HouseplantsucculentStraightforward

Haworthia

Haworthiopsis attenuata

A small banded succulent that, unusually for the group, grows naturally in the shade of other plants and therefore tolerates a windowsill that is bright but not baking. That makes it one of the few succulents genuinely suited to an ordinary indoor position.

Position: Bright, out of direct sun
Water: low demand
Drainage: Free-draining
Grows to: 8–15 cm × 10–20 cm
Frost: Frost tender
Difficulty: Straightforward

August

Nothing to do

No sowing, planting, harvesting or pruning window falls in August.

Haworthia’s year

Resolved for United Kingdom (general). Every window is stored against a climate event rather than a date, so a late frost pocket runs later than the band shows. What else August calls for.

Activity	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Take cuttings					May.	June.	July.

Timing that travels

The band above resolves this plant's windows into months for one region. These are the windows themselves, stored against a climate event rather than a date — which is the form that survives being carried to a colder garden, a frost pocket, or next year.

Conditions it needs

Light: Partial shade, Full sun
Frost: Frost tender
Grows best at: 15–27 °C
Soil: Sandy, Peat-free compost
Soil pH: 6–7.5
Drainage: Free-draining
Water needs: low
Drought: good tolerance
Waterlogging: poor tolerance
Heat: good tolerance
Wind and exposure: moderate tolerance

Where these figures come from

LightSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Haworthia — position
Checked 2026-08-13
FrostSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Haworthia — hardiness
Checked 2026-08-13
Grows best atSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Haworthia — temperature
Checked 2026-08-13
SoilSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Haworthia — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Soil pHSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Plant Finder — Missouri Botanical Garden: Haworthiopsis attenuata — culture
Checked 2026-08-13
DrainageSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Haworthia — soil
Checked 2026-08-13
Water needsHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
DroughtHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
WaterloggingHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
HeatHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Wind and exposureHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

On your soil

Computed by comparing this plant's recorded requirements against each soil's recorded characteristics. A recorded horticultural fact overrides the comparison where GrowingHQ holds one.

Soil	Verdict	Why
Heavy clay	Works, with one condition	Haworthia will crop on heavy clay, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Sandy	Prefers this soil	Sandy suits Haworthia as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. Sandy soil is among the soils it is recorded as suiting. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Chalky and alkaline	Grows well here	Haworthia grows perfectly well on chalky and alkaline without special measures, though it is not the soil it would choose.
Loam	Prefers this soil	Loam suits Haworthia as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Silty	Prefers this soil	Silty suits Haworthia as it stands: The pH suits it: it wants 6 to 7.5, and this soil is in that range. The free drainage is exactly what it wants. The soil holds moisture, which saves a great deal of watering.
Peaty and acid	Works, with one condition	Haworthia will crop on peaty and acid, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.
Shallow over rock	Prefers this soil	Shallow over rock suits Haworthia as it stands: The free drainage is exactly what it wants. It stands dry conditions better than most, which this soil will test.
Made ground and urban soil	Works, with one condition	Haworthia will crop on made ground and urban soil, but one thing has to be dealt with first. It needs ground that drains, and this soil holds water. For a crop lifted before winter the risk is not rot but the season: waterlogged ground is cold and unworkable in spring, so sowing is late and germination patchy.Improve the drainage before planting — a raised bed, or bulky organic matter worked in over several seasons. Do not add sand to clay in small quantities; it makes the problem worse.

Not sure which you have? Four hand tests will settle it.

Space and spacing

Mature height: 8–15 cm
Mature spread: 10–20 cm
Rooting depth: 10 cm

Where these figures come from

Mature heightHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Mature spreadHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Rooting depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

In a container

Minimum volume: 1 litres or more
Minimum depth: 8 cm

Where the container figures come from

Minimum volumeHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13
Minimum depthHorticultural consensusmoderate confidence: No external citation — see the evidence type above.
Checked 2026-08-13

Where and how you can grow it

Each way of growing is assessed separately, and “not assessed” is a real answer rather than a gap we have filled in with a guess.

Method	Suitability	What it needs
Indoor pot	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Windowsill	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13
Container	Well suited source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13	Indoors, or outdoors in summer only
Open ground	Not suitable source Sourced guidancemoderate confidence Royal Horticultural Society: Growing method suitability Checked 2026-08-13	Tender: will not survive a British winter outdoors.

Growing it

WateringWater into the compost rather than over the rosette, and let it dry completely between waterings. Water held between the tightly packed leaves rots the crown from the middle outwards.
PropagationDetach offsets that have their own roots when repotting. Rootless offsets can be struck but are much slower and rot easily.
FeedingEffectively never. A haworthia is a slow plant with a small root system, and one dilute feed in spring is more than most get. It is far more sensitive to a build-up of salts in the compost than to a shortage of nutrients — brown, dead root tips and a white crust on the pot rim are the sign — so if in doubt, repot into fresh gritty compost rather than feed. Nothing at all from September to March.
TransplantingEvery two or three years, in spring, into gritty compost and a pot that is wide rather than deep — haworthias have small root systems and are better slightly cramped than generously potted. Roots that are dead and brown at the tips usually mean salt build-up or wet compost, so shake the old mix off, trim them back and start again clean. Keep it dry for a week afterwards. Repotting in autumn gives a plant that sits in damp compost until March without growing into it.

Where this guidance comes from

WateringSourced guidancehigh confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Haworthia — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
PropagationSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Haworthia — propagation
Checked 2026-08-13
FeedingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Haworthia — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13
TransplantingSourced guidancemoderate confidence: Royal Horticultural Society: Haworthia — cultivation
Checked 2026-08-13

The rule is the same in all four: the new piece needs both a growing point and roots of its own. A cutting is the exception that has to make its roots afterwards, which is why the node matters so much.

Safety and edibility

Cats and dogs

Pet safety not established

Safety around cats and dogs has not been established for Haworthia. Absence from a toxicity list is not the same as being listed as safe.

Insufficient evidenceconfidence unknown

Haworthiopsis attenuata is not named on the ASPCA lists under either its current name or Haworthia fasciata, the name it is usually sold under. Several other small rosette succulents are listed non-toxic, which is suggestive and is not a finding about this one.

No external citation — see the evidence type above.

Checked 2026-08-13

Sources for this page

GrowingHQ editorial synthesis · Plant Finder · Royal Horticultural Society

Each figure on this page carries its own citation, under the “where these figures come from” note in its section. Record last reviewed 2026-08-14.