Burro's Tail

Other common names: Donkey's Tail, Cola de Burro, 串珠草

Burro’s tail is a trailing succulent with fleshy stems and leaves that can reach up to 1.2m long! It has fleshy pointed leaves that are arranges in a whorl around the stem. The leaves are a bluish-green with a naturally powdery texture.

A perennial plant, burro’s tail are great plants to grown in hanging baskets and containers as they grow long and trail down.

Sun and soil needs:

This plant thrives in areas with 4-6 hours of indirect sun but may burn if exposed to more than 6 hours of direct sunlight. Plants do best in pots with sandy soil at least 10cm deep.

Growing:

Burro’s tail plants grow best in areas with plenty of indirect light and airflow, making them ideal hanging plants for balconies. However, this plant needs to be handled with care as their leaves tend to drop easily. Dropped leaves can be repropagated into new plants, and bare stems can also be pruned to be repropagated as stem cuttings.

It is important to water the plant only when the soil is dry as it is very vulnerable to root rot. These plants generally do not need to be fertilised, but a balanced slow-release fertiliser applied once every other month will keep the plant lush and growing steadily.

Propagation:

Burro’s tail can be grown from stem and leaf cuttings.

Common problems & solutions:

Burro's tail plants are usually quite resistant to pests if kept healthy.

Aphids, scale insects and spider mites often infest the plant if it has underlying problems like reroot rotpeated wilting from heat stress. Mechanical pest control methods like pruning the infested parts are the best methods for managing these pests in the short term, but resolving the underlying problem will prevent them in the long term.