A succulent with transparent leaves Haworthia cooperi has around 16 varieties differing from H.cooperi var. cooperi with is is the type itself.
Along with this many named cultivars can be found with those wonderful transparent leaves, including the well known H.cooperi OB1 and H.venusta
The varieties differ in leaf shape and colour so let’s take a closer look.
Growing Haworthia cooperi.
This is plant that is grown for the leaves that when the light is at the right angle have a beautiful translucent look. They are some times called the window succulent, amongst other names. They come from the Eastern Cape area of South Africa and were named after and English botanist, Thomas Cooper hence another common name Cooper’s, Haworthia.
How to grow Haworthia cooperi
Light, temperature and drainage are the three most important aspects of care.
- Soil/Potting Mix
This is a succulent that requires excellent drainage, you could use a normal cactus and succulent mix, however many growers add extra drainage material.
The extra drainage material can include materials such as pumice, perlite, akadama, coarse washed sand and diatamite in its rock form.
Deep pots are best for growing many Haworthia varieties, as some do have deep root systems so for mature specimens ;look for tall pots around 15 cm in height. - Light
Sun is important and given good morning sun each day, so around 5 hours of morning sun, and then bright filtered, dappled shade or indirect light for the rest of the day you should get good results.
You need to avoid very hot afternoon sun which can cause leaf burn, and the leaves will loose the vibrant colours.. You also need to ensure adequate light to avoid etiolation, which means that the the leaves stretch. - Temperature and Humidity
Indoors normal a temperature works well, so around 20C (68F), with a nighttime drop down to around 5C.
Outdoors your will struggle when temperatures start to drop below around 10C daytime. Temperature up to 30C in the daytime are suitable, given protection from afternoon sun.
Avoid frosts and freezes, even light frosts can damage the plant.
As for humidity, H.cooperi prefers a low humidity, so no mist spraying. - Indoors/Outdoors
Most growers have Haworthia cooperi growing in pots, this allows them to have the plant in the best position and grow them indoors.
You could grow them outdoors, in the garden, in the right climate zones, however with exposure to the elements the leaves may not look as good . If you wand to try this then a rock or crevice garden could give you the right drainage. - Watering
Like many succulents the wet/dry method of watering works well. Water deeply and then let the soil dry right to before watering again. Once every2 weeks would be a maximum in most cases. However watering is dependent on climate and potting mix. - Fertiliser
The easiest way to fertilise Haworthia is to use something like Osmocote Plus which has trace elements added. - Repotting
The time to repot is in spring, or autumn.
Be careful to ease the plant out of the pot to avoid root damage.
Remove much of the old potting mix.
Repot.
Do not water for 7 days.