Popular and simple to cultivate, donkey’s tail (Sedum morganianum) has rows of fleshy, teardrop-shaped, blue-green leaves. Native to Mexico and Honduras, mature specimens grow gradually yet steadily, reaching trailing lengths of up to 4 feet in just six years (though the average length is closer to 24 inches). They are often grown in pots and frequently used as hanging specimens. The succulent can be planted and multiplied year-round indoors, but it grows best outside when planted in the early spring. Although the plant hardly ever blooms indoors, late summer can see the appearance of red or pink blossoms.
What part of a succulent do you put a donkey tail on?
Like many succulents, donkey’s tail does best in a place with a lot of warm sunshine, though it will tolerate some shade. If you decide to keep your plant indoors, choose a sunny windowsill with enough of everyday light.
How Fast Do Donkey Tail Succulents Grow?
If properly cared for, donkey tail succulents can reach maturity in about 6 years and grow up to 4 feet long during that time. They grow slowly and consistently. However, the donkey tail plant typically reaches a length of 24 inches.
Why Is My Donkey Tail Succulent Losing Leaves?
Due to its fragility, leaf loss is the most frequent issue with donkey tail succulents. Because the plant’s beaded leaves are so delicate, handling it needs to be done with extreme care. Therefore, it is preferable to set the plant down and forget about it, and to avoid continuously handling it.
Always water the plant wherever you have it and try to avoid moving or disturbing it frequently. Your donkey tail plant should ideally be placed in a spot where it won’t be disturbed, such a windowsill or hanging pot in a corner. As far as you can, refrain from repotting the succulent, and keep it away from children and pets.
The donkey tail or burro’s tail succulent is a well-liked indoor plant that is extremely common. These magnificent long, trailing, grey-green succulents are simple to grow and care for and can bring elegance to any area of your home.
Need full sun for donkey tail succulents?
Burro’s tail adores the brilliant shade or moderate sun. This alluring succulent adores the four hours of bright light. Remember that it will get burned by the hot sun; offer it early sunshine instead for optimal growth.
Keep these resilient plants indoors where they will receive enough sunlight, such as on a balcony, in a sunny window, or on a patio. In the spring, shine bright light indoors on your colorful donkey’s tail to encourage blossoming. To produce the ideal circumstances for the succulent, you do need to make sure the pot has sufficient drainage.
What kind of soil is best for succulent plants?
Succulent soil is the basis for a plant’s ability to thrive, whether you are planting succulents outside or indoors. Larger soil particles are necessary for succulents to have a well-draining soil that allows water to enter quickly and drain away from the roots without compacting the soil. Use a soil test kit to verify the ideal soil for succulents and adjust the soil to a pH range of 6.0 to 6.5 before planting.
- Succulents prefer well-draining soil and have short root systems.
- The ideal soil is one that is nutrient-rich, loose, and rocky.
- Use a potting mix designed specifically for succulents and cacti when planting in containers, and place the plant in a pot with drainage holes at the bottom.
- Succulent plants could die off if their soil is too alkaline.
- Add soil amendments to the existing soil to make it more suitable for succulents’ needs.
How frequently should I water the tail of my burro?
- The burro’s tail can withstand drought (those pillow leaves retain water). Limit your watering to once per month. (Be sure to fully soak the soil, then wait until the topsoil is completely dry before watering again.)
- Use potting soil made for cacti and a pot with a drainage hole for your container plant.
- Burro’s tail is a perennial in USDA growth zones 9 to 11, and as it is a native of eastern Mexico and Honduras, it anticipates warm weather all year long in the garden.
Burro’s tail was found by American botanist Eric Walther in Mexico in the 1930s, and he brought it back to California where it has been grown ever since.
How much time does a donkey tail take to root?
Sedum morganium “Burrito cuttings are shown here as they grow before being sold. The leaves reveal the difference.
Get ready! Even a light touch causes this plant’s leaves to fall off. Learn how to handle succulents without having to worry about the leaves falling off.
New leaves won’t sprout on the bare areas once the leaves have fallen off the stalks. I received this question from a reader, so I thought I’d share the answer in case you had the same query.
