The Hardy Yellow Ice Plant, otherwise known as the Delosperma Nubigenum is a pretty well known cactus/succulent plant by gardening enthusiasts around the world.
Best known for its low maintenance and fast growth, this cactus/succulent will likely liven up your house (or garden) with its green colored leaves. But, only if you learn how to take proper care of it for it to thrive.
Fortunately, taking care of your Hardy Yellow Ice Plant is not too difficult – as long as you follow our guidelines in this Hardy Yellow Ice Plant Care Guide. Now let’s get started.
In order to take proper care of your Hardy Yellow Ice Plant you’ll need to keep in mind the following guidelines:
- Water: The Hardy Yellow Ice Plant grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
- Light: Keep your Delosperma Nubigenum in an environment where it can receive full sun on a daily basis.
- Soil: Make sure to keep the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant in soil with well-draining properties, so ideally, one that is made of sand and chalk.
That’s it – sunlight, water and soil! The basic 3 fundamentals for all plant care, and with the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant this is no exception. With these three elements, your leafy friend will live healthy and happy.
Scientific / Botanical Aspects
In botanical terms, the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant belongs to the Aizoaceae family, the genus Delosperma and the species Nubigenum, hence its scientific (or botanical) name Delosperma Nubigenum.
As with other Delosperma’s, the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant is an evergreen plant, which means it will be present year round in your garden.
Growing Region
The Hardy Yellow Ice PlantSouth Africa.
You might be wondering why your Hardy Yellow Ice Plant’s native region is important. Well, if you know where your plant originally came from, you’ll know which environment conditions it prefers, and with it, knowledge on how to replicate it at home.
With this in mind, the Delosperma Nubigenum will be most used to regions where the plant hardiness level falls between 6b, 6a, 7b, 7a, 8b, 8a, 9b, 9a and the ideal climate zone is between 2, 2A, 2B, 3, 3A, 3B, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.
Growth and Size
Growth
In terms of size and growth, the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant is a relatively fast grower, which makes things tricky for any plant enthusiast.
Size
But, how big does the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant actually get? What should you expect in terms of size? Let’s dive right in…
The Delosperma Nubigenum can grow up to 2″ – 3″ (5cm – 7cm) in 2″ – 3″ (5cm – 7cm) and 9″ – 2′ (22cm – 60cm) in 9″ – 2′ (22cm – 60cm).
These dimensions make the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant a relatively medium cactus/succulent compared to others, so it’s best to keep this fact in mind since it will affect where you want to keep yours at home.
This is why experts recommend keeping an area of approximately 18″ (45cm) free so the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant can spread to its best extent.
Water
In terms of watering, the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant is a fairly simple plant to take care of.
This is mostly because it has a straightforward watering schedule and somewhat regular watering needs.
Specifically, most experts agree that the Delosperma Nubigenum grows best with watering each week. Increase the frequency of watering when it gets hot.
Which is why it is considered a plant with relatively low needs in terms of water.
Watering
As a rule of thumb, you should remember to keep your Hardy Yellow Ice Plant in soil with well-draining characteristics, as these will guarantee the right conditions for your plant to grow and thrive.
When you consider this, this is why you should aim to choose soil that has good drainage properties to keep the right moisture levels at all times.
However, in our experience, the best solution to knowing the right amount of water for your Hardy Yellow Ice Plant is with the ‘thumb’ technique. Basically, you insert your finger into the soil, and based if you feel the soil moist or dry, you determine if it needs any water, which is the most appropriate way to go about watering your leafy friend.
Soil Mix
As mentioned earlier, the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant prefers to have soil with good drainage properties at all times, reason why you need to make the soil mix out of sand and chalk.
In addition to this, expert gardeners recommend having preferably alkaline, acid or neutral soil.
Light and Exposure
In terms of light & exposure, the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant requires full sun in order for it to thrive under the right conditions.
Most experts agree that this cactus/succulent will do well as long as you keep it in full sun, and it will be able to grow properly.
Specifically, we recommend that you place your Delosperma Nubigenum in little to partial shade (only 2-6 hours of direct sunlight a day), to full and direct sun (more 6 hours of direct sunlight per day).
Season
Being an evergreen plant, the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant will be present year round in your garden.
But, you can expect it to have its ‘prime-time’ during the spring (late), the summer (early, mid, late), and during the fall.
Flowers
You can expect your Hardy Yellow Ice Plant to flower around the spring months from April to June (spring).
In particular, this cactus/succulent is well known for its showy flowers around the plant enthusiast community.
The Hardy Yellow Ice Plant produces some beautiful yellow, or gold/yellow flowers around this time of year.
Foliage
The leaves from the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant have a beautiful green color during most of the year.
You can expect the leaves from your Delosperma Nubigenum to be around (1-3 inches) in size.
Attracts, Tolerance and Resistance
The Hardy Yellow Ice Plant is well known for being able to attract butterflies, so keep that in mind when choosing your plant, as you’ll likely end up finding one or another in your garden.
Additionally, it has a special tolerance for drought and animals like deer, so don’t worry if any of these come along, your Delosperma Nubigenum will be fine.
Garden
Now, let’s talk garden and how your Hardy Yellow Ice Plant will look best in it.
Other owners consider that they complement well most gardens of gravel and rock garden, coastal garden, and in mediterranean garden styles.
In particular, the Hardy Yellow Ice Plant’s best location within your garden is in beds and borders, ground covers, banks and slopes, edging, and in patio and containers, others use it for landscaping in a container, ground cover, coastal exposure, firescaping/fire wise, or a mass planting.
Conclusion
So that’s it! These are the main plant care requirements that you need to keep in mind in order to have a healthy Hardy Yellow Ice Plant in your garden or home.
