The Haworthia cymbiformis var. obtusa plant, which is commonly known as the Haworthia obtusa, is a small beautiful succulent plant with rosette thick leaves. The entire plant is just a few inches high and wide and can be kept in a small indoor plant container or pot. This is an ornamental succulent plant grown worldwide for its beautiful leaves. Its leaves cover its stem and form a rosette layer of leaves around it. It also grows multiple small offsets that are used for propagation. This creates a cluster of offsets around the base (mother plant). Its leaves are known for thickness and rosette formation. If you are looking forward to having a beautiful and unique plant for your office table or room decoration, it is one of the best choices as it does not require extensive care, and is fairly easy to grow. Below is a complete growth and care guide related to the Haworthia obtusa plants.
Overview
| Common Name | Haworthia obtusa, Mini Aloe, |
| Scientific Name | Haworthia cymbiformis var. obtusa |
| Genus, Family | Haworthia genus and Asphodelaceae family, |
| Size, Type | Small, succulent plant. |
| Color of stem, leaves, and flowers | Leaves are green, with darker lines in them. Greenish white flowers that have beautiful veins of pink color. |
| Flowering Season | Starts producing buds in spring and keeps producing flowers till summer. |
| Perennial/Annual. | Perennial in native climate, annual in cold areas. |
| Hardiness | USDA Hardiness zone 9a and above. |
| Temperature range | 20 and 32 °C (68 and 90 °F) |
| Sunlight | Full sun to partial shade, |
| Growth Rate | Slow growing. |
Lineage
The Haworthia obtusa plants are succulent plants from the Haworthia genus, which is a member of the Asphodelaceae. It is a family of flowering succulent plants of small size. Most of these plants are native to South Africa. Their green leaves are thick and fleshy, which allows these plants to survive in desert areas without water. Apart from this, these plants are also called the true succulent plants and have all the basic properties of other succulents. The Haworthia obtusa plants were only seen in their native areas, but now they are grown worldwide as ornamental succulent plants. They can grow in indoor environments, which makes them suitable indoor ornamental plants.
Appearance
The Haworthia obtusa plants are very small and have very thick and fleshy leaves that surround each other. Its leaves form rosette formation and cover the leaves that are on the inside. This not only helps them conserve water for longer but also makes them look like a big rose flower with green thick petals. Its leaves look like green gemstones. They can grow up to 4 inches high from the ground and can have multiple offsets that surround the main plant. This means they can get very wide if these offsets are not separated. These offsets can be used for the propagation of this plant as well. The Haworthia obtusa plant is a flowering plant and produces small flowers during the spring and summer seasons. Its flowers have white color, with pink lines moving throughout its petals. The small size of this plant makes it easy to fit in smaller pots. You can keep them anywhere in your home, or your office.
Flowering
As you already know that the Haworthia obtusa plant is a flowering succulent plant, which means it produces small flowers during the blooming season. Flowering in this plant starts in early spring and continues till summer. Its flowers are small and have white color. They grow on a separate branch. One branch can have multiple flowers. These flowers turn into seed sacs after the pollination. These seeds can be collected and used for plantation purposes. The Haworthia obtusa plant flowers also have pink lines in them that move through the entire flower. These flowers can wilt if the sun is extremely hot.
Natural Habitat
The Haworthia obtusa plant grows in a warm climate naturally as it can survive in the desert. These are true succulent plants and can survive the harshest deserts regions of South Africa. It can store water in its leaves. It grows in sandy soil that does not trap water. It can also survive the cold temperatures, but cannot survive if the temperatures go below zero degrees. It likes to be grown under the full sun, but during the hot summer days, it prefers being under the shade.
Outside its natural environment, if conditions are very cold, you should keep it indoors, otherwise, it would not survive. Also, the Haworthia obtusa plant needs full sun to partially shade the environment to grow, so, if you are keeping it indoors, you should keep it somewhere bright.
Facts
Here are some of the basic facts about Haworthia obtusa
- The Haworthia obtusa plant is also known as Mini Aloe and a true succulent plant.
- It has very thick and fleshy leaves. That helps it store water.
- The Haworthia obtusa plant natively only grows in the Cape Province in Africa.
- It is considered one of the rarest and most beautiful succulent plants because of its rosette leaf formation.
