Let’s talk about what hard growing is, why you’d want to consider it, and whether it matters if you don’t.
Aloe peglerae at the Huntington Library Botanical Garden, showing typical signs of “hard growth” for the species
Hard Grown means that a plant has been grown without exceptional care or attention paid to it to make it grow as perfectly as possible. You’ll “grow a plant hard” to make it more closely resemble what it would look like in habitat. This keeps growth compact, encourages the development of powdery farina, or will ensure certain species engage in seasonal responses.
Generally, you’ll use the phrase to refer to a span of time long enough to be several growing cycles, or even the lifetime of the plant. This usually means years, at least, and you’ll hear “hard grown” used with pride most often when a plant is more than 5 or 10 years old.
What conditions result in a hard grown plant?
A hard grown plant is most often the result of one or a combination of several conditions:
- Low water / less water than ideal
- Intense light, whether sunshine or artificial
- Heat / ambient temperature – this one usually in combination with another condition
- Being root bound
These conditions lead to a hard grown plant because they are all types of stress on the plant. For the novice grower learning and expanding their knowledge, these things can all seem easily remedied, or like key elements you should be avoiding: why would you intentionally care for a plant badly?
The why is the growth that results: cacti and succulents have evolved to thrive in conditions other plants would consider less than ideal. Their ideal conditions are already quite hard compared to a tropical or even subtropical plant, and by applying strategic types of stress to our cultivated plants, we can better mimic the growth in habitat that many of us admire.
An excellent example of why you’d want to hard grow a cactus is the Copiapoa genus. What many collectors fall in love with is the powdery farina, the black spines, the appearance they have in habitat – but they almost never resemble that in cultivation. I delve into the ‘why’ for the genus in more detail in my post about them, but the same principles apply for more than just Copiapoas. What we see about wild specimens that enchant us is the result of “hard growth” – surviving poor conditions and having to struggle to survive.
An Ariocarpus fissuratus I bought as a hard grown specimen in early spring 2022, showing clear signs:
Sun stress coloration (brown/dark flesh color), deeply sunken and textured leaves, and tight, compact growth.
The same plant 18 months later. Green, plump leaves, with new growth and intense fluff on top from light exposure.
It is also larger, has produced new leaves, and overall has grown quite quickly once establishing.
Hard Grown vs. Poached
A very crucial element to be aware of when you’re considering “hard grown” plants to add to your collection is whether they may actually be poached.
Depending on the species and your own experience, it can be extremely hard to tell the difference between an appropriately hard-grown plant and one plucked from the wild. The Ariocarpus pictured above was hard grown enough to cause a bit of side-eye over whether it may have actually been poached, but:
- I knew the seller, who was reputable and regularly showed his plants: all hard grown, and for long periods of time, so not recent flips or recently repotted to simply look nice before dying slowly.
- The seller had been around a long time, with years of posts, and was also connected with/friendly with other community members I trusted
- Roots were pictured, which were clearly from a pot-grown plant. In Ariocarpus, poached specimens will have fat, short tap roots and few fibrous roots, while cultivated plants will have far more fibrous roots and a longer, albeit still fat, tap root.
For me, with that particular plant, those two factors were enough to make me unconcerned about the status of the cactus. If it was a seller I was less familiar with, or hadn’t known as long, particularly one that was very new on the scene, I would have been far more skeptical.
There’s no consistent set of rules to follow that apply to every single species that is poached, so if you’re uncertain – Google it! Ask the seller – but ask intelligently. Probe.
Questions to ask to determine poaching status
A reputable seller will be happy to answer your questions, but it’s important to also be respectful of their time. If you know that you don’t have the budget, or wouldn’t be able to afford the price tag – just don’t ask. Speaking from experience in multiple industries, the fastest way to burn through a seller’s good will is to ask just for the sake of asking.
Before even messaging the grower, there’s a couple elements you should hopefully be able to see in the listing for the plant:
- Roots! Many species commonly poached will have distinctive tap roots or root growth compared to their cultivated cousins. For species with large tap roots, this is a big giveaway.
