I'm not sure if that container drains, but if you're letting the soil get completely dry, it would need to be flushed thoroughly with water when you do water it, and then drain. It looks like there's a little plastic pot inside that pot. Take it out and put it on a saucer. Once a week, take it to the sink and run the water through it for a minute. Shake it a little, and put it on the saucer to drain and dry out.

It also looks like it could use some more light, if it's possible to put it on a windowsill where it would get a few hours of full sun. These guys can live on less light, so a bright north window could work, but they like sun.

I'd give it more light.... I keep my hawthoria' in a SW windowsill and it has done quite well in the past 6 years. I'd move it to either an East or West window to give it a bit of direct sun but not full sun all day...
Like stated above what's going on in that planter? Are there drainage holes? Is there even some sort of soil in there?
Hawthoria'S like to dry out completly in between waterings (as again stated above watered throughly)
Also just curious...... Did you buy this at London drugs?

You might also concider a clay pot in the near future, un glazed of course.

Thanks for the replies. Yes, there is a small pot within the larger pot and it is filled with what looks like basic potting soil. I'm thinking I should re-pot it completely - the container it came in doesn't seem to be designed for long-term life. (MrBlubs I bought it at Home Outfitters) I have a bag of course sand, should I mix some of that in with the potting soil? Unfortunately the north-facing window is as good as I can do for light since I live in an apartment and that's the only direction we face. But it is sitting right on the windowsill, so hopefully that helps.

Oh...... I saw a whole bunch of Haworthia's and jades in pots like these at London drugs.
If you do repot (which you should) pot it in a clay pot like sans said with drainage holes and get a glazed clay saucer or a plastic one along with it. Clay is very pourus and helps the soil drain faster. Which is always a good thing for Succulents and cacti.
You can mix in sand with the soil (new soil) or you can buy a commercial cactus mix.

Ok, so I repotted it this morning in a clay pot with a mixture of new soil and sand. When I removed all the old soil, however, I was surprised to find that it had no roots! Or at least, what little roots it did have were dry and brittle and all broke off. I've attached a picture of what's left. Can it still survive? I haven't watered it yet as I wasn't sure if I was supposed to do that without roots...

Don't water it quite yet. Let it try to put out some roots in the new soil first.

Maybe, just to give it a little sip, you can spritz the surface of the dirt ONLY ENOUGH TO DRY OUT WITHIN THE DAY.

What will kill it for certain is damp soil. With no roots, the plant will rot. Give it a week or so, and then, again, a spritz that will dry out in a day. You really should only water it once it starts to grow new roots, which can take weeks. It will get shriveled, but it can still live for a while like this, as long as it has light and good soil.

Good luck.

This little plant would have been fine without any water all winter long. So once it roots and you repot it in appropriate soil mix, water it about once a month and it will do fine.

Sand is not that good unless it is really coarse. If fine, it will just settle between any other particles and drainage will be even worse. How coarse is the sand you bought?
If you bought cacti&succulent soil, it may be better idea to mix it with coarse perlite, using even 50% perlite.

Haworthia will often loose roots if over watered. In winter, watering once in 2mo is usually enough, more regular in summer. And if it is colder by your north window, really make sure they don't get wet.
They don't need strong sun, just good light.
I keep my haworthias on north window, with some supplemental lighting. They are planted in mix of chicken grit, Turface & perlite.

{{gwi:2118155}} {{gwi:2118156}} {{gwi:2118157}}

BTW, the white grit on top - topdressing (also chicken grit) is larger grade than what is mixed in potting mix.

Rina

removing dp...(why is it happening so often???)
Rina

This post was edited by rina_ on Tue, Feb 3, 15 at 17:34

Danielle

(About watering - I have read either way, winter watering-no watering...reading different sites could be confusing!)

I believe haworthias are winter growers; they come from the winter rainfall regions of South Africa (very similar in climate to Southern California?).
See photos in my previous post -haworthia coarcata (large photo) - many 'babies' growing now. Also 2nd small photo - just about all offshoots growing from late fall on.
Photo in this post is of another haworthia (mirabilis) that is growing very well now.

I am rather referring to:
-no watering if plant lost the roots;
-much less watering in cold (Canadian...) conditions and 'regular' soil which would dry out slower.
I hope I didn't mix it up (& didn't make clear what I mean).
If wrong, please correct me.

Rina

I agree completely with losing the sand. Perlite has been doing exceptionally well in all my experiments with it. Succulents in western Oregon in winter in a cold apartment in a southern window root better in perlite than in soil, vermiculite, chicken grit, pumice, or any combination I've tried. I didn't expect it to perform so well. Succulents root well, grow well, and don't rot in it. Pumice is second best, but falls pretty far behind.

If I might weigh-in on the summer/winter dormancy issue, it appears to me that temperature has as much, if not more influence than photoperiod on growth rate in summer-dormant species. I'm sure it varies by species, but when I added bottom heat to some summer-dormant species that weren't growing at all this winter, they all took off. HUGE difference. One little Sansevieria went from totally dormant for 4 months to growing an inch-tall spike of 5 new leaves in just a couple weeks. All I did was set them on small Repti-therm reptile heaters that cost $8. The difference in all the heated plants is staggering. If your Haworthia is warm in winter, it'll likely grow well and use more water. If it's cold, water it less. Nothing really likes to get bone dry because that kills root hairs, and whole root systems. With no roots, it can't take up water so it just sits in the damp soil until it grows new roots, and that leads to rot as quickly as too much water. Most succulents want to retain just enough moisture to keep the roots alive during dormancy.

Just my two cents.

No roots, no water! Watering a plant like that with no roots is almost guaranteeing death of the plant in my opinion. My Haworthia are all flowering now. Need very bright light, well draining potting medium.

Christopher