En - Yes, no water required. Occasional mist is okay if you have good ventilation. Did you try partially burying the bottoms in pure perlite?

Some cuttings seem to just take forever!

Chuchi, since I grow my rubber plants in gritty mix -- no, even looser than real gritty mix with larger size pieces--and two are outdoors, no less, I'm going to have to disagree. If you water anything in Al's 1;1:1 mix three times a day, you'd drown it in no time at all, guaranteed. My croton also grew just fine in real GM. The majority of my house plants are in some variation of gritty mix and only the big ones I can't carry outside often or ones I have out on the hot front porch or have a scoop of peat in them, since I rarely go out there but once a week. But that's a scoop of Pro-Mix with pieces of only pebbles, label rocks and perlite for 95% of the mix.

This is the one I have right next to me on the back patio, all cuttings from the mother plant. What you see is what it's in, and it gets watered every 2-3 days when I feel like it. (I watered last night.) If I dump it, I promise there's moisture in here even if it's not wet.

Furthermore, and_now is finding rot. That kind of rot doesn't happen from not being watered enough.

And_now, I'd not mist or water. Stick them in any potting mix and put in the brightest sun you have indoors. Some more leaves will dry off but that's not the issue--it needs roots. You can grow new leaves later. Chances are, there's nothing wrong with your third suspect piece either. Roots or the stem are not always pure white once they age, and not all slight discoloration is rot.

Here:

I was reporting what I thought was one big plant since I started off with one LOL, but it was about 30 pups all stuck together. I never really paid attention, just figured it was growing well.

But I found evidence of mealy bugs so I went to town on shredding them apart haphazardly. It was so entangled into one another that there was no way to kindly pull them apart. The ones that kept roots after my massacre, I put in the ground and the ones that did not, I stuck in this broken pot. Kept it dry for about 3 weeks, and now (2+ months later) they're all rooted. I couldn't pull one up but I did move the soil enough to show the roots:

Nothing there is perfectly white either but they are fine. Nothing is mushy and nothing is rotted. Soon, I'll move them back into pure gritty mix.

It matters none at all what soil you put them on as long as it's dry and kept dry. Just think: if it has no roots, it CANNOT drink. No roots = no water, regardless of mix. Little bit of roots, little bit of water. I've killed hundreds of cuttings in years past from watering LOL, but I lose virtually none these days. I say virtually because I'm having trouble with one set of jade cuttings--which never happens--but these simply do not want to root but keep growing leaves.

The key, in my mind, is to give them light. That's how they grow, and with less light, while it stays greener, it's much, much slower. Or, if you feel nervous about it, try it with one.

And then do not lift it up. Not until it's dead or you're wanting to repot it. :-)

Do you have a photo of your Schefflera?

I don't water any succulent cuttings at all until they root. For those who take cuttings and say they dry out too quickly: Cuttings should be in a cool, dry shaded place. If one is still having difficulty rooting them, the source should be examined. Is the source healthy? Is the cutting large enough? Echeverias can be grown from leaves, Aeoniums cannot. Know the plant you're trying to propagate.

The weather this summer in my area of San Diego received very high humidity, higher than what is considered normal. My plants suffered because of it. They are just now starting to recover with the somewhat cooler days and lower humidity levels.

Unlike most tropical type plants succulents are not designed by nature to survive for long in a humid environment. And because succulents usually are slow-growing compared to tropical plants, you may not notice a decline in their overall well-being immediately. By the time you do, it may be too late.

Succulent cafe with you, Neil, sounds fun. Coffee and plants....dang, LOL! But with your numb leg, I'm afraid these are too heavy for you, so I'll keep them, just for your sake! :-)

I was actually going to go to SD last weekend to go deep sea fishing -- basically the last chance this year to fish for tuna. But between my tomatoes and needing to go to LA this coming week, I bailed. Now, I'll have to squeeze in the succulent cafe on my next trip! Let's go, even without the stands!

These are the jade cuttings that are driving me mad. I never have this issue with jades, but this specific plant (which I dismembered after buying it from someone else) is bizarre.

Twice now, despite the growth, there are no roots. I water on account of the growth ever so lightly, and voila--rot.

So now I've cut off the bad parts and I'mma let it work it out on the bench. My long cuttings have become considerably shorter but it'll die before I let it fool me three times.

Cuttings from my own jades (of which I have too many) all are rooted within a couple of weeks. This is bizarre.

Grace-- of course! I wouldn't really ask you for your beautiful stand, silly. lol. I hope you can catch an extra tuna for me! I can't go in the water with my leg the way it is. Plus the thought of something man-eating is not appealing : )

Grace- re: the jades, are they a different variety than your others?

