Sedum Gold Moss is a great succulent for beginners who are just starting to expand their collection. This plant is hardy and low-maintenance, perfect for busy people or those who are afraid that caring for a plant is too much responsibility.
Succulents are resilient plants that can survive neglect and drought, so you should not be scared of growing these plants.
In this article, we will discuss how to care for Sedum Gold Moss, as well as how to properly propagate it. So, if you are thinking about adding this succulent to your collection and wish to learn more about it, just keep reading.
What is Sedum Gold Moss?
Sedum Gold Moss is also called Sedum acre or mossy stonecrop. It is a versatile succulent that grows well in gritty and sandy soil, making it a good choice for a rock garden.
This is a low-growing succulent that makes a great groundcover; it will simply tumble over rocks and other fixtures you might add to your garden.
Most gardeners agree that this plant is very simple to grow and care for, and it also looks great next to your other plants.
The leaves of Sedum Gold Moss are quite small and resemble spikes. The gold in its name is due to its flowerhead, which is covered with small, yellow star-shaped flowers when it blooms.
This succulent is native to New Zealand, Japan, North America and parts of Europe. As you can see, it is a hardy succulent that can tolerate colder climates.
Sedum Gold Moss: Care
Light requirements
If your Sedum Gold Moss gets a minimum of six hours of full sunlight every day, it will maintain a beautiful reddish-orange tint on its leaves.
This plant thrives outdoors under direct sunlight and it will not be as happy indoors, even if you have several grow lights around it. It will always favor actual sunlight.
Some people even place their Sedum Gold Moss on their roofs, where they can get blasted with unobstructed sunlight for the entire day. They are kept in this spot until the middle of autumn when they are taken indoors and placed near an east-facing window all the way through winter.
Even if the plant does enjoy full, direct sunlight, do not expose it immediately after bringing it home from the store or nursery. You need to gradually acclimatize the plant to more and more hours under the sun every day until eventually, you can leave it outdoors the whole time. Allow the plant to adjust slowly to its new environment because a failure to acclimatize it to sunlight can lead to sun-damaged foliage.
Soil requirements
Sedums like their soil to be well-draining so that it does not become waterlogged or soggy. A combination of brick chunks, river sand, gravel, and limestone would be gritty enough to satisfy these plants.
Loose soil, rather than dense or compact, and with non-organic components is best. If the potting mix includes even just a quarter of organic materials such as compost, mulch or peat, that should be fine.
Regular potting soil will not work for your Sedum Gold Moss; it is too dense and may have a high clay component. An easy way to check whether the soil is appropriate is simply to compress the soil in your fist: if it forms a clump, the soil may be too compact.
Sedums also like their soil more alkaline, but they seem adaptable enough to do fine with any pH level, as long as the soil is well-draining.
Water requirements
The amount of water your Sedum Gold Moss will need, as well as the frequency of watering, will depend on the plant’s current stage of life. Its requirements when it is a small, recently-propagated plant will be different from when it is a fully mature plant.
Remember that Sedums are succulents and they are able to withstand drought because of their ability to store water in their leaves and stems. What they are sensitive to, as are most succulents, is overwatering.
When your Sedum Gold Moss is around one or two years old, you can water it using the drench and dry method, which means that when the top two inches of soil are bone dry to the touch, you need to drench all of the soil in the pot to the point that excess water is flowing out through the drainage holes at the bottom of the pot. The number of days between waterings is irrelevant, as long as you check the dryness of the soil before watering.
During the summer this may be as often as twice a week, but in colder weather when the soil dries out much more slowly, you might only need to water it every two weeks. The drench and dry method are foolproof as long as the soil is well-draining and there are sufficient drainage holes in the pot.
If you have a fully-grown, properly mature Sedum Gold Moss growing in your rock garden, you do not really even need to water it. If it is growing outdoors and is sufficiently established, the plant will begin to grow as it pleases and will be more than capable of getting water from the ground and the rain. Of course, if you see that the soil has been dry for a little too long, you can still help the plant out by watering it, especially during the warmer months of the year.
