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sharon_cactus

Crowded pot - how do I separate & repot?

19 years ago

The picture is of a plant(s) I recently received. There are 3 different plants in it. How do I go about separating them. The pot is already small (3") but I understand that you don't want to over pot cacti/succulents either. If I were to put them each in their own pot, what size pot would be best for each plant? Is there a season that would be better to do this? IOW, with it being the end of the growing season, would it be best to wait till the spring?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Sharon

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:636272}}

Comments (12)

  • 19 years ago

    What pls is IOW?

    You could separate them but don't have to. Hard to tell which 3 plants are in the pot, but if I'm see correctly, they probably have similar light/water requirements.

    Looks like some sort of Sedum morganianum (trailing plant w/ small round leaves); Kalanchoe daigremontiana (the taller one w/ babies/plantlets on its leaf tips, which plantlets will spread everywhere); & towards the left some sort of Cactus?

    If you do separate 'em, take each plant out, shake off the mix & place in a pot not much larger than the rootball (not more than 1" bigger all around). It's an OK time to do this, at least for the succulents, which are active now & more so going into the Fall. If you keep that mix, pls. add some perlite or pumice to ensure fast drainage, which is key for ALL these plants.

  • 19 years ago

    IOW = in other words

    In addition to pirate girl's advice, succulents grow new roots readily so when the roots will be damaged during separation, your biggest enemy will be rot, not really trauma to the plants...so...make sure the new potting mix you use is dry and do not water for about a week. Misting the leaves is OK. Keep the plants warm and shaded.

    I would recommend that they each be placed into their own pot. I also think your chances of success will be greater if you wait until the spring when the plants begin a new round of active growth, but if you keep them warm and provide enough light for about the next 4-6 weeks then you should be OK.

  • 19 years ago

    Thanks to both of you for the advice. Xerophyte.....can you define "warm"? And is indirect light thru a south window shady enough? I'm sure I can provide a wide range of conditions....I'd just like to know what would be considered optimal.

  • 19 years ago

    Warm for succulents means about 75F+ day and 55F+ nights. Day/night temp differentials are very important for healthy succulents. Their metabolism requires it. Indoors at room temp day and night is not good long-term.

    Bright light is not very well defined...I use the term myself but it is pretty much meaningless. Indoors, an unobstructed East or West window is sufficient. A Southern exposure from fall to spring provides the best light. In the summer, a South window is not as good because the angle of the sun is so high that not much of it will reach into the house.

    Succulents will rarely burn behind a window anyway because the glass blocks UV radiation.

    x

  • 19 years ago

    And the Kalanchoe is a K. tubiflora. The sedum looks like burros tail. the cactus looks like a grafted cactus but the pic is too small to tell.

  • 19 years ago

    Thanks for the culture clarification. I find the info about the sun exposure interesting. I also grow orchids and the high sun in a south window in the summer is a plus because direct sun in the summer can cook some orchids. I have an unobstructed north east window and a south west window that looks out on a porch. I don't get enough direct sun thru the south west window and I'm not sure I'd get enough thru the north east window. How many hours/day of direct sun do they need in the winter?

    Is it preferable to put them out during the summer? As far as temp differentials....I like my house cool at night and run air conditioning as little as possible so I think I can manage significant temperature differentials.

  • 19 years ago

    Thanks paulzie32, for the id on the Kalanchoe. I, too, was thinking tubiflora. I don't think the cactus is grafted because of the one growth on the left in the pict attached. Also has a tag that says it's Lovivia.allegriana, but what do I know . Let me know what you think after looking at the pict.

    Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:636274}}

  • 19 years ago

    No problem Sharon ;-) No, that is definitely not a grafted cactus. It was just tough to tell with the previous shot. Not sure what it is though, I even did a search with that name, but only found a few other Lovivias.

  • 19 years ago

    DUH....it's LoBivia! Even at that there is still not a lot. I did find that there is a synonym of Lobivia hertichiana but a search for that doesn't get a lot of hits either. So I'm wondering if I have a "rare" species....

  • 19 years ago

    Maybe... but the flowers on all Lobivias look really nice. Look at this one on L. winteriana.

    {{gwi:636276}}

  • 19 years ago

    Wow, paulzie.....that is impressive! Would sure be nice if mine bloomed that nicely someday. Thanks for the pict!

  • 19 years ago

    Thanks... but it's not mine :-'
    I just found that online when I did a search for Lobivia.
    If yours ever Does bloom like that, I'd love to see it ;-)