How to Plant, Grow, and Care for Albuca Spiralis

Looking for something unique? Albuca spiralis or “frizzle sizzle” as it’s sometimes called, is a great choice. This bulbing succulent produces spiral leaves which can look like corkscrews, making it a whimsical and fun addition to any collection of houseplants!

Whether grown in containers or in garden beds, Albuca spiralis is well worth your time… and it won’t take up much of it. Easy to care for, you’ll find this South African species will keep you smiling.

And did I mention that its flowers smell kinda like butter and vanilla? 

Read on, and we’ll give you all the insight you’ll need to grow your own frizzle sizzle albuca!

What is Albuca Spiralis?

The albuca frizzle sizzle is just loads of fun! As a whimsical addition to your garden, you’ll find it has very distinctive leaves. Each leaf has glandular hairs that make it feel almost sticky to the touch, and it forms a tight curl at the tip that looks like a curlicue or corkscrew. 

Native Area

Albuca spiralis is native to South Africa, specifically the Mediterranean climatic regions of the Western Cape and the dryer Northern Cape. In the wild, you would find them in winter, the only time they produce leaves, while in summer, they are dormant.

Characteristics

Sometimes described as grasslike, the leaves are narrow and long, although they appear deceptively short due to their spiraled tips. They’re thick despite their narrow width, allowing it to store water. This is essential as its natural environment is feast or famine when it comes to water availability.

Since it typically only receives water in the winter months, it has adapted to an entirely different schedule than most of us are familiar with. It does most of its growing when the weather is cool and its soil is moist. At the end of its growth spurt in late winter, it sends up long stalks upon which interesting flowers form. Each spike can have ten to twenty flowers on it.

The flowers are slightly aromatic, and produce an interesting scent you don’t expect to find outside of a bakery. It’s almost butter-like, but at the same time, it has a hint of vanilla to it and a clean, crisp aroma. Alas, they’re not edible (and in fact are poisonous if consumed, or at least will give you a bellyache), so they definitely don’t taste like they smell.

As the heat comes on, the bulb goes dormant. The leaves may still remain in place, but the plant conserves its energy throughout the summer months and well into the fall. Albuca spiralis then springs back to life again once the weather cools down, erupting new twisted growth through the late winter once more.

Varieties

There’s a number of names that the semi-succulent frizzle sizzle albuca goes by. We’re all familiar with its most common, “frizzle sizzle”, but because of the spinning leaves, it’s occasionally called helicopter plant. Occasionally it’s called spiral grass, particularly when the flower stalks haven’t appeared. And, like all albucas, it’s considered a slime lily because of the mucilaginous sap it produces.

You’ll find that this lovely albuca is a phenomenal addition to your collection!

Planting

Albuca spiralis needs a well-draining, sandy or loamy soil and a sunny to lightly shaded spot outdoors. Start by planting the bulbs just below the soil surface, with the pointed end facing up, and space them a few inches apart.

Water sparingly until you see growth, as too much moisture can cause bulb rot. It’s ideal for containers, rock gardens, or sunny borders, especially in Mediterranean or arid climates.

How to Grow

Due to its unique and innate timing, the Albuca spiralis is practically made for indoor growth. A controlled temperature can really allow it to thrive! But there are still a few things you’ll need to know to keep it happy.

Light

The frizzle sizzle is accustomed to lots of light in its native range. Full sun is best, but partial sun may be alright as long as it gets it consistently. Five to seven hours is absolutely necessary, but more full sun is even better.

Too little light will prevent the leaves from curling, and instead, they’ll just become long and wavy.  If you don’t have a reliable light source inside the house, consider getting a grow light.

For containers, consider putting them in a south-facing window or other location where they’re guaranteed to receive lots of natural sunlight. Turn it a quarter-turn every day to ensure that the leaves don’t all point towards the sunlight!

Water

The key to successfully growing your Albuca spiralis is drainage. While it does need water, it’s also like other bulbs in that it’s at a major risk of bulb rot. Frizzle sizzles need to be watered a bit differently than your other species.

When most need more water when the heat comes on, not frizzle sizzle! That’s when you actually need to water the least. From the beginning of the summer through most of the fall, you want your soil at most barely damp to the touch. Let it dry out between waterings.

As the weather shifts to cooler conditions outside, begin watering consistently. Keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy. Don’t leave your pot sitting in water, as this can make the soil too wet and cause bulb rot to occur. Instead, be sure excess moisture drains away easily.

Don’t go overboard with watering or humidity. Too much moisture will cause the leaves to be floppy or soft. It will store water in its leaves, and excess moisture can also stop those pretty spirals from forming!

Don’t worry about providing added humidity. Albuca spiralis just doesn’t need it.

Soil

Sandy soil is ideal. The frizzle sizzle comes from a naturally sandy region of the world, and the bulbs perform best when they’re in that soil type. A little compost is fine to add, but be sure not to provide too much material that will hold moisture directly against the bulb. It is tolerant of poor soils!

For your base soil, especially if you’re planting in containers, consider a succulent and cactus mix, perhaps blended with some African violet mix. This provides good aeration and just enough water retention. It can also perform well in a typical soil with 50-70% mineral grit added. Coarse sand, pumice, or perlite are all excellent sources of mineral grit.

