Thank you Karen. It has become very leggy. Do you know if it can be propagated?

Sure it can, just take cuttings, tho' I'd wait 'til Spring to do so.

Bruce

I would have suggested to check those 2, but am wondering if it is A. juvenna or A. jacunda. Leaves are quite long for either but that could be from etiolation. Here is a photo of some juvenna cuttings I took abut 3 weeks ago(not potted yet), and one of the pots - and they could use some more light too, IMO...(they are same green color, difference is only from the light in different loc):

Maybe you can take a sharp close-up of the leaves, to see markings and teeth.

I'll stick cuttings into gritty mix and they will root. I do not water cuttings until after they start growing roots, unless they start getting too wrinkly - that happens very seldom. No need for water - there is plenty of moisture in the cuttings, and watering rootless plant may just encourage rot. Plant can't absorb water if there are no roots.

Thank you Tina. Here is a close up shot of the leaves. Hope this helps.

Sorry about the spelling of your name Rina.

Bruce

np about the name :)

Looks like A. juvenna to me. Try to give it as much light as possible. While there is climbing aloe - Aloiampelos ciliaris - that grows quite long stems, juvenna will creep too. But leaves should be growing close together and they will be shorter, and stems do not get so 'naked'. Many of us use supplemental lights in winter - mine is on edge so it is getting some, but could use more. I keep it outside as soon as it is warm enough, in lots of sun. It will turn darker color in full sunlight, could be almost bronze.

Etiolated plants will not revert to short even if you supply more light. I would give your plant quite a haircut - do not worry, they root quite easily. You could cut long stems into few pieces, and they will all root. If you leave stems with roots in pot after haircut, you likely get some branching too and pot should be full by end of fall, besides having new plants from cuttings.

Here is a link to thread(s) about [Beheading plants - click me[(https://www.houzz.com/discussions/beheading-plants-2-dsvw-vd~5420311?n=51). There are photos and tips there about beheading many different succulents (including aloes).

Thank you so much Rina. I have taken several cuttings. Should I let them callous before putting them in soil or should I put them in a gritty mix right away.

Succulent cuttings are best to let callus, but it doesn't need to be for too long. Few hours or overnight is usually enough; just enough time to let cuts to heal over. OTOH, aloes - and many other succulents - can be unpotted for quite some time.

Thank you so much again. You have been a big help to this guy from Trail, B.C....I have another plant that I need help identifying. I will try to send a pic tomorrow. Possibly you can help with this as well.

Here are 2 pics of a cacti that I bought as a little plant several years ago. It is now over 18” tall. I will be moving it into a deeper pot soon. Does anyone know the name of this one?

Pls take a longer shot showing the whole thing, so folks can better assess that. We can't see its whole height & what the base is like, which factors into that decision.

Thanks Karen. I hope the following two shots help.

Better, but not quite enough, tho' thx for trying. Need to see the full height (depth) of the existing pot. Why do you wish to do this? What's your aim here?

While I don't grow these type plants myself, I've seen enough here to have a clue. But let's allow some time for others to weigh in who do grow this.

I will say that personally I'd be more concerned w/ increasing the light as the plant seems light- starved. I'd also say no to the deeper pot, as deeper pots for succulents, tend to increase vulnerability to root rot, I believe I've learned that here.

Thanks again Karen. I appreciate the help. I can provide more details about size etc.

The plant has 3 columns climboing from one root system. The Plant is about 18-20 inches tall. About 3 inches above the top of the soil the plant columbs separate to be about 3 inches apart. The pot is 3.5 inches deep and about 11 inches long and 5 inches wide.

I agree that the plant is needing more light. That is a problem in the winter. I live in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada. We are about 3 hours north of Spokane, Wa and midway between Vancouver, BC and Calgary Alberta. Unfortunately in this part of the mountains we don’t see the sky very often between mid October and Mid March. The sky is cloud covered and it snows often making it very gloomy. I have the plant near a window facing east and South but the sun goes down (when it shines) at about 2 pm because of a big mountain actress the river from us.

