Crassula Care Guide: How to Grow Crassula Plants

Crassula is a genus of succulent plants that fall within the stonecrop family (Crassulaceae). Succulents are plants with thick, fleshy leaves or stems, which store water and protect the plants from drought. Similar to echeveria, crassula succulents come in a range of shapes and sizes that are all relatively low-maintenance. While you can find crassula all over the world, most of the cultivated varieties (cultivars) come from the Eastern Cape of South Africa. As houseplants, crassula require warm, sunny environments and moist but well-draining soil.

If you’re interested in growing crassula plants, consider these popular varieties.

1. 1. Jade plant: The most popular example of crassula is the jade plant (Crassula ovata), an easy-to-grow succulent known for its plump, fleshy leaves and thick stems that make it resemble a small tree. With careful pruning, they can be kept as bonsai plants. Common names for jade plants include money plant and money tree. Your jade plant should get four to six hours of indirect sun per day, a room temperature between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit, and a well-draining potting soil that’s slightly acidic and includes perlite.
2. 2. String of buttons: String of buttons (Crassula perforata) are known for having thick, triangular leaves packed snugly around stems that grow upright. Whether grown inside or outside, these plants do well in full sun to partial shade and only need to be watered when the top layer of soil becomes dry to the touch.
3. 3. Silver dollar plant: Silver dollar plant (Crassula arborescens), also known as the silver jade plant, is a green succulent shrub that can grow up to four feet tall. Like other crassula plants, this variety doesn’t need much water in general, but it may need more frequent waterings during the hotter, summer months.

Crassula plants make propagation easy, so you can use these tips to grow many new plants over time.

• Cut a leaf or stem from a crassula. No matter how you divide the offsets of a crassula, all you need is a detached leaf or stem cuttings to start propagating your plant.
• Let a callus form. Before you take your cutting and plunge it into some soil, allow a callus to form on the cut edge of the stem or succulent leaf. Calluses provide growing points for new roots and prevent the plant from soaking up too much water.
• Choose a clay pot. Placing your stem cutting in a porous clay or terracotta pot with drainage holes from the beginning helps minimize the risk of overwatering. Although your crassula cutting will need water and moisture in its early days, you can water it less as it matures.
• Place the cutting in a pot of damp soil. Once the callus has formed, fill your clay pot with damp soil, and place the leaf or stem cutting into the soil.
• Keep the soil moist in the early stages. While mature succulents don’t need constantly moist soil, the potting mix should always be damp to the touch until new plants establish themselves.

In terms of plant care, crassula are relatively easy to maintain.

• Sunlight: As plants that are sensitive to both extreme heat and extreme cold, crassula plants grow best in an area with a happy medium of sunlight. For example, bright light in the summer may help deepen the variegated colors of some varieties, but too much full sun can fry the bright green leaves and cause them to fall off their stems. Aim to give your plants indirect sunlight all day long or direct sun for up to six hours a day.
• Soil: As succulents, these plants need ideal soil that will drain quickly and prevent root rot. Rocky, sandy soils or potting soil formulated for succulents are ideal growing mediums for crassula plants.
• Watering: For most crassula varieties, you’ll want to water the plants thoroughly but infrequently and allow the soil to dry between waterings. You’ll find your plant may need more water in the growing season—spring and summer—but once fall rolls around, they’ll need less water.
• Fertilizing: For the most part, crassula plants don’t need much fertilizer. To maximize growth, you can apply a fertilizer formulated for succulent plants every few weeks in the spring and summer months.
• Pruning: Although you don’t necessarily need to prune your crassula, you might want to prune or cut back your crassula plants for aesthetic reasons or to maintain its starting size.
• Pests: Crassula plants are fairly resistant to pets, but indoor plants may attract mealybugs or spider mites. Spraying non-chemical deterrents like neem oil can help eliminate spider mites and mealybugs and prevent pests from attacking the plant in the first place.

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