Tip it out of the pot and check the ratio of potting mix to roots.....which is greater? If it is so rootbound that their is very little soil repot, but only up one size.

You might also try setting the pot in a tray to water and let it get good and wet. Many commercial mixes are heavy on peat and they can be very hard to keep evenly moist if they dry out. If the water runs off and down the inside of the pot instead of soaking into the mix you will have to give the pot a good soaking to wet all of the mix properly.

Mike

I think most of us eventually repot our EA plants. As the potting mix they use is terrible. Once it dries out it shrinks from the side of the pot and turns to a brick that does not absorb water and like Mike said when you water it runs down the inside of the pot and out the bottom. And you have to soak the pot to get the soil moistened again. The roots end up suffocating and dying.
Just an after thought......

Thanks LGS and Mike!

I will repot it sometime once I get my new soil mixed (potting soil with orchid bark). When I do that, I'll know if it was rootbound or not. It never has bloomed, but then again it is a carnosa cultivar.

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Brad,

I have several still in the old EA mix - species that are small leaved, and very impractical to repot because of their size. Often times, they're very potbound and you can't get the old soil off the roots to put them in new soil without damaging them and sending them into a downward spiral. So I've learned a watering method that works. First, don't let them get completely dry (sounds like you've learned that one!) I water them about once a week, and when I water, I hang them over my kitchen sink and water until water flows out the bottom. I wait about 15-20 minutes then do it again. And if it comes out just as fast the 2nd time, I wait another 15-20 minutes and do it a 3rd time. Still in old EA mix are lacunosa (since '03 or '04), tsangii/DS-70, & incurvula or brevialata (depending on who you talk to...) Probably a few others I can't think of right now.

Just a little advice if you decide to leave it in the EA mix...

Denise in Omaha