The reason for thinking it needs to be repotted is because it looks like it is getting top heavy..

Once again I appreciate your feedback. Thanks again.

I do not collect cacti (have only few) so am not sure. Maybe cereus? There are so many columnar cacti, and there is difference according to number of ribs, spines....Reardless what it is, cacti usually need lots of light. Irregular growth - thick & thin stem - shows what light it was in at the time. Getting top-heavy may be because of the same reason - growth is irregular. Leaning to one side is because of low light too - it is stretching & leanig toward best light. You can help if you use supplemental lights. Rotating plants every few weeks or so, so each side gets best available light, may help some. Deeper pot may not be needed - can't tell how deep it is now (you said 3.5"?) Perhaps same size but wih wider bottom would help to stabilize it. You could also place large rock or two as counterweight. But best solution is lots of sunlight (and help with some lights).

I would also make soil more gritty: adding lots of sifted perlite and grit would help. Growing succulents in well/fast draining substrate helps with drainage. But it still will not replace good light. If you could, bigger pot may be ok since it would drain very well. I use mix of grit+perlite (in approx. same amounts) with just a bit of turface.

Looks like you have other cacti there too - maybe aHylocereus undatus (pitaya - dragon fruit)?

Thanks again Rina. You have been a big help. I will look for a more gritty soil for most of my succulents and cacti. I may have to make my own. Shopping is limited in our small town. I will also look for some grow lights the next time we get to a larger city. Thanks again.

Bruce

Making your own is the best - but only if you have easy way to acquire ingredients. Also, bying in bulk helps a lot - but then you may have to consider storage.

I get 50lb bag of chicken grit from farm supply store, #2 is best size. If you find any, make sure it isn't too large - 3-6mm seems to be best size. Here is a photo of few succulents outside - with gritty mix, I do not have to worry about rain, it drains very well (there is some black & whie gravel mixed with perlite and turface):

I buy perlite in big bags, but smaller are available in many stores (CT, Rona, Home Depot, Lowe's, many hardware stores and all garden centers). You may have problem to find turface - it is used a lot on golf courses; so do not worry much about it. Small amount of Cactus & Succulent soil will work instead. If there is no grit available, mixing C&S soil with sifted perlite (using kitchen type sieve) - or at least rinsed using sieve, will work quite well too. Mix them in 1:1 ratio, or use even more perlite.

For light, you could use ordinary CFL bulbs, min 23W (I have quite a few of them). Or you could get fluoro lights, but I would buy min T8 or T5. There are also LED tubes available, and LED panels (may be easier to get thru Amazon if they deliver to your loc). Setting them on a timer is great way to assure plants get enough light.

I can get cactus and Succulent soil here but it looks like it may retain too much moisture. The grit is not available here nor is the turf ace. I can get perlite at Canadian Tire and someone said that I could buy a course sand at Canadian Tire. I hope that will work. We are very limited here because it is such a small town. I will try to mix the C&S soil with sifted perlite and see how that works. I will take your suggestions on lights as well. Thanks so much for the help.

My wife just came in the door with a gift for me. It has no name other than “succulent.”.

Would you happen to know the proper name of this one?

Some kind of Echeveria. I tend to keep things simple just using Cactus & Succulent Mix (M&C) and Perlite in equal parts, or Pumice which I have instead of Perlite. Works just fine & isn't an ongoing search for ingredients. But pls. no sand, not at all necessary if you've got SUFFICIENT Perlite or Pumice.

As Karen said - sand is usually too fine, packs and impedes drainage. C&S soil and perlite ae usually easiest to find and work well. Here is photo from Crenda of that mix:

Here is the gritty mix I use:

If you have pumice, it is great to use. Just make sure your potting mix drains well and that container has drainage hole.

Your new plant loks like Echeveria, maybe Green Pearl, or E. gibbiflora metalica (usually purple tinge on leaves) - but there are so many similar looking ones. Small chance that it could be xGraptopetalum - like xG. Coconut Ice which is often sold as Echeveria Pretty n Pink....some have powdery coating on the leaves that shouldn't be rubbed off. Hopefully it will bloom as flowers help to ID the plant. To look it's best - stay compact and of good color - it also needs lots of light.