For this reason, I cut the stems of my Burro’s Tail plants at the tops of the bare spots—you can see me doing this in the video if you’re unsure.
Every two to three years, I prune my burro’s tail plants to refresh them and encourage top growth.
You can top your new plant with worm castings and compost every spring to improve the soil once the Burro’s Tail cuttings have taken root and have been transferred.
Right here, you can read about how I feed my composting worms. Every spring, I lightly apply worm compost and then top it with compost to most of my indoor and outdoor container plants.
Burro’s Tails can reach a length of six when fully grown, which can take up to six years. Mine have only extended to a maximum of approximately 4.
After pruning, the burro’s tail. There are still a few stems that are naked, but I will ultimately remove them. At the top, new growth is beginning, and this cutting will promote it.
Burro’s Tail Cuttings
The Burro’s Tail succulent can also be propagated by using stem cuttings. The leaves that have fallen off can also be used to grow new plants.
You don’t need to wait as long for them to heal off as you would with cuttings. Instead, you can immediately plant them in the mixture. Until the leaves take root, spray the mixture to keep it moist. Baby plants will soon start to grow where the leaves were once affixed to the stalks.
There will soon be more hanging succulents. Here are the cuttings of “String of Pearls” and “String of Bananas” that I planted in one of my hanging pots after I finished filming this movie.
A Burro’s Tails succulent is very easy to propagate, and you may easily create more plants.
How frequently should a donkey tail plant be watered?
Both inexperienced and experienced gardeners like burro’s tail: It is aesthetically pleasing, grows quickly, needs little maintenance or space, and is very simple to propagate—that is, to create new plants from stem or leaf cuttings. Here are some suggestions for maintaining succulents:
- 1. Put in a sunny spot. Burro tails require bright light or some sun for at least four hours each day. If your burro’s tail is an indoor plant, make sure it’s close to strong light but away from windowsills with full, intense sun. Full sun will turn the leaves pale green or yellow. If you live in a chilly climate, bring your burro’s tail inside because they prefer temperatures between 50 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 2.Use water prudently. Since burro’s tails are succulent plants, the leaves can hold water. Your burro’s tail plant will decay if you overwater it. Although experts advise watering the plant roughly every 10 days throughout the growing season when temperatures are typically above 40 degrees Fahrenheit, outdoor plants only require water every 10 to 14 days. Use the “soak and dry” procedure when it’s time to water, which specifies that the soil must be entirely dry before additional irrigation. Depending on the temperature and amount of light in your home, indoor burro’s tails only require thorough watering once a month. Discover more about succulent plant maintenance.
- 3. Use soil that drains effectively. Burro’s tails need well-draining soil, much like all succulents do. A mixed soil is best for succulents because pure garden soil would encourage root rot. Additionally, you can create your own well-draining soil by combining potting soil with equal parts horticultural grade sand, perlite, or pumice. Compost and worm castings can be fed to your burro once a month during the warm months and not at all during the winter to add extra nutrients to its tails.
- Pest surveillance. Fortunately, burro’s tails appear to be resistant to the majority of insect pests, however your plant may still have aphids or mealybugs. A burst of water from the hose or a solution of water and rubbing alcohol can be used to spritz them. Burro’s tails can be safely be treated with neem oil, a naturally occurring insecticide derived from the seeds of the neem tree.
- 5. Repot as required. Although mature plants are frequently too fragile to repot, repotting a burro’s tail is simple to perform if the plant becomes too large or outgrows its pot. The best container is a terra-cotta pot with draining holes since it will let the plant breathe and store water. Remove the plant once the dirt is completely dry, look for and remove any rotten roots, and then repot it in a fresh pot with well-draining soil. After a week of keeping the burro’s tail dry, lightly irrigate the soil to promote root growth and prevent root rot.
My donkey tail is withering, why?
The family of stonecrops includes a significant number of species under the genus Sedum (Crassulaceae). A tropical species of sedum known as Sedum morganianum has long been cultivated as an ornamental because of its unusual, evergreen foliage. Due to the pendulous stems’ similarity to an animal’s tail, it goes by numerous common names, including burro’s tail, donkey’s tail (also a traditional name for the hardy perennial Euphorbia myrsinites), horse’s tail, and lamb’s tail. This long-lived sensitive trailing sub-shrub, which is native to southern Mexico and Honduras, is often grown as a houseplant in most of North America because it is hardy only when it is consistently above freezing. It received the 1993 Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society.