- Compact growth in a relatively large specimen, particularly for species that take decades to reach appreciable size
- Plants that look just like the photos of wild specimens you’ve seen, especially for species that take decades to reach mature sizes
- Weathering of the plant – this usually takes some training of your “eye” to spot, but things like corking, bleaching of the spines, the presence of lichen, extreme wear on the plant except for the newest growth
If you’re not sure if what you see is just from hard growing or stress, then ask the grower! Even someone who imports should be able to answer direct questions about the provenance of their plants. Someone ethical who is aware their plants may look poached will also be happy to answer questions. I’ve had buyers ask me outright about whether my Dudleyas are poached, or simply where I obtained them – and I was very happy to answer they’re readily seed grown by a local nursery.
In aloes, particularly hybrids like the AJR pictured above, “hard grown” is used less often. Instead, growers will refer to being “stressed”, as they grow fast enough that a year or two of less than ideal conditions can be easily erased.
Above, you can see the signs of stress in the very curved leaves and the dark color on the leaf flesh exposed to light. If you were growing it yourself, you’d also be aware of how slowly it was putting out new leaves, and that the bloom stalk was stuck under a leaf, causing the short stem and funky bloom.
Questions to ask sellers about hard grown vs poached plants:
I’ll break this into a few brackets based on what I’ve experienced: US sellers, sellers that appear to be US based, and foreign sellers that export to the US.
US based sellers
There should be some evidence of this person or nursery existing beyond their seller page. An Instagram account, a Facebook page, Google Busiess location, website, something. For sellers that only sell through Instagram, scroll their posts with a critical eye. Are they just posting staged plants once that you never see again? Do you see at least some of their plants over months, or better yet, years?
Ask:
- How long have you had this plant?
- Where did you get it from?
- I saw [thing that made you wonder if it was poached], can you tell me why it looks like that?
- Where do they grow their plants for sale? If it’s a nursery, where are they located?
- If they imported the plant, how do they determine it’s “established” (if they claimed it as established)?
- If they imported the plant, what do they know about its origins?
For US sellers that import and flip the imports before trying to root them, this isn’t a red flag in and of itself. There’s a healthy business in importing plants from Korea, Thailand, or China and selling them to other US growers before attempting to establish them. As a buyer, you avoid having to source the plants yourself, figure out the paperwork, and get a plant that’s likely larger or more unusual than what you can find at the same pricepoint that’s US grown.
US sellers who import and flip will usually be happy to tell you they got them from a grower in [some country], but won’t share which grower (those relationships are business-sensitive), and the plants will be obviously graft-grown or greenhouse grown, with small or nonexistent roots.
Pleiospilos in-ground, in a quartz and granite hill, thriving despite growing in conditions that would typically be considered “hard” for the species. As a result, you don’t see leaf stacking – there’s the two old leaves, with two new leaves growing in the middle, and I’d expect the old leaves to absorb over the next few months for a typical in-situ appearance of two leaves.
Sellers that appear to be US Based
This is a tricky category, and personally, if I discover a seller isn’t actually US based but is presenting themselves as such, it’s a massive red flag. I won’t buy from a seller that is misrepresenting themselves as a US nursery but isn’t, as this often hides larger issues.
You usually won’t get an honest answer from a seller that’s trying to hide that they are not growing their plants in the US, or are simply importing and flipping as quickly as possible.
Warning Signs:
- Prices that seem too good to be true
- Nonsense business name (similar to Amazon products)
- Related businesses with origins in China or African countries – China as the largest market for poached plants, and African origins as sources for those plants
- When you look at the owner or nursery, the related people on Facebook, Instagram, or eBay are all located in other countries, particularly China, the Phillippines, or Africa
Questions to uncover red flags:
- How long have you had the plant? Pay attention for answers that seem like they’re exactly what you want to hear. This is more to see if they even answer.
- How did you get the plant? There should be a clear line of provenance, or evidence of how they grew it. Seed grown? Nursery grown? How did it get to the size it has? Where did all the roots go?
- It looks like it was poached, why is that? A reputable seller will likely be offended, but will have an answer. “I grow it outside and water it less than I should” would be a solid answer. No answer at all, or “it doesn’t look like that to me” would be red flags to me.
- Where is your nursery located? As a backyard grower who doesn’t allow people to visit, I’ll say so! I don’t have a nursery; I’m a small backyard grower and I can’t support public visitors. But that’s a clear and reasonable explanation. Can the grower you’re considering show you their greenhouses? Is there evidence of their existence in the US apart from their business listing?