Requirements to Grow Haworthia obtusa
| Soil | Sandy soil does not trap water and has all the nutrients needed for its growth. |
| Sun | It needs full sun to partial shade, depending upon the season. In winter, it needs full sun, while on hot summer days, it may need some protection from the harmful sunlight. |
| Water | The Haworthia obtusa needs a regulated water supply, check the soil before watering. If it is dry, provide it some water, if it is not dry, you should wait a few days. |
| Fertilizer | Mix fertilizer and water, and feed this to your plant regularly. |
| Temperature | Likes slightly warm temperatures. |
Soil Requirements
The Haworthia obtusa plant likes to grow in soil that is well-draining and porous. It thrives if the soil does not trap any water inside. If it traps water, it would harm the roots of this plant. For that reason, it is very important to have soil that is porous and well-draining and does not trap water inside. To get that type of soil, you should mix sand in the potting soil. Apart from sand, you should also mix some pebbles, such as pumice and perlite as well. Make a layer of perlite, and pumice in the pot, after that, put some sand and soil mixture over the top of this layer.
This would help prevent the escape of sand and soil from the pot while draining the water. The Haworthia obtusa plant also likes the soil to have all the nutrients in it for its growth. If it lacks any nutrients, the growth of this plant would be affected. You should put some fertilizers and compost in the soil mixture to make it nutrient-rich. Also, make sure that potting soil is neutral, or slightly acidic. In this type of soil mixture, your plant would not only grow but also thrive.
Sunlight Requirements
The Haworthia obtusa plant needs full sun to partial shade environment. During the early morning and in winter, it needs to grow and thrive. But during the extremely hot days of summer, it needs a slight shade to conserve its water. If you have kept this plant outdoors for an entire year, you can keep it outdoors during the summer. But if you have kept it indoors all year long, you should not keep it outdoors during the summer as this would harm the leaves of this plant and they might get burned by extreme sunlight exposure. It is better to keep them indoors if you are growing them outside their natural environment.
Temperature Requirements
The Haworthia obtusa plant needs slightly warm conditions to grow and thrive. It is a true succulent plant and grows very well in warm conditions. According to the USDA hardiness zones, it grows very well in zones 9a and above. If the temperature is maintained between 10 and 32 °C (50 and 90 °F), it would grow very well. Temperatures higher than this can burn the leaves of this plant. Similarly, temperatures below 10 °C can be harmful to the plant. You should keep it indoors if you are growing it in cold regions. It is not a snow-hardy plant. So, you will also have to protect it from the snow as well.
Water Requirements
The Haworthia obtusa plant can store water in its leaves and can survive without water for a few days. But acute water shortages can kill the plant as well. For that reason, it is very important to follow a routine for watering. You should create a watering chart for the Haworthia obtusa plant based on the age of the plant and environmental factors.
- If the Haworthia obtusa is small, it would need less water. But as you know, its leaves would not be able to effectively store more water. You would need to water small plants more often.
- During the summer, and in hot areas, you will also have to increase the amount of water, and frequency of watering as well, meanwhile in cold areas, and in winter, you can reduce both, frequency of watering and the amount of water as well.
Fertilizers Requirements
The Haworthia obtusa plants need fertilizer to grow. Fertilizers contain the basic nutrients that they need. Once these fertilizers are applied, they dissolve into these nutrients and become available to the plant. You can feed these nutrients to your plant by mixing them with water and feeding this mixture to your plants. You can feed this mixture once a month to your Haworthia obtusa plants.
Repotting
The Haworthia obtusa plant may need repotting once a year. This is because they grow a lot of offsets. Each offset is like a new plant and can be separated from the base plant and replanted into another pot. But if you do not want to divide your plant, you should repot it to a bigger pot. Repotting requires uprooting the plant and replanting it into a new and bigger pot. Usually, it is done in March and April.
Pruning
This plant does not require pruning. It is a small plant and only has a few leaves.
Problems
The Haworthia obtusa plant may experience the following problems:
- Shriveled Leaves
- Yellow Leaves
- Loss of Leaves
- Root Rot
If your plant is suffering from any of these, you should check watering patterns, light, and humidity conditions around the plant. These are caused by irregularities in these factors. You should create a growth plan and follow it. This would help you keep the track of your plant’s growth and health.
Propagation
The Haworthia obtusa plant is propagated using two methods. The first method requires its offsets to be cut off and planted in a separate pot, and the second method requires its stem cutting and planting. Both methods are equally popular but propagation through the offset is considered a better solution as it is more effective and easier.
