I've had this guy for a couple of months now, and can't seem to get it to root. Any advice? I really like it, and want it to survive. I tried putting it on inorganic medium above moist medium, but it doesn't seem to like that.
by Fantastic-Choice2576
15 Comments
I would also like to know!
This *shouldn’t* work, but as a last ditch effort I dipped the end of one of my old rootless haws in rooting powder and now it’s starting to make roots. Don’t make the medium too moist right away, but maybe give it a misting.
One thing im noticing is the center is caving in on itself, which tells me it’s underwatered. I’d start with getting the leaves to plump back up. You could give it a nice soak and wait a week to see if the leaves aren’t as shriveled. As far as the roots go, I think getting it enough water will help give it energy to develop new roots. I had one similar to yours where it caved in, but after some much needed watering, it’s looking much better and the roots are developing nicely.
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Sometimes I remove a few leaves along the bottom to open up some space for roots to grow out. The push it into some dirt. I usually wait at least a week after pruning to wet the dirt underneath. May be risky if the plant is really sick but it’s another option. Could combine that with a presoak option someone else suggested.
I have a springbok that looked about the same a couple months ago. I put it in a little tray, like the depth of a saucer, on top of mostly organic soil and kept that wet/damp most of the time. I think I put some rooting hormone on it as well. It developed roots nicely over the course of a few weeks and it recently started flowering.
I heard that coconut coir is good to use for rooting. Try that with a rooting hormone, though I have had succulents refuse to root even using a rooting hormone. Very frustrating when you have to toss a plant for failure to root.
Water therapy.
Set it in a custard cup or other low dish that will hold it upright. Add enough water to cover the lower 1/2” of the stem. Should only take a few days.
I’ve had good success rescuing haws like this using cinnamon as a rooting aid. I read it somewhere, and at the time the haw I was trying to root (a maughanii) had been rootless for over 6 months so I figured I had nothing to lose. I just put a tsp of ground cinnamon right under the plant and I had roots popping out in no time. Can’t remember if I watered right away or waited. Now it’s just part of my standard repotting workflow. Good luck
I had a rootless haworthiopsis and couldn’t get it to root on a gritty medium so I (hear me out) I put it on moist sphagnum moss for a couple weeks until it had little roots, at which point I put it in maybe a 50/50 organic/grit mix. It has rooted into the medium.
clean all the dirt and debris and fragments of old leaves off of the base and see if you have any new root nubs coming in. If not, place it in a shady spot until you see some. They don’t need to be very big.
For my most stubborn haws, I put them a few feet away from a fan on a shallow pot of 1/2 turface 1/2 succulent starting soil (I think it’s mostly coco coir with a little normal dirt), and I water it every few days. The fan and gritty soil dries out quickly (preventing root rot), and the soil provides more surface area for contact with the roots than my regular mix for haws (80% pumice, 20% coco coir).
I usually scrape off any dead tissue with my fingernails then wait a day before putting back in soil. Don’t water, but a nice hat may help (some sort of clear plastic cover, remove every other day)
There’s a comment about rooting hormone and it’s a decent idea. One thing you should do however is this. Just leave it. Place it on a succulent mix and occasionally moisten the soil. The nice thing about this Hawthoria is it clearly has a lot of energy available and it will take some time for it to root as it’s pretty happy as it is. It’s wild but they last a long time because they will go dormant, when they wake up and realize they need water they will shoot out exploratory roots. When you see these, moisten the soil, DO NOT soak the soil. You’re just trying to get the root to shoot some fuzzy strands and grab the soil. When you notice this keep moistening the soil but you need to let it dry out before moistening the soil again. You’re encouraging the roots to keep exploring for water as it absorbs the water around the roots. This will help it establish significant roots as you do this.
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1.Apply Rooting Gel. Dip the cut or base end of the plant into the rooting gel and let it dry. Only a small amount is needed to coat the area where roots will emerge. 2.Plant in Well-Draining Soil (I suggest using Akadama soil) Insert the gel-treated end into a dry or lightly moist succulent soil mix. Avoid watering heavily at this point. 3.Wait Before Watering Wait 5–7 days before the first light watering to encourage root formation. Keep the pot in a bright, indirect light location. 4.Aftercare Water lightly once every 1–2 weeks until roots develop (you’ll feel slight resistance if gently tugged). Avoid overwatering — Haworthias are prone to rot.
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Omg I’ve had exactly the same situation for last couple months or so until about 10 days ago when I tried something a bit different. Before I had mine in a gritty potting mix (afraid of rot) but realised it never really keeps the moisture near where the roots will form. So I put her in a normal cactus/succ mix and every other day I lift her to check what’s going on and put a few drops of water directly under where she sits. Now she has one decent root growing about 1mm per day! You could try that? I was at my wits end too until now. Good luck!
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