The pH of your soil is generally unimportant. Albuca frizzle sizzle grows well in most residential soil pH levels. Aim for a neutral range if you can, but don’t panic if you can’t.

Temperature

Not very frost-hardy, frizzle sizzles prefer a minimum temperature of 60°F (16°C). However, to produce viable seeds, it does need to dip down into cooler temperatures during the winter months. It can be grown in zones 8-11but prefers the range of 9-10. Avoid complete freezing conditions in late winter when possible, as that will damage it.

For best growth, keep the temperature between 60-75°F (16-24°C). This often matches perfectly with our indoor climate controls, making it easy to maintain!

One thing to note: during the height of the summer, while it can take the heat, those twisty leaves can still get occasionally sunburned if the sun’s too intense. Cooler indoor temperatures will help even when it spikes into the 90s or 100s (around 32 to 38°C), but stay watchful to make sure those thick little leaves don’t start to scorch.

Fertilizer

It’s best to fertilize at certain times of the year for your Albuca spiralis. It needs a good kick-start in the late fall as it starts to go into its active growing season. After that, a second fertilizing when its flower stalks start to form in the spring is ideal. 

A balanced liquid fertilizer is best. Water well the day before you fertilize to ensure it’s already fully hydrated. Then, apply the liquid fertilizer to the soil, not to the albuca itself. Let any excess drain through the soil.

Fertilize once at the very beginning of the growing season, with a second dose if it needs it a few weeks later. If you’re using a weak organic fertilizer, fertilize monthly during its growth spurt. Fertilize again when you first start to see evidence of flower stalks developing. Do not fertilize in the summer or early fall.

Maintenance

As a bulb, you will find that repotting is not a regular thing. Frizzle sizzle creates bulbs that spread, but it takes a while for them to develop new bulblets. Since it is fairly slow-growing, you probably won’t need to repot for the first year, but it will likely be in its second year of growth.

If you’re not dividing albuca, select a pot about two inches wider than its current one. Remove the bulbs carefully and dust off excess soil to expose the bulbs and their root system. Examine the bulbs carefully, removing any that have visible rot. Dispose of the rotten bulbs.

Once you’ve confirmed it is free of damage, add new potting soil as described in the soil section above. Carefully set it into the soil at the same height as it was planted previously. When done, pat the soil down gently, but don’t pack it too tightly to prevent compaction.

One of the best things about Albuca spiralis is that it doesn’t need a lot of pruning!

The major pruning you will need to do is to remove the flower stalks. You can wait until after the seeds have formed. If you’re not saving seed, remove them once the flowers fade. This can cause the bulb to do a second round of flowering, although that’s rare.

Outside of that, leaves that have been in full sun may have developed a bit of sunburn. Remove those. In the summertime, it’s also possible that your plant may have leaves that go yellow during dormancy, and you’ll want to trim off those yellow leaves too.  Use a good pair of pruning snips to make a clean cut.

Propagation

Frizzle sizzle is propagated via seeds, bulbs, or division.

Seeds should be planted within six months of collecting them. In the wild,it will self-seed around its parent, and the seeds will begin to germinate within a week. The small bulblets thus formed will go dormant through the hot months and then rapidly develop when the weather cools down.

You can mimic this by planting your seeds when you’ve just finished gathering them from your bulbs. Plant them no deeper than twice their size, as they don’t need a lot of soil overtop of them, and they’re tiny! They can just be sown on the soil surface as well. Mist them to keep them damp, but not soggy, until they begin to come up. Provide full sun for them to help keep them warm enough to germinate.

To grow bulbs, carefully separate a bulb or two with healthy roots from the parent and replant them. Division of a parent works in much the same way, except that you separate the whole cluster of parent bulbs into three to four groups of bulbs before replanting.

Common Problems

Growing problems are rare for your Albuca spiralis. It is pretty good at taking care of itself! But here are a few issues which might appear, just so you’re prepared for them.

Growing Problems

Like many, you’ll find a few oddities about your frizzle sizzle. It prefers a minimum temperature of about 60°F (16°C), but it can handle slightly colder conditions. Some reports say that it can survive temperature dips of down to 17°F (-8°C), but will have damage from the cold. If possible, try to keep it warmer most of the time.

To form viable seeds, you’ll need to give it a bit of a cold snap in the winter to spur spring flowering. For a few weeks, let it get down into the 40s (around 4°C) at night, but keep it warmer during the day. Remember that this is the active growing phase, and keep an eye on its moisture levels to make sure the soil stays consistently damp!

In the summer, leaf wilt is not uncommon. Yellowing also occurs to at least half of the leafy foliage while it’s dormant. Remove the damaged leaf material, but try to ensure that it has enough left to survive. If it loses all leafy material, don’t throw the bulb out, as it should spring back to life in the cool weather later in the year.

Pests

Pests just aren’t a problem for Albuca spiralis. It is virtually pest-free! If anything, your biggest concern should be the potential of spider mites in your soil during the summer, but even those are rare. They just don’t seem to like albuca much. If anything, a few opportunistic snails might sample them if they’re outside.

Diseases

Diseases also tend to avoid this bulb. It is, however, not immune to bulb rot, so be careful to avoid overwatering or other conditions that could promote fungal growth. Sandy soils help drain excess water quickly to protect your bulbs, so be sure to use either a heavy-sand mix or a cactus and succulent soil blend.

Frequently Asked Questions