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Echium Fastuosum "Pride of Madeira" Yellowing Leaves

westes Zone 9b California SF Bay

3 years ago

I have an Echium Fastuosum that has been doing pretty well in a container, getting water about once or twice a week. Just this week a whole group of leaves at the bottom of the plant has turned yellow. Would that be a sign of too little water? Generally, this plant is supposed to like poor soils and does not want overwatering.

The plant is also leggy on the bottom. Is that normal for this plant, or should a healthy specimen have leaves all the way to the base?

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Comments (5)

westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
Original Author
3 years ago
Could this yellowing be caused by over fertilizing? I have been giving my container succulents some Dyna-Gro 9-3-6 every week or two. This yellowing started shortly after I started that fertilizing routine.
Sara Malone Zone 9b
3 years ago
You don't need to fertilize Echiums at all...they do best in poor soil - look at all of them growing by the side of the freeway. Your yellow leaves look like normal leaf-shed - they are older leaves on the trunk that are shaded out.
westes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked Sara Malone Zone 9b
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Karyn, You see a small number of Echium candicans/fastuosum, aka "Pride of Madeira". Even that you see many more on the coast and in San Francisco. Its a heavily branched bush and a perennial, unlike E. wildpretii, which is monocarpic and frequently biennial. I'm wondering whether the unbloomed multibranched E. wildpretii, if it doesn't bloom all at once, might turn out to be a short-lived perennial. I always thought "wildpretii" was such a great name for the plant. Then I found out it was named after Dr. Wildpret, and is not a descriptive name. I just looked it up--Wildpret's full name is Dr. Wolfredo Wildpret de la Torre. They picked an appropriate plant to name after him with a full last name like that (torre = tower). The common name for the plant is "tower of jewels". Here is a link that might be useful: Pictures of Echium candicans on Flickr
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westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
Original Author
3 years ago
@Sara_Malone so what disappoints me about my plant is that it is so leggy. After 18 months I also expect a lot more development. There are two-year-old specimens on Youtube - in my geographic area - that are filled out and already a bush 4 ft by 4 ft after just two years. The leaves that are there on top look healthy. Not sure what the problem is.
Sara Malone Zone 9b
3 years ago
I'm not sure either. I gave up on Echiums a long time ago due to their ranginess and rampant re-seeding. Just not what I wanted in my garden. Your soil may be too rich, you may be giving them too much water. Here is a good write up:

https://www.smgrowers.com/products/plants/plantdisplay.asp?plant_id=543
westes Zone 9b California SF Bay thanked Sara Malone Zone 9b
westes Zone 9b California SF Bay
Original Author
last year
Having a few more years of experience with this particular plant, my observation has been that the plant has demanded way more water than the online resources claim the plant needs. If I fail to water for four days, I immediately get yellowing leaves and leaves shedding. If I water every other day, the plant starts to fill out and become more like a shrub. It probably needs to be in the ground and get roots established very deep to tolerate less frequent water. But as far as container habit goes, the Echiums appear to need regular water.

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