Mesembs in particular respond well to being “hard grown”, as evidenced by this Agyroderma peersonii from Steve Hammer’s greenhouse with its turtleneck stem of old, absorbed leaves. This particular plant was decades old.
Non-US Based Sellers (Exporters)
Contrary to what you might expect, this is a bit easier to decide.
Can they tell you where they source their plants and how they’re grown? Cool, you’re fine.
Less easy is that some sellers will claim they can offer phytosanitary paperwork or related paperwork for someone in the US to import. I’ve been offered clearly poached plants and been assured the phytosanitary would be included. It’s important to note that phytosanitary is just to confirm no pests are coming in – not the provenance of the plants!
The offering of a phytosanitary certificate is not evidence that plants are not poached.
Instead, look for photos and clear evidence of the presence of a nursery and that they grow plants from seed or propagate. Ask how they source their mother plants. There may be a language barrier, but they should be able to tell you that plants were cultivated, not field collected.
As with anything online, be overly suspicious of sellers that seem to tell you exactly what you want to hear, especially when paired with low prices or “good deals”.
How can you “hard grow” your plants?
Circling back to the idea of a “hard grown” plant, how can you better approach the line of stress that results in a plant growing closer to its natural appearance?
One of the aspects of hard growing that is enticing to growers as they become more experienced is that it is hard to walk that fine line that stresses the plant enough for attractive growth without killing it. As you develop your own skills as a grower, dipping your toe into ways to stress your plants *just enough* to encourage the most attractive growth is a rewarding way to build your skills!
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, there’s a few ways you can hard grow your plants. It’s important to remember that hard growing is a long game, and the result of years of careful stress. A natural outcome of growing your plants a little harder is that they will also grow slower, so you won’t see massive size or growth. If you’re accustomed to seeing the rapid and robust growth of nursery grown succulents, it’s going to be a struggle to adjust your expectations to stressing your plants! (I’m speaking from experience, here)
Aloe suprafoliata showing sun stress (color) along with water stress (curling leaves)
Light Stress
One element to a hard grown plant is lighting. It is, for obvious reasons, easier to apply light pressure when you live in a climate that has plentiful sunlight for much of the year.
Intense light, introduced gradually, encourages a stress reaction in the form of color reactions. You’ll often see darker colors, redder colors, more intense colors as a result of light stress.
One of the other reactions to light stress is in species that produce a farina – the powdery white covering that is impossible to replicate. Encouraging the development of farina requires layers of stress, but a critical element is light intensity. Without enough light, the plant won’t be stressed enough to produce the farina covering that protects it.
At left is an Echeveria colorata, a species that thrives with layered stress.
It is also not a species that responds particularly well to being “hard grown” – as with most soft succulents in its genus, it needs a bit more babying, especially when grown in a pot.
It is, however, a great example of farina. This particular plant is grown with mild shade and nearly full sun, so each leaf that emerges is covered in a layer of powdery white farina to protect the tender new growth. Farina does not regrow, so once it’s been brushed off of a leaf, it won’t reappear.
As a result, farina coating is highly coveted, and undisturbed farina on a specimen plant is an excellent indication of a skilled grower with an exceptional plant.
Water Stress
I put light stress as the first element to a hard grown plant, but to be honest, the most critical component is water. You can stress your plant out all you like with sunshine, but it won’t be ‘hard grown’ unless it’s also lacking in water.
With water stress comes nuance!
Yes, you can stress your plant out and hard grow it by just not watering it much at all. I find it’s more interesting, and produces a more attractive plant, to time your water stress appropriately for the growing season.
Is it dormant in winter? Keep it dry for the coldest months. If you have multiple of a species, experiment with the difference it makes to drible a small amount of water on warmer days to keep the roots from completely dessicating.
When the species typically is in its growth period, either winter or summer growers, pay closer attention the plant instead of simply watering on a schedule. Can you detect signs of water stress? How far can it be stressed without water and still bounce back? Pushing these boundaries not only builds your experience as a grower, but also increases the stress on the plant itself, providing harder conditions for it to thrive in.
