Species · genus Sempervivum · Crassulaceae

House-Leek

Sempervivum tectorum L.

Also known as: Common Houseleek · Hen-and-chickens · Houseleek · Hen-and-chicks

Growth habit

succulent perennial

Native range

Albania, Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, NW. Balkan Pen., Spain, Switzerland

Reference · S. tectorum

Cultivars of S. tectorum

The named forms growers keep — each with its own page, each honest about how much we know.

No named cultivars catalogued under S. tectorum yet. When growers document a stable, named form, it earns its own page here.

Guide

The species-level account. Cultivar pages build on this and say where they differ.

A hardy alpine succulent from the mountains of southern and central Europe, where it grows in thin, gritty soil on rocky slopes and old roofs. It stores water in its rosette and rots easily if kept wet, so plant it in fast-draining mineral mix and water deeply only when the soil has dried out completely. Give it the brightest light you can, including direct sun, and keep humidity low with good airflow.

Care recipe

The species record — the baseline every cultivar inherits unless it says otherwise.

Care notes are early — not yet verified

Light: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Water: ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d)
Humidity: ai:claude-opus-4-8
Soil: ai:claude-fable-5
Care: ai:claude-fable-5

Light

Direct sun

Water

≈ every 28 days

Humidity

Low — average room

Temperature

5–24 °C

Soil mix

Gritty, sharp-draining cactus and succulent mix

Propagation

Detach and replant the freely produced offset rosettes

Fertilizing

Weak dilute feed once or twice in spring and summer only

Growth rate

Slow

Flowering

Each rosette flowers once then dies, replaced by its many offsets

ToxicityAuthoritative · species

Not yet documented

This is where toxicity lives — every cultivar of this species inherits it and none can override it.

Reference images

Every image credited. Licenses link to their deeds.

No reference gallery yet

A few clear photos — habit, a mature leaf, a flower if it blooms — would give this page its eyes.

Add images

Sources: ai:claude-opus-4-8 · ai:claude-opus-4-8 (range 14-28d) · ai:claude-fable-5

Kept true by its growers

Every fact here carries its source. Grow House-Leek yourself? What you’ve observed — how it drinks, how it holds its color, a name that’s off — is exactly what keeps this page honest. Contributions are reviewed before anything changes.