at first but plumps up and roots quickly.

Once established it needs very little from you. Full sun, sharp drainage and airflow matter far more than watering, and from there this tough, free-flowering mat simply spreads.

We supply the recommended care essentials for mail order. Find the relevant products here: succulent compost

Watering

Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant is exceptionally drought-tolerant. Water it in after planting and during prolonged dry spells, then let the soil or compost drain completely. Established plants in the open ground need little supplementary water in normal UK conditions.

Containers dry faster than open ground, so give them an occasional thorough soak in hot weather, always letting the excess drain away. Water in the morning.

Cut watering right back through autumn and winter. Cold, sodden soil around the roots and crown is the quickest way to lose an otherwise hardy ice plant.

We supply the recommended care essentials for mail order. Find the relevant products here: succulent compost

Light and position

Give Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant Full Sun - 5+ Hours of Sun. Suitable positions include Hanging Basket, Sunny Windowsill, Conservatory, Outdoor Tabletop, and Patio. Full, open sun is essential: it drives the flowering that ice plants are grown for and keeps the mat tight and healthy. The flowers typically open in bright sunshine and close in dull weather or shade.

In shade the plant grows thin and sparse and flowers poorly, so keep it clear of anything that will overshadow it. Good airflow matters as much as sunshine, particularly through wet spells.

Compost and drainage

Plant Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant in gritty, sharply drained soil or compost. For containers use roughly 50% multi-purpose or loam-based compost to 50% horticultural grit or perlite, in a pot with open drainage holes. Ice plants revel in poor, stony, free-draining ground.

In the garden, improve heavy soil with plenty of grit and plant on a slight slope, raised bed, wall or gravel area where winter water drains away quickly. A mineral top-dressing of grit around the base keeps the trailing stems off damp soil.

Do not enrich the site heavily. Lean, sharply drained conditions give the toughest, most free-flowering plants.

We supply the recommended care essentials for mail order. Find the relevant products here: succulent compost horticultural grit perlite

Feeding

Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant needs very little feeding, and plants in reasonable soil or fresh gritty compost generally need none at all.

If a long-established container plant looks weak, a single dilute, balanced feed in late spring is plenty, applied when the compost is moist and growth is active.

Avoid over-feeding. Excess nutrients produce soft, lush growth at the expense of flowers and winter resilience.

We supply the recommended care essentials for mail order. Find the relevant products here: succulent compost

Winter care

The recorded minimum temperature for Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant is 2°C. Many hardy Delosperma shrug off UK frost and even lying snow when their roots are dry, so they can usually stay outside all year; check the recorded figure, as a few species are less hardy.

Winter care is really about drainage. Keep the crown and roots from sitting wet, clear fallen leaves and soggy debris from the mat, and if a container cannot drain freely, tip it or move it under an open shelter during long wet spells.

The foliage may shrink, redden or look tired through the cold months. This is normal, and the plant flushes back into growth in spring.

Summer care

Summer is when Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant comes into its own, flowering freely in full sun and heat. Water only during genuinely prolonged dry spells once established, and give containers the occasional soak.

Keep neighbouring plants and weeds cut back so nothing shades or smothers the spreading mat. Strong light through summer gives the best flowering.

Trim back any straggly or bare stems after the main flush to keep the plant dense and encourage further flowering.

Repotting

Repot or divide Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant in spring when a container fills with growth, the mat becomes bare in the centre or the compost has broken down.

Lift and split healthy, well-rooted sections and replant them at the same depth in fresh, gritty compost, discarding tired or bare stems. Trailing stems often root where they touch the soil and can be lifted with roots attached.

Water once to settle the roots, then let the compost drain. Newly divided plants establish quickly in a bright, airy spot.

We supply the recommended care essentials for mail order. Find the relevant products here: succulent compost

Common problems

The main cause of losing an otherwise hardy ice plant is winter wet and poor drainage, leading to soft, blackened, rotting stems. Sharpen the drainage, clear wet debris and never let the roots sit in cold, saturated soil.

Sparse growth and few flowers usually mean too little sun. Move Delosperma echinatum | Pickle Plant into the brightest, most open position you can.

A bare, woody centre on an old mat is natural with age. Trim it back, lift and divide, or root fresh cuttings to rejuvenate the planting.