Staff Answer
Jun 23, 2021 - 06:34 AM
Good question!
There are a few notes on blooming succulents I want to give you that should generally apply to all succulents, but I'll try to be specific to bear paw too.
1) How much water is it getting? Although succulents are very drought tolerant, they may decide not to bloom if they aren't receiving enough water during their active growing season. For bear paw, this is the spring. Unfortunately, increasing the amount of water will also make the plant more green and it'll lose its red "claws". With this one, it may be a matter of preference. Do you want colorful foliage or spring flowers? However, there are other possibilities for why your bear paw isn't flowering.
2) How's your plant's night time temperature? Bear paw loves the heat, but many succulents are encouraged to flower by having low (but not freezing) night time temperatures. This is especially true during the winter.
3) How much light does it have access to? Giving it full sun would encourage it to flower, assuming it doesn't have access to full sun right now. I'm defining "full sun" as 6 hours a sunlight a day. However, be careful if you decide to move it to a place that has more sun and work your way up to 6 hours incrementally. Otherwise, your bear paw could get sunburned.
4) Is it getting fertilized? Fertilizing is certainly not necessary, but it can encourage succulents to flower if they get fertilized during their growing season. If you do fertilize, I would recommend using half or even quarter strength fertilizer once every two weeks during the spring. You don't need a lot.
5) Finally, succulents are sometimes rather slow to flower. Although this is especially true of cacti, other succulents can be slow to flower too. Two years is a long time to have a succulent, but some need four or even five years before they're ready to bloom.
I hope this all helps!
There are a few notes on blooming succulents I want to give you that should generally apply to all succulents, but I'll try to be specific to bear paw too.
1) How much water is it getting? Although succulents are very drought tolerant, they may decide not to bloom if they aren't receiving enough water during their active growing season. For bear paw, this is the spring. Unfortunately, increasing the amount of water will also make the plant more green and it'll lose its red "claws". With this one, it may be a matter of preference. Do you want colorful foliage or spring flowers? However, there are other possibilities for why your bear paw isn't flowering.
2) How's your plant's night time temperature? Bear paw loves the heat, but many succulents are encouraged to flower by having low (but not freezing) night time temperatures. This is especially true during the winter.
3) How much light does it have access to? Giving it full sun would encourage it to flower, assuming it doesn't have access to full sun right now. I'm defining "full sun" as 6 hours a sunlight a day. However, be careful if you decide to move it to a place that has more sun and work your way up to 6 hours incrementally. Otherwise, your bear paw could get sunburned.
4) Is it getting fertilized? Fertilizing is certainly not necessary, but it can encourage succulents to flower if they get fertilized during their growing season. If you do fertilize, I would recommend using half or even quarter strength fertilizer once every two weeks during the spring. You don't need a lot.
5) Finally, succulents are sometimes rather slow to flower. Although this is especially true of cacti, other succulents can be slow to flower too. Two years is a long time to have a succulent, but some need four or even five years before they're ready to bloom.
I hope this all helps!
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