Carpobrotus edulis (Highway Ice Plant)
Common names: Ice Plant, Highway Ice Plant, Freeway Ice Plant, Pigface, Hottentot Fig, Sour Fig, Sea Fig, Cape Fig
Listing is for 3 unrooted cuttings. Very easy to root.
Each is about 5 to 7 inches long.
Carpobrotus edulis is a creeping, mat-forming perennial succulent with leaves crowded along the stem, up to 5 inches long and up to 0.5 inch thick, sharply 3-angled and triangular in cross-section, yellowish to grass-green and reddish when older.
The flowers are light yellow or light pink, up to 6 inches in diameter. The fruit is up to 1.4 inches in diameter, fleshy, shaped like spinning top, on a winged stalk, becoming yellow when ripe.
How to Grow and Care
Growing Carpobrotus in containers is ideal, and you can overwinter them in temperate regions. Just bring the pot in and water it deeply. Cut back the plant and let it dry out and languish for the winter in a warm location. In March, resume regular watering and move the plant to a full light situation where it has some protection from burning rays. Gradually reintroduce the plant to temperatures outdoors until it can tolerate a full day outside.
The only serious threats to the plant’s health are spittle bugs and some root rots and stem rots. You can avoid the rot by minimizing overhead watering during periods in which the plant will not dry off before nightfall. The bugs will remove themselves if you spray with a horticultural soap.