Tricky as some of them specialist succulents are Jades ( and several other succulents ) have more than one way to take in water they don't essentially need a root to in water but they do need a root to take up water

Neil, they just looked like regular Jade when I bought it, but they were in sandy gunk and clearly had not been repotted in about 8-10 years, I'd guess. I bought it solely because I wanted the trunks, but this has not gonna according to plan and is not obeying the rules. Lol

nomen, what, then, shall I do with these cuttings? They're not special....just thicker than most of my regular jades.

Can you lay it sideways in some dry substrate? Maybe it'll put out roots in the same place it's putting out leaves/new growth?

Even though the trunks are not that wide, i would guess that it came from a very old plant. at least 60 years old.

Lati, I am hellbent on getting them to grow the way I intended even if they end up as tiny nubs. They're still drying on my bench. I don't get this plant.

Why would you guess that as their age, Neil? I'm not sure how to tell but I suppose it's possible that these are originally cuttings from a much older plant.

Id love to know how to tell because I have a jade that my grandmother had and my mom has no idea when she got it. It's been with me for around 10 years-ish.

It's kind of a bummer that yah can't just count the rings on the base of it.

hers is what I think is happening to yours... you mist them then you warm sun them to heavily this would cause the moisturized area to dry to quickly and burn the area that has been watered in that sence.

Just as a suggestion for the trunks I'd lightly mist the middle areas allowing water to run downward to where roots should be plus sun and heat protect the heck out of them. naturally you could get it to root upside down per say, eventually the branches foliage will upright it's self with a slight U shaped hook but why would you ? If thicker is what your looking for it's already thicker at the base.

Some plants that hate me:

I don't know what this scale-like orange stuff is, but I don't see any bugs, it hasn't killed the plant, and it's not spreading to those around it.

Next up is my aeonium zwartkop. It really hates me (help!).

This is my second try with this plant and it was doing okay for a couple months after I bought it and then it just started dropping all its leaves. It's very small. This is a 4" pot.

I have no idea what's growing on picture #1, but Aeonium Z, I can do, Lori. :-)

What soil is it in? How often do you water and what direction is the plant facing --outside, I presume? How long have you had it and can you show a closeup of the soil?

Nomen, I'm not even misting them! In round one, I did what I always do--began watering when I saw growth---watered maybe 3x total in about 2 weeks on big chunk gritty mix . I felt one, 'twas soft so I pulled it up and no roots. All the others, I also pulled up -- no roots, all rot. What on earth...

Second time, I chopped off the rot and replanted in the same pot, same mix. This time, I didn't water for a month, and whatever moisture was in the mix when it got replanted was it. I felt the trunk ---soft again.

Now, they're sitting in my table, cut end exposures (cut off the rot again). One or two trunks, I tossed because it was somewhat soft throughout. The rest, I cut until no dark circles and hard trunk. A couple softened up even more since then so I chopped that off, too.

Still just sitting here and still, a couple are getting soft again. It rained last night, but these were under the overhang so they had access to humidity but no rain.

i don't get it.

It was a big plant. I bought it JUST for the trunks, actually--since they were much bigger than my jades here (though not anymore since I'm getting to the tops). But of course, I had to root some of the nicer cuttings, too, which took fine. It's just the trunks that have the issue of not rooting and rotting. The new growth doesn't mean squat apparently, not with this one.

$60 down the drain. My 2.5-3 foot trunks are now under a foot each.

Ideas.

Thanks Grace,

I've had it since the spring. It was in a standard gritty mix (equal parts pine bark, granite, and diatomaceous earth) in the last week or so I mixed in a small amount of cactus mix to try to hold moisture a bit longer.

I suspected that I was underwatering so I started water every few days to a week with no results, and then I thought maybe it was dormant for the summer so I started watering it sparingly. It is admittedly very dry right now :/

I tend towards underwatering in general, something I'm trying to work on. My last aeonium z rotted after trying to figure out why it was dropping it's leaves-I may have over corrected on that one, or it's roots were not able to take it up.

Forgot to mention--it is on a shelf in front of a south facing window along with all of my other cacti and succulents.

Lori, my large Aeoniums with thin leaves (especially), I water near freely. Not every single day but abundantly every 2-3 days in spring and fall and then not much at all in winter and in the dead of summer. They can't take heat....and heat plus sun makes for the ugliest plant in existence.

For me in California, they are just now coming out of ugliness and starting to look spectacular. It's just about the only succulent I don't use total grit for, and always mix in some peat.

Like this, one of my cuttings:

The main plant is in the ground now in my native soil. But the cuttings -- I push in and basically water in. The less I water, the leaves dry and fall off. If you cannot water more, I would suggest increasing the peat.

This one is basically in all Pro-Mix which is peat and perlite only:

Same cutting from the main plant but in much stronger sun, direct for 3-4 hours inland, and with a lot of other plants who help drink up the water in the rather large pot.