Pictured above are two Aloe peglerae in my yard, but grown in different settings: on the left, one grown on a steep hill, in almost full sun. It is watered regularly through the year, including in summer when it would typically be dormant, but the angle of the hill and poor soil quality mean that it dries out quickly and can’t absorb much water very quickly.
By constrast, the Aloe peglerae on the right is also in nearly full sun, but is on a flatter section of hill in a different part of the yard. It’s a younger plant, but rapidly reaching the same size as the one on the left. It’s not as richy colored, almost never completely curls up, and the leaves are thicker and more hydrated.
What’s the difference?
Water – or the ability to absorb it. The one on the right is on a flatter section of hill, with more soil around it, with no nearby boulders to heat up the soil or prevent the roots from digging in. I water the one on the right less than the one on the left, but because it’s easier for the roots to absorb water, the plant itself has an easier time growing. Meanwhile, at right, the poorer soil, the angle, the heat from nearby boulders (it’s next to large embedded sheets of quartz and granite) make it harder for the aloe to grow.
Hence…hard grown.
Root Bound
If you hadn’t guessed with my A. peglerae example, root health and access to essential elements is a key part of a robust plant.
Growing your cacti or succulents in smaller pots, repotting them seldom or not at all, or otherwise restricting the roots from healthy growth will also make your cacti and succulents struggle to grow. Most species naturally have smaller root systems than say, a tree or a shrub, but they still appreciate room to spread and attempt to absorb essential nutrients.
To achieve size, most cacti and succulents do require more root space, especially if you want a larger specimen in less than a few decades. Larger Astrophytum species are good examples of this: you’ll have an easier time by repotting them as they gain size and then later, keeping them in a smaller staging pot than you would trying to grow them in the small pot from the beginning.
The principles behind keeping your cacti (and succulents) a bit root bound to keep growth compact is very similar to bonsai principles, and worth a bit of looking into if you’re interested in maintaining well-staged, older specimens.
My in-ground lithops during summer, sunken in and under-watered. This genus is evolved to wrinkle and dessicate during summer months, sinking into the ground and being sheltered by dust and debris for the hottest months.
The lithops just out of focus behind the red ones at left, but plumped up and about to bloom as we enter the beginning of winter. These have thrived because the soil is relatively poor and doesn’t allow for too much water to linger around the roots.
Temperature
As with every other component, this is a layer to consider when you want to try hard growing your plants.
If you’re not in a climate that’s already ideal for cacti and succulents, you have more considerations for this than those of us blessed with their preferred temperatures. If you’re growing them indoors, they won’t experience the 100F+ highs of summer, or the nights near freezing where you have to keep them bone dry. I’ll freely admit: I don’t have much experience with that type of growing! As soon as my seedlings or imports are able to go outside, I stick them out there, and work them into the greenhouse. Indoors, I would imagine you need to be far more sparing with water, and more attentive to the quality and intensity of your artificial lights to encourage the hard growth you may be seeking.
For those fortunate enough to live in climates with fairly mild winters (zones 8 and above), your greater consideration is how temperature impacts your pots and the plants in the ground.
Heat is (for me) the more worrying consideration over cold. During cold months, I severely restrict water, and it’s generally fine. Most things are dormant, or my winter growers are getting water to their hearts’ content and are blooming and happy as can be.
It’s summer that’s hard.
Terra cotta pots dry out quickly. Plastic pots don’t insulate against heat. Staging pots, or show pots, are even worse for heat. The high temps dry out soil quickly, and in a greenhouse, temperatures can quickly reach extremes that most plants wouldn’t experience except for extreme cases. As a result, they’ll need more water, or more shade, than they might otherwise.
The thing to watch for is dry soil, and baking the roots. In pots, it’s very easy for plants to overheat and roots to cook. In the ground, the soil takes far longer to heat up, and is much less likely to bake the roots.
Back to hard growing, temperature extremes are part of what our plants have evolved to cope with. With seasonality, you’ll get more natural growth periods, which include the stressful periods of not growing. The periods of rest, either in winter or summer dormancy, contribute to slower, more compact growth, and encourage the stress reactions of farina coatings, fuzz, and spines.
Temperature, in and of itself, won’t necessarily “hard grow” a plant, but it’s hard to accomplish without temperature extremes. One more element to consider!
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