Question about repotting succulents

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Hello everyone,

Thanks for sharing your beautiful winter blooms.

I have some questions about 3 succulents.

1. The first two photos: the plants seem to be doing fine but the roots have outgrown the pot. Should I repot these and, if so, when?

2. Third photo: I rescued a dying jade that had been put in a flower vase full of rotten water. Recently, one of the big branches fell off. The circled part is totally hollow. Is this ok to leave or should I cut off the surviving branch and repot? What's in the yellow oval shares one root.

3. Fourth photo: I bought this jade three years ago at whole foods and it came with a bizzare stringy mossy type of "soil" that seemed to be stuck into one mass. I added some regular soil to it recently because it didn't seem to be growing. I tried (not too hard) to repot but whatever "soil" they put it in is very hard and did not move. Should I repot this? If so, any ideas of how to take these plants out of its current pot?

Thank you so much for your help!

-T

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Comments (3)

Sans2014
7 years ago
Repotting is best done in late Spring. I would keep the single jade as is, but watch it for any signs of decline. Try rooting those leaves that have dropped off.

Is the root ball stuck in the pot? All depends on how stuck it is. As for removing a hard clump of soil- soak it in tepid water till the soil gets soft enough to come away easily.
T Bono thanked Sans2014
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Plants in 1st photo may have been there for a long time. If the roots are growing out of drainage hole, you probably should repot. Not sure what plants are in that community pot, but some my need more light than others - best if you can ID them all, and keep plants with same light needs together.

As for jade that has 'dead' stump, you could leave it for now unless it is 'actively' rotting. It may be dry, but if not, rot could spread to healthy parts of plant. Are the parts that are not hollow firm or not? If soft, they could be rotting too. When repotting, that dead part should be pruned off. Post when you are ready to do it for more tips. It would be also recommended to put more mix into pot when repotting, so plants are not deeper inside of pot. That allows for much better air circulation and also more light exposure. You may consider separating plants - there seems to be quite a few in the same pot. Leave it if you like the look, but remember that they wil 'compete' for some space - not that they will die, but may grow leaning different ways because of other stems.

Your jade in last photo is showing signs of insufficient light: leaves are growing too far apart, and color could be (can't tell for sure from photo) bit lighter.

You said potting mix/'whatever' is very hard. Could be because it contains all peat that became hydrophobic, or maybe it was glued - sometimes sellers sell them that way. You need to be 'inventive' with geting it out of it: try sliding thin spatula (like offset spatula used for icing cakes) just inside of pot and hopefully it will loosen it up enough. If it comes out and soil is still very hard around the roots, soaking in the warm water as Sans suggested may help. Even if you loose lots of roots, jades should regrow them quite readily.
T Bono thanked rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
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T Bono
Original Author
7 years ago
Thank you for your advice! I’ll repot as suggested.