Graptoveria Fred Ives is a fantastic hybrid of vivid colour and exceptional hardiness. Although this succulent is quite tough there are a few tips and tricks to keeping it happy.
Below I’ll go through everything there is to know about Graptoveria Fred Ives. All advice is based on growing tens of thousands of these plants at our nursery Fern Farm Plants.
Description
Graptoveria Fred Ives is a succulent plant with a rosette shape leaf arrangement. The colour can range from pale pink to green pink, dark pink with hints of purple. One plant can display all of these colours in a course of a year.
The leaves are long, pointy and spoon shaped. The appearance of this plant will much depend on where it’s grown. Graptoveria Fred Ives grown in full sun will have shorter, wider, more stubby leaves while plants in more shade can have elongated leaves.
Graptoveria Fred Ives is a large growing succulent with rosettes measuring over 20cm in diameter and 20cm in height. Fred Ives grown in part shade will appear bigger due to leaves growing slightly longer when not enough sunlight is hitting the plant. Graptoveria Fred Ives has a spreading habit and one plant can consist of more than 10 large rosettes.
Offsets are quite prolific and Graptoveria Fred Ives can produce upwards of 10 per year once mature. If the offsets are left attached, they will form a large clump. New offsets usually grow from the base of a stalk but can also appear midway through the stalk.
Graptoveria Fred Ives grows very pretty flowers once per year, usually in Spring. The bellshaped flowers grow on a tall stalk and open up in bunches. One rosette can grow more than 3 flower stalks.
Position & Care
Graptoveria Fred Ives is a super hardy plant that can deal with all sorts of adverse weather and conditions. Established plants in large pots and in the ground can usually look after themselves.
Direct sun exposure over 35C/95F can burn young plants but mature Graptoveria Fred Ives should be able to withstand sun even over 40C/104F. Morning sun/afternoon shade is the ideal position during a hot summer and full sun during the rest of the year to get that gorgeous hot pink out.
Graptoveria Fred Ives is not frost hardy and will need to be brought indoors once frosts are expected. It will, however, happily grow outdoors in low temperatures to about 1C/33F. Fred Ives should also survive mild frosts, but can suffer burn marks.
To get lovely, big plants upgrade the pot once a year and plant in fresh succulent potting mix. This will ensure the Fred Ives will grow well and have lots of offsets. If you live in a climate that often experiences hot summers avoid black pots as these will increase the heat around the root area.
Good quality succulent potting mix should result in a plant that is healthy and beautiful. Having said that, Graptoveria Fred Ives will quite literally survive in any potting mix and will live in the same pot for many years but may not look its best. When Graptoveria Fred Ives is left in poor potting mix and small pot it will not grow very big.
In the garden Graptoveria Fred Ives can be planted in a sunny spot and will be much more hardy than plants grown in pots. This means it will take higher temperatures and will not need watering as often as the roots can grow deep into the ground.
Watering can be left to the rain, though the plant will thank you if you water well during heatwaves and droughts. A good rule is to water once the potting mix has dried up.
Graptoveria Fred Ives is not suitable as an indoor plant and it requires direct sunlight for at least 4 hours per day followed by bright light.
Propagation
Graptoveria Fred Ives can be propagated by offsets, leaves, bulbil or seeds. The easiest and fastest method of propagation is by taking cuttings of offsets.
To successfully propagate offsets it is best to wait until they are big enough and have a substantial stalk that can be cut through. The cutting should be left to dry for 24hrs and then planted in succulent potting mix.
All propagating should be done during the growing season which is Spring and Summer. In moderate climates the Graptoveria Fred Ives will propagate in Autumn as well. My favourite time to propagate is Spring as it is not yet hot enough that the cuttings will burn and pretty much all succulents grow incredibly fast during this time. In summer during hot days cuttings can be a bit vulnerable and burn easily if exposed to strong sun.
Leaf propagation is incredibly easy and if you’re looking for a plant to try propagating from leaves for the first time, Graptoveria Fred Ives is ideal. I often find leaves of this wonderful succulent I’ve accidentally knocked off that have sprouted on their own, under the tables or between pots. As a bonus a single leaf can grow more than one rosette. If the leaves are taken off in the growing season new plants will start emerging after about 2-3 weeks.
Seed propagation can be quite unreliable, extremely slow and a bit pointless Graptoveria Fred Ives is just so easy to propagate from offsets and leaves. Thus, I would not recommend going down this path.
Bulbil grows on flower stalks and can be propagated just like offsets. If left attached to the stalk bulbil will eventually droop down as the flower stalk dies off and root on its own when its weight forces the stalk to fall all the way to the ground.
Pests
Graptoveria Fred Ives is susceptible to all the usual succulent pests such as mealy bugs, aphids and snails/slugs.
Mealybugs and aphids are quite a danger to Fred Ives and can infest a plant fast. Regular checks should be made to keep them at bay.
For a full list of pests and how to deal with them see our article on animals that like to eat succulents.
Toxicity
It is said that Graptoveria Fred Ives is non toxic to humans, dogs, cats, other pets and livestock, but no reliable information exists regarding its toxicity.
In general Echeveria and Graptopetalum (plants used to create Graptoveria Fred Ives) are not toxic. This plant should not be consumed as a food source and if you are worried, always consult a medical professional.
Where Can I Get It?
Graptoveria Fred Ives is a popular and easy plant to find. It should be available in garden centres or succulent nurseries. If you look online, you will definitely find one.