Sedums often called “Stonecrop”, are the perfect succulents for year round outside growing. They will fill up the tricky areas of your garden and will survive the frosts of winter while requiring low maintenance and being very easy to grow!
- Full to partial sun
- Requires less water than an ordinary succulent are fairly drought tolerant
- Zone 4 to 9, Hardy to -30° F | -34° C
2 – 6” | 5 – 15cm
- Can grow inside. Generally grown outside
- Propagation by cuttings, offsets and seeds
Commonly known as:
Sedum, Stonecrop(sedum), and Granite Rock Stonecrop
Basic Care for Stonecrop Sedums
Stonecrop sedums are quite drought tolerant, they require a lot less water to survive than an ordinary succulent. During spring to fall they do best with weekly watering, but may require more during the hot summer.
We recommend using the “wet and dry” method and allow the soil to dry out completely before watering again. In summer this will be more frequent.
Lighting and temperature
Lighting and temperature requirements for most sedums are very similar to other succulents. During the summer and spring season, you should provide your sedum with plenty of bright sunlight, but protect from excessive heat.
In this blog post, we will go over the general care and requirement of stonecrops. Some sedum species are more drought tolerant and will survive in more harsh conditions.
For the specific requirements for each stonecrop sedum, you can find specific species here.
Most sedums are hardy succulents and can withstand temperatures well below freezing. They can be grown in, USDA Zone 3 to 11, hardy to -30 degrees Fahrenheit (-34 degrees Celsius).
If there is a blanket of snow covering your plants, even better! The snow will actually help to insulate your sedum from colder air temperatures and winds.
Where To Plant Your Stonecrop Sedums
Growing sedum stonecrops can be considered very easy when compared to other succulents, that’s where the name “Stonecrops” comes from. Only stones require less care, water, and sunshine than these sedum succulents.
They will grow indoors as well as outdoors, sedums are the perfect succulents to grow in containers, in rock gardens or along paths.
There are lots of different varieties of sedums but the ground coverers will fill up the tricky areas in your garden, and fill up gaps between, for example, rocks or perennial borders.
Sedums can live in very extreme conditions. Once planted extra feeding will not be necessary. If you decide to repot yours however we recommend you to add some slow-release fertilizer but not more than once per year.
Sedums don’t have special requirements when it comes down to soil. But they will grow great in soil that is slightly acidic with a pH of 6 to 6.5 for most sedum species.
I personally use this pH meter to check my soil from time to time and make adjustments when necessary.
Good drainage would be the most important requirement for sedums. Plant them preferable in sandy soil but any soil will do. Make sure to add a gritty amendment, which will give your soil the drainage it needs.
Stonecrop Sedum Propagation
Sedums are extremely easy to propagate, depending on the specific species of sedum you can either propagate them by using their leaves, cuttings, offsets or seeds.
If you plan to propagate sedums by seed, keep in mind that you can expect some differences with their parent as they grow. So, if you want to multiply your plants it’s better to propagate from leaf or cuttings. Let’s take a look at how you generally should do your sedum propagation.
Sedum Propagation by Leaf
Propagating Sedums from their leaves is the easiest way to grow new sedums and is a very similar process to propagating any succulent from a leaf. So, if you want to know more, we recommend you to read “How to propagate succulents from their leaves”.
Sedum Propagation by Cuttings
Propagating from cuttings is another great way to grow new sedums. The best time to propagate sedum using cuttings is generally between May and June. You can collect your cuttings from the tips of the stem using a sharp, disinfected knife.
Depending on the size of the original plant, your cuttings should be around 2-4” (5-10cm) in size. You should remove the lower leaves, about 0.8-1.2“ (2-3cm) from the bottom and let your cuttings dry for 2 days.
By letting your cuttings dry you make sure the stem closes up and doesn’t start rotting when you are going to plant it in soil (some people prefer to plant their cuttings directly into their soil, I personally let mine dry for about 2 days).
After you let your cuttings dry, stick them shallowly in your potting medium (preferably, a very gritty medium). You can expect new growth in just a couple of weeks, growing a whole new sedum succulent.
Sedum Propagation by Seeds
Growing sedums from seed can be difficult but very fun to do so! If you are interested in growing from seed you should do it in spring or summer.
Fill a planter with a drainage hole with soil and water until it starts to drain out from the bottom. Spread your seeds 1” (2.5cm) apart, and cover them up with a thin layer of your soil mix.
You should wrap your planter pot with transparent plastic to ensure consistent humidity and a good temperature. Remove the plastic wrap once other every day for air circulation, and add water when necessary.
Your seeds will germinate in 2-4 weeks. Once they sprout remove the plastic wrap and place seedlings near a window that receives morning sun. Slowly increase the amount of sunlight as seedlings grow.
Stonecrop Sedum Blooming and Flowers
There are many varieties and species of stonecrop sedum succulents with each producing different kinds of flowers, we have categorized them in 3 categories.
Creeping Ground Covering Sedums
Ground covering sedum species generally produce star-shaped flowers. This category includes species like Sedum Acre is also known as goldmoss stonecrop, as shown in the picture below.
These species of sedum like to flower during June and July, during this time their stems lengthen and their leaves will grow further apart while showing their bright generally yellow flowers.
I find the trailing sedum species more generally know, think about species like Sedum Morganianum also called dockey’s tail or burro’s tail.
These sedum species rarely bloom if grown indoors but when grown outside, in summer, small pink to red colored blossoms appear in clusters of 1-6 star-shaped flowers.
Tall Border Sedums
One of the species including this category is the Sedum Telephium with dense, domed flowers growing on 1-2 feet stems. These species tend to bloom in late summer providing gorgeous flowers, available in many different colors, ranging from purple, pink and red with shades of white.