If you use something this retentive, then note that I water this THOROUGHLY, like 3 times over in one hour and having it gush out the bottom while I'm out on that patio, about once every 10-14 days. It's partially because of the soil but also partially because if I water it more, the other plants in this pot would ail.

Oh, and before the soil, having seen your second reply now, these are absolutely not indoor plants....not for the full year anyway. I think it'd be okay coming in for just the dead of winter but come time when your lows are 40, they have to back out. I've had it outdoors covered in as low as 28* last year when I freaked out, LOL, and it was fine but hesitate to give anyone that advice.

I have yet to see any large rosette Aeonium grow indoors to any decent presence. If there is one, I'd love to see it. If you're in 6a, this will be tougher but come your spring, throw it outside. If it were mine, come spring, I would lop off the heads and put it in full sun immediately, and root the heads in shade. :-) They'll grow perfectly in cooler weather, shut down during your summer temps and come back gloriously in fall or early winter.

Hope that helps!

Grace, often when i plant canes (Philodendron, pothos, Aglaonema, dieffenbachia), they'll grow leaves for making food from the sun. Maybe they'll root better when they have made more leaves. Why don't you bring them inside and set them on a north or east facing window sill?

Well. They'll make leaves more actively outdoors, no? I have one big one that had roots that I kept and that's on a different patio. Maybe I'll try there.

Ugh. I hate this thing LOL.

Love/hate as my ex husband would say about me.

you love it and it hates you.

I hate it and it clearly hates me, too. I'm not going to just throw these out when I'm done....I'mma burn them first. lol

And out of curiosity, who hates or loves whom in your example?

Just kidding. Don't tell me.

He said he loved me but I hated him. He thought he was being funny. I think he had heard it elsewhere and knew better than to say I love him and he hates me.

now we are both amicable lol

Thank you for the help! That second one is beautiful. I knew I was doing something very wrong, but all I could find online was that they're easy to grow--lots of conflicting advice.

More water it is. I will try to keep it alive for the coming winter and set it out next spring.

How are their food needs? I don't tend to fertilize my succulents much. Do aeoniums need it?

I want to love Lithops, but they don't want to love me.

I've bought many Lithops hoping I could fix our relationship, no such luck. Their favorite way to kick the bucket is simply deflating like a balloon, the second favorite is splitting down the leaves of the plant. The Lithops either get too much water or too little, too much sun or not enough. I've planted them in part shade, full sun, in the house and they all meet an untimely end in the same ways. Any other plant that has issues with me we can work out with a decent dose of fertilizer or rooting hormone.

Are Lithops just naturally EXTREMELY sensitive, or is it more specialized care than any other succulent?

For the most part the Lithops in this one are still doing fine for me. (A new record at two months!) However, the yellow Lithops on the right have a lot of give when I touch them (usually indicating to me they will deflate soon) Is there anything I can do for them?

Not really much of advice, but perhaps you shouldn't pot them with different plants - different light & watering needs. Your haw looks good (so do lithops), and has that 'white' offspring?

There is lots of threads here about how to care of lithops, did you try to search? (search box on top of the page).

Hi cactusj,

I would get those lithops into their own pot and stop watering for a while. They can go very very long periods without water, so I imagine that you are likely overwatering them every time. In my experience haws like to be water fairly frequently, and that one looks healthy, but that would be way too much water for lithops.

Lithops should also be in a fast draining soil, they are very sensitive to over watering as they can survive on mist alone for parts of the year. So, I would start by digging them out, check for signs of rot, then if they look good, replant in some dry soil and don't water again until you see them starting to wrinkle on the sides.

Here is a great thread on the topic: http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1822076/dying-lithops

Cactusj - Good choice on the Lithops! At first glance, they look like Lithops lesliei albinica. The most important thing for Lithops is a good soil mix as Lori says, very mineral rich (gritty) and low water retention.

I usually tell when to water by how much they have wrinkled on the top or sides, depending on species, and shrunken in towards the soil surface. Give them pretty much as much light as possible. Transitioning to higher light is important because I agree they can get burnt (white scarring).

In my opinion, Lithops are pretty easy because you can tell when they need water! Mine are grown in full sun / high light and watered every 2-4 days. Here is mine, which flowered just a few weeks ago:

Beautiful picture ewwmayo! I am still figuring out watering with my lithops as well, after following the advice of not watering at all for a very long period which did not give me very good results. I am now trying to mist every few days when not watering. I am also working on bringing one lithops back from the brink right now, because I realized its roots were still encased in water repellent nursery soil and it wasn't getting any water when I watered the pot.

Overall they are very tolerant of going without water, though I now realize it's not the best for them.

Mine baked in a sunny south window all summer with no water until mid September and they all seem okay except for the one I mentioned above.

I am still pretty much a beginner with lithops, so it is fun to learn the nuances of their care.

