Hi, I'm rather new to gardening (and xeriscaping), and while the rest of my plants are doing great, my two ice plants are dying. They were trucking along pretty well for awhile. Then we hooked up a drip irrigation system (daily, 20 minutes at 2 liters per hour). They perked up at first, but after just a couple days, stopped flowering and lost their nice green pigment. They look straggly and wilted. Can anyone shed some light? Thank you!!
They do not like to be wet all the time. They should only get water after they've dried out. Unless it's really hot out, probably no more than once a week or 10 days at this time of year.
If it's been really hot where you are, that could also account for the problem. What have your temps been? Are they in full sun? Protected? Details, please.
Our temps are in the high 90s every day in July. The plants are about 2 feet from an adobe wall. This puts them in the shade for a good portion of the day, but there is also a certain amount of reflected/radiated heat from the wall itself. The rest of the plants (all xeric) are thriving on a small amount of daily water (ground dries out again by the next day) but the ice plants are nearly dead! I thought they loved the heat. Do you think they might not be getting enough sun? Thanks for your help!
For what it's worth, I think the Delospermas are getting too much heat between your daily temps and that reflected and retained by your adobe wall. Also, they should probably get more light.
I was wrong about how often to water. Here's what it says in "Mesembs of the World" about watering Delospermas:
"Plants are easily cultivated if one forgets that they are succulents and treat them like strawberry plants, that is, with abundant summer water and rich but well-drained, somewhat sandy soil. The tuberous species must be kept dry in winter."
Almost all of the ones which occur in South Africa are in the summer rainfall region. Do you know which species you have? Some tolerate frost and others prefer moister conditions. Again, a quote from the same book:
"The upland species often inhabit areas of severe winter frost and have special adaptations to it (autumnal dehydrations, red pigments, perennial underground parts and annual shoots. Many species inhabit locally moist zones near watercourses, the drip-lines of rocks or under trees. The few Namaqualand species are tougher and grow well exposed."
So I'd try amending the soil around the plants so it retains more water, give them some fertilizer (after watering) and give them more light.
Hope this helps.
