I use the powder type. I moisten the stick , dip it in powder and put it in perlite. and keep it moist. One can use a big cut soda bottle with vent holes cut in it, to keep it humid. I like to do this in the spring but try now. different plants like different time of the year, The perlite really does encourage root growth.

" those cuttings used to graft ball cactus on" those are the same thing. they use dragonfruit to graft those things... the thing is you wont know what the flavor will be like, and its possibly seed-grown also. im not sure what you mean by a rounded segment ? a pic would be helpful.

ken ... sorry for the delay. Did as you suggested. Since I don't know what specifically you're looking for, let me just mention what I observed. The soil immediately around the base of the "original" plant was no different... texture, color ... than soil further out from the base. Which was surprising. Not far below the soil surface, and beginning immediately under the middle stalks (center of the plant) I began encountering individual roots... long (some extending beyond the edges of the outer leaves) ... some very thin and some thick... as opposed to what I would call a "mass" or colony. I realize my descriptors are quite subjective ... thin, thick, long, mass... unsure how I can paint a better picture.

3 plants that seem to be growing inflorescence have better color in newest leaves too - so they could be recovering well. Fungus gnats like moist soil, that has some organic material in it. I mentioned before that plants you showed in post about air roots looked like they are too wet. Keeping top dryer by using some grit helps, since they like laying eggs in moist soil. Just watch that soil under it doesn't stay wet for too long. I would also make sure that top dressing is just gravel; if there are any finer materials mixed in (like sand or peat) or some areas not covered by it, fungus gnats will 'wiggle' in there. Once you repot into well draining gritty mix, you probably won't need any top-dressing. I keep it on because I use lots of perlite; and it tends to float to the top slowly. Gravel will prevent it from flying around if bit windy. There are ppl that are against using top-dressing. If soil below is water retaining, it probably won't help at all and I would agree about not using it. I am not sure how long before new growth - some plants take really long time. But it could be good idea to keep leaves on, even if broken or scratched- they will help makin more food. I would take off any that are mushy - rotting - waterlogged. Otherwise, they will eventually start drying up and shrivelling when old enough. Hopefully someone with much more experience with growing many different Haworthias will chime in....I have only few, and I did kill few with overwatering...