Temperature requirements
Sedum Gold Moss, as with most Sedum varieties, is hardy and can tolerate temperature extremes, especially cold. It does quite well in warm climates as well, because of its ability to store water.
It can survive both high heat and temperatures as low as -30 degrees Fahrenheit. Even if you grow the plant in your outdoor garden and it gets buried in snow during the winter, it will be able to survive.
In fact, Sedum Gold Moss tends to show its most vibrant colors when it is subjected to temperature extremes. When the plant is in the snow throughout winter, its new sprouts in the spring will have some very interesting hues.
Fertilizer requirements
Sedum Gold Moss does not really need to be fertilized to thrive. If you do want to help the plant out with fertilizer, make sure you are using a fertilizer that is designed specifically for succulents. Fertilize the plant once a month, only during the growing season in early spring, and dilute the recommended concentration to about a fourth.
Do not fertilize the plant if it is less than a year old. It is best to make sure it is stable and its roots well established before you encourage a growth spurt.
Potting requirements
You can keep this plant in a pot or container, but it will thrive best if it is planted outdoors in a rock garden.
If you do want to plant it in a container, make sure it is not made of plastic because, as discussed, this plant likes its roots to dry out quickly between waterings and plastic containers lock moisture into the soil a little too well.
Use a container made of terracotta, for example, because this material allows water and moisture to escape much faster. Make sure the container has enough drainage holes at the bottom. If the holes are too big, the loose soil may start running out, so check that the holes are the right size to prevent this.
You can also place some broken terracotta pot pieces at the bottom of the pot around the drainage holes before you put any potting mix in.
How fast does Sedum Gold Moss grow?
This plant is called Gold Moss because it grows very similarly to how moss would grow: low to the ground and tangled up. It will actively cover the ground while growing to an average height of only four inches.
Because this plant does not grow tall, it grows sideways instead, and quickly, too. At around a year old, a Sedum Gold Moss plant can be around a foot in diameter.
How to propagate Sedum Gold Moss
Sedum Gold Moss takes quite well to propagation using seed, stem cuttings or fallen leaves. Out of all three methods, the easiest for beginners is using stem cuttings, because it has the highest success rate.
To propagate your Sedum Gold Moss, choose a stem from the plant that is sufficiently long and has aerial roots on it. Use a sterile pair of scissors to cut off two to three inches of the stem.
Leave the cutting to callus on a dry paper towel for a day. The thinner the stem, the faster it will callus.
The following day, stick the stem cuttings in moistened succulent potting mix. Potting mix that contains peat-sand or peat-perlite is best.
Water the soil where the cuttings are planted, enough to keep the potting mix always slightly moist.
After a couple of weeks, the plant will have established roots, which you can check by gently tugging on it. If there is noticeable resistance from the plant, the roots have grown in nicely and you can now start to increase the plant’s exposure to sunlight and to water it only when the soil’s top two inches are dry to the touch.
After three months, you can move the plant to a sunnier area, but just make sure you gradually introduce it to more and more sunlight so that it does not get burnt.
Do not propagate the plant during the fall or winter. Do so during the spring and summer when it is actively growing, because this will help it recover more quickly.
Conclusion
Sedum Gold Moss is a low-maintenance succulent that is hardy to cold temperatures and can also be resilient in warmer climates.
This plant is quite easy to grow and care for: it just wants to be grown outdoors where it can get plenty of light. Water the mature plant only when the top two inches of soil are dry to the touch.
Plant your Sedum Gold Moss in succulent soil that is well-draining, in a pot made of terracotta, so that any excess water will simply flow out and lessen the chances of overwatering.
Propagating the Sedum Gold Moss is very easy, especially if you use stem cuttings from a mother plant. Simply cut off a cutting and let it callus. The next day, plant the cutting in a new container, in well-draining soil and with drainage holes at the bottom of the container.
The cutting should grow new roots after a few weeks and you can then transfer them to a larger pot or into your outdoor garden.
This plant is very beginner-friendly, so if you are looking for a low-maintenance plant that is easy to grow and care for, this might be the plant for you.
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