Many will get pinkish or purplish color if they get enough sunlight.

Thanks for the tips on the soil. I will try that. This new plant does have a powdery coating of some kind on the leaves. You and Karen S have both been so much help to me.

You're welcome & I'm sure I can speak for Rina in saying we're both glad to help.

Pls note any plants w/ this white powdery look should be handled w/ extra care, preferably by its stem when possible, as this powdery bloom or farina, both terms are names for this, is the plant's natural sun protection & doesn't grow back when rubbed off its leaves.

Bruce, where ya at? Kamloops here. I can advise you on getting your soil right with the plant gods. You can get potting soil / top soil / cactus soil in a number of places, as you know, but they all need to be sieved so that the larger pieces of bark and whatnot are removed. Then you cut that soil with 1/3 Turface MVP and 1/3 granite chips (#2 poultry grit is great). If you can't get the Turface (I've found it in Abbotsford) use a higher percentage of granite. There are a number of ways to good porosity, and while we live on part of the Pacific Ring of Fire (making you think pumice would be easy to get - it's not!), we can get a pretty decent mix if not a perfect one.

I am in Trail. Not much of anything here. I found one bag of Cacti/succulent mix yesterday. Went to 3 stores and finally found one bag at Canadian Tire and also got a bag of perlite there. I cant get turfice, granite chips or poultry grit here at all.

Bruce, feed stores usually have granite chips / poultry grit - make sure you get it and not poultry scratch (which contains feed). Turface, as I've said, I've found only in Abbotsford, but maybe if you get to that direction you can get some. No doubt they'd have all one needs for a potting mix in Spokane, if you ever get down there.

Thanks for the help, There is a feed store in Colville, WA which is about an hour away and also a good garden centre in Spokane that has a lot in the way of indoor planting stuff. Spokane is 2.5 hours from us and I will be there in late March so will pick up supplies when there. Our low dollar hurts when buying here but will have to do it......

If you plug your destination's zip code into the Turface website's distribution locator, you can find the store nearest you . Make sure to get the MVP product. Some of the premade cactus soils up here haven't been too bad, but they haven't been too good either.

Just from my personal experience: I ue very little turfce, maybe 10-15% of the total. I used to add much more, up to a third (of each ingredient), but found it to be too water retaining. (I still have a bag available from 3 I bought almost 5yrs ago). It may work for you differently. I would use pumice if it was available to me. I thought it is easier to get in BC - there is a volcano in BC:..."the only Canadian volcano (Mount Meager) which is located in British Columbia"...Maybe you should call them to find out who are distributors. Maybe I'll send them email...

Thank you so much for the help. This has been amazing......

I have two more plants that I need help identifying

The first two pics is a plant that I am not sure if it is some kind of Aloe?

The next one is the tall plant

Yes, they're Aloes - I don't know the species and it's awfully difficult sometimes to do so when they're so small. The other plant is an Echeveria.

Additionally, the ones behind the Aloes (2-3 o'clock) are Haworthias which do not have the same light requirements as the rest of those plants. They prefer semi-shade, the edge of a window, bright but indirect. If you're indoors & it is Winter, this may not matter, but in strong sun or Summer, the Haws might burn, just so you know.

Thanks Karen. Do you know what type of Aloe those are. The growth pattern is different from my other aloes. I have many Haworthia that I have separated over time and I do take then out of the window in the summer. Thanks again.

Sorry, I don't know & those above here know Aloes better than I do. If they suggest waiting 'til it gets bigger, I'd go w/ that.

Bruce

Look thru photos - HERE -Maybe you can get idea for your aloe ID.

Thanks Rina. Your advice is always helpful.

I have just tried to start another thread about propogation and have tried 3 times and it does not seem to be going in to the system. I have tried to load 3 photos and when I try to post it the green box that I click to post just seems to show 3 dots that tell me it is trying with no success. Have you ever had this happen?