How do I care for my Haworthia?

Haworthia is our Basic pet-friendly plant of the month. If you are an existing susbcriber, one of these will be winging its way to you shortly. If you aren't already a subscriber, I'm really sorry but we aren't accepting any new subscribers to our Basic range at this point in time. We ARE accepting new subscribers to our Luxury pet-friendly range, which is even more amazing, and which you can check out right here.

Native habitat
Haworthia are endemic to southern Africa.

Light and position in the home
This plant enjoys plenty of bright, indirect sunlight. Avoid direct light and overly dark places: an Easterly/Westerly-facing window is best. If the leaves start turning reddish, move the plant to a shadier spot. If the leaves start turning a lighter green, or losing their markings, increase the amount of light it receives.

Flowers and foliage
Haworthia's modified leaves form rosettes covered in glossy white bands, giving the Haworthia its common name: Zebra plant. Towards the end of summer, providing your Haworthia has been in good health, it might even treat you to a flower!

Watering
Allow this plant to dry out a little between waterings. Avoid overwatering, or collecting water in the rosette, as this will cause the leaves to rot.

Temperature
Haworthia can tolerate a range of temperatures and will benefit from cooler temps in the winter, as this is when the plant rests. Avoid temperatures below 4 Celsius.

Did you know?
All plants use the process of photosynthesis in order to survive. Haworthia is a species of plant that does things a little differently when it comes to photosynthesis. Instead of breathing during the day and losing precious water doing so, it saves its breathing for the cooler night time, saving water. Your Haworthia is not just a pretty face!

Why I chose this plant
I probably shouldn't admit this right here, but Haworthia was one of the first plants I ever killed! It was one of the first houseplants I ever owned, and I killed it with love: by overwatering! I had no idea how little water it was possible for a plant to need in order to be able to sustain itself.

That could have put me off Haworthias, but I've had several plants since then (which have all gone to good homes when I've been moving house), and some of them got quite big! In the UK, they grow quite slowly, as we don't get the levels of bright light, albeit indirect, that they get in the wild in South Africa, but it also makes them even more low maintenance, because you hardly ever have to repot them.

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Haworthia is our Basic pet-friendly plant of the month. If you are an existing susbcriber, one of these will be winging its way to you shortly. If you aren't a subscriber, I'm really sorry but we aren't accepting any new subscribers to our Basic range at this point in time. We ARE accepting new subscribers to our Luxury pet-friendly range, which you can check out right here.