The trailing stalks and succulent, blue-green leaves of this delicate perennial plant have a silvery bloom that rubs off when touched. The stems begin by growing straight before slanting downward and lengthening to four feet; due to the water content of the leaves, they can become rather heavy. The lance-shaped, overlapping, smooth-textured leaves develop in a densely whorled, nearly swirling pattern to completely encircle the stem, giving it a braided-like look. The pointy ends of the short, thick, cylindrical leaves swell to become very plump when plants are adequately watered and will shrivel when conditions are too dry. Because the plant’s stems and leaves are fragile, it should be placed in an area where it won’t be accidentally knocked over or harmed by passing humans or animals. Branch formation may occur where the stems are lacking in leaves. ‘Burrito’ or ‘Baby Burro Tail’ has lime-green leaves that are smaller, more rounded, and on shorter stems—it is uncertain if this refers to a different species, a cultivar, or a hybrid.
Although burro’s tail planted indoors rarely blooms, in the summer terminal clusters of 1-6 flowers on slender pedicels may have tiny but stunning pink to crimson blossoms. The tiny, star-shaped flowers have fleshy, lighter pink sepals and bright yellow stamens. They produce a lot of nectar and entice flies and bees with it. Before the plants may flower, they must be fully grown, with stems that are at least 25 cm long. Moving plants outside in the summer and keeping them at milder temperatures (50°F and 60°F as opposed to room temperature) during the winter may promote flowering.
Burro’s tail grows best in containers where the stems can hang down vertically because of its trailing branches. The pendant stems can be displayed in hanging baskets, urns, or sizable pots on pedestals. Put enough material in a head-shaped container to resemble dreadlocks. Individual plants can live for decades under ideal conditions inside. They can be utilized as temporary hanging plants outdoors in wind-sheltered areas. There are multiple hanging baskets of these plants at Lotusland in Santa Barbara, California, each with a shade cover that gives them the appearance of a gigantic jellyfish.
The optimal conditions for burro’s tail growth are bright light to full sun; in low light, the internodes will be longer and the stems’ leaves won’t be as tightly packed. If the light is too strong, the leaves lose their blue-green color and turn yellowish. It thrives in a growing medium with good drainage, like cactus mix or standard potting soil that has been liberally supplemented with perlite, pumice, baked clay granules, or even fine pea gravel (but not sand, which tends to fill the soil pores and hinder rather than enhance drainage). Only once or twice during the growing season, apply mild fertilizer. Repot in the spring, but only after the plant has completely filled the container. After repotting, wait about a week before watering again, and then water sparingly until the plant is established again. Mealybugs rarely infest the stems of this plant, which has minimal insect problems overall; root rot brought on by excessive watering is the most frequent problem. Wilting or mushy leaves could be a sign of excessive soil moisture.
Being a succulent, it cannot handle being overwatered, especially during the winter when it is dormant. Between waterings, the soil should be given a chance to almost dry out. During the growing season, water often, but less frequently in the fall and only enough during the winter to keep the potting media from drying up entirely. Indoor plants could only require watering once a month, depending on the environment.
In the Midwest, burro’s tail is typically grown as a year-round houseplant, but if the weather consistently rises above 40°F, the plants can be transferred outside for the growing season. They must gradually get used to the light circumstances outside to avoid being sunburned. In the fall, bring the plants back inside when it’s expected that the nightly low would be 40°F. Cuttings of stems or leaves can be used to easily propagate Sedum morganianum. Individual leaves cut from the stem will produce roots, but it will take more time to regenerate a plant of significant size than from stem cuttings. To root stem cuttings, push the stem ends down into the rooting media after removing the leaves from the lower end of the cut stem and letting it dry for a day or two. In order to keep long or heavy stem cuttings in place while the roots grow enough, they may need to be pinned or staked. Plants may not begin to root successfully for several months. You can also grow this species from seeds or divisions.