Lori, I go easy on the fertilizer. For that second one, it's had Osmocote in it but since I water it so infrequently, I'm sure it's still in there. My one in the ground, I fertilize maybe twice in the spring, full dose Foliage Pro and that's it. All of the cuttings get fertilized a little more frequently but just because that's convenient for me as I fertilize everything else. While I am, by nature, a crazy waterer, I am not big on making fertilizer but maybe once every 2-3 weeks, a full dose, during growing season. And then none at all during months were our highs are 50 or less.

This isn't some rule, that's just what I do. lol so it's additional conflicting info for you. But I hear you-- there is a lot of strangely different info out there. I think I've tried many of them, deliberately or accidentally. :-)

Cactusj,

Hehe, I think Lithops go on many folks' "it hates me" list. When I first bought Lithops, I did so because they were cool. But without fail, that is the one all of my friends want each time they see it. What? Pet rocks? LOL

So I always keep some around so I can pot it up and give it to them. Personally, I find them a little boring now. I mean....do something! They grow a little, flower and split. Done for the year, repeat next year.

Like the others have said, with these guys, it's all about the soil.

This is right now:

I don't have too many anymore because I just gave my friend's two daughters 2 each in a pot, but check out the soil. That's not mulch--that is the actual soil. So, since Lithops are like goldfish who can't stop eating -- these cant stop drinking until they burst. I really don't think it's that they don't like water--but they can't manage any excess water. You can imagine if you put a full cup of water in your soil and a full cup in this soil, which would hold the most water.

Because this mix only holds water on the surface for the most part, it dries fast and they cannot drink a lot because it's gone before they can burst. I can water as much as every other day if I want, though I usually water this every 3-4 days, but by that point, it's usually bone dry.

If you look up gritty mix, there's a TON of info. While I am currently using different particles, it's the same concept and one I chose after using gritty mix--not to mention I'll mix it up with other stuff depending on what I have on hand. It's amazing how much that mix and Al (tapla) can teach you.

But good luck! Lithops to you sounds like gardenias to me. LOL But I shall never buy another gardenia so their hatred for me must end.

Thanks for all the replies guys and girls, the problem isn't so much with the Lithops shown in the picture except for the yellow one on the right. I apologize for not being clearer. I believe it may just be an issue of the larger one being crowded and pressed too hard against the two smaller Lithops in that particular case. All of the plants you see in that pot are doing fantastically with the exception of that larger yellow one.

Incidentally, I don't suppose someone has a sure-fire way to almost guarantee a segment of Haworthia (the one in the image) to root? That Haworthia seems like a rarity having all three different color variations (green, variagated, and yellow) I was hoping to seperate some of the variagated leaves as well as one or two of those white pups to grow as their own plant. There isn't a lot to work with, so I can't really afford any failures if I were to try it.

The white/Yellow ones won't be able to love long probably due to inability to produce chlorophyll and thus food.

@laticauda That's a little disturbing, is there a way to manipulate the soil to sustain them their whole life? Is there something I can inject them with, or apply to the roots?

Leave them attached to the mother plant and don't break it up when you repot it. The more green that's on there, the more it can support the "dead weight".

Really? If that's true is it possible to graft more of this Haworthia together to provide more support?

You can graft the yellow haworthia onto an opuntia, that would probably give you great results.

well...I assume you can anyway lol.

Well thanks for the feedback anyways, It's always nice to learn something new. If it sprouts up anymore yellows or if they start dying I'll have to try that. Thanks, laticauda!

Alhamdulillah.

Personally I would prune off the yellow ones to help the plant be more vigorous but it does take away from the aesthetic.

Haworthia grafted on to Opuntia? Are you sure that will work? Haworthias are monocots and Opuntias are dicots. They are very different.

I'd leave the lighter color Haworthia pups attached to the mother plant or just cut them off and hope for the best. Why cut them off and graft them on to something else when they are already connected to the most compatible rootstock?

Well, they use swine tissue grafted onto humans.

Grace- apologies, i am late to your conversation again. I have had to interact with humans again this week. It is quite draining. I much prefer the company of my plants. I just saw haworthia and aloes being sold in pots that have a magnet glued to the side of it. A lot of the cubicles and offices had them that i saw today. It makes me crazy when i see that.

A magnet glued to the side? For what? Why does it make you feel that way? I think I'm missing something here.

Because it's not good for the extended health of any succulent to be magnetized to the sides of filing cabinets in cubicles and offices with no adequate sunlight.

Yeah, I guess they never really think these things out, do they?

also, water the plant and the magnet could fail due to the weight. I understand your frustrations.

Just be careful, Neil. Sometimes what you think are humans are actually another species altogether, inhumans, for instance. As with euphorbias and cacti, sometimes they just look alike.

Margaret, LOL I know you're trying to scare me!

Neil, LOL..."had to interact with humans again." If only we could win the lotto....