Hello again MamaZ,

A quick glance, I think it's a Sempervivum. If it were mine I'd leave it alone 'cause it looks pretty happy to me.

I echo what pirate_girl wrote. Your plant has some dead leaves on the stems, but that's natural. I wouldn't call those rotten, just old and used up. If you want, you can reach in carefully and gently pick off some of the dead leaves from the stems. But honestly, it looks healthy.

Some of these plants evolved to grow in cracks of rocks with almost no soil. In Northern Europe, they grow on rooftops or crevices in stone walls. Sometimes dropping them in an empty pot and neglecting them actually makes them snug and happy. Some master growers at my local club's study group have even recommended this treatment for other succulents and even cactus -- for restarting, rooting, or just a change of pace. Some plants can grow for years this way.

I did the same thing when repotting a Kalanchoe tomentosa "Panda plant"... It turned out to have shallow, unhealthy roots and the stems pulled right out of the pot, leaving most of the soil behind. I plopped the plant (ailing, I thought) into an empty pot with only the little bit of soil that was clinging to its remaining roots. It sat there while I procrastinated repotting it. Meanwhile I noticed it was beginning to thrive. It's stayed in the same place for 2 or 3 years now, and it's done better ever since.
--
DC in Los Angeles

PS You can propagate it just as you suggest, taking a few of the rosettes and putting them in your new mix. That might be good insurance for the future anyway, since I think these plants tend to live only a few years (3-5) unless they're propagated. (Short-lived or not, I also know they don't do very well here in Los Angeles.)

I love it! Succulents and cacti are just the coolest. I feel a mini-obsession coming on. It's funny -- I never thought I could have any so far east and in a cooler/wetter, less temperate climate.

Thanks, dcelzinga. Would I cut them off at the base of the rosette or keep some root adhered before transplanting? Would I follow the same procedure as what I'm doing for the weeping jade or whatever I should call it now? :)

Yeah, either way. If you include some roots, that's called "dividing the plant" or "propagation by division". I would not recommend you let the roots get bone dry. Covered by mix, fine. But air-drying... Fine root hairs die back if they dry out completely (bone dry). You're trying to avoid rot but keep the plant material alive.

On the other hand, if you cut a piece of the plant without roots, that's called "propagation by cuttings" or "rooted cuttings". Most succulent growers recommend you let the cutting sit for at least a few days, maybe a week or up to a month, not in direct sun -- a shelf or a box is fine. Here, the spot at the cut should be allowed to remain bone-dry (unlike those little roots). You may increase your chances of success by dipping the cut end into rooting powder (such as RooTone).

Some plants are so resilient and resistant to rot, you can just stick them straight into your potting mix and simply let them sit there unwatered for a few days. Maybe mist them a little with a sprayer, so the medium is humid enough to promote root growth. A lot of us consider normal Jade plant, Crassula arborescens, to be this rugged. (This is also why some of us get bored with Crassula arborescens.)

The point here is that the cutting is still alive. In repairing itself, it develops what's called a 'callus'. (If you'll allow me to be precise and a little pedantic, it's 'callus' -- not 'callous', which means "unfeeling or having calluses.") That callus will help protect the cut from rotting in soil, and it may even produce roots or leaves itself (depending on the plant, and how deep you cover it).

Once the cutting is callused, stick it into your medium and mist lightly, out of direct sunlight. You want the medium next to the cutting to be humid (to promote root growth), but you don't want the medium wet, which can promote rot.

Continue misting from time to time, but wait for 2 to 4 weeks before you start watering normally. Often you can just put the thing in bright shade and ignore it for a month. Usually your cue is new growth on the top of the plant, which indicates it's growing roots. If you water normally before the plant has developed roots to take up the water, this may promote rot.

Practice makes perfect!

This is a huge help. Thank you. I was letting the jade plant's ROOTS dry, not from a cutting. Can I plant those now while letting those cuttings (that I've now dusted with cinnamon) hang out and dry for a few days/week and then add those to the pot?

On drying the root area... If there is a lot of sopping soil on the roots, then yes, you can let that sit out until it's moderately (barely damp-) dry -- call it "off-dry". For instance, if you entirely de-potted a plant because it was water-saturated and found it to be sopping, you could literally set that rootball on a saucer or paper towels in a well-ventilated area for a week until it is fairly lightweight when lifted and off-dry to the touch.

On the other hand, in your case it sounds like you removed a lot of the old soil. If you removed most of the sopping soil, my personal advice is that you don't need to dry the roots further. (I am not trying to cloud the issue here... I think I'm just refining the advice from my other hobbyist friends, not trying to contradict them. It's possible that we have slightly different methods. Or different conditions -- air tends to be quite dry here in California, and my potting mix is so light that I water plants a lot more often than some others.)

Regardless, there is more than one way to skin a cat... or to successfully divide a plant. Luckily, the plants you're working with are considered fairly sturdy and forgiving, so you have a reasonably large margin for error.

I am enjoying this discussion, we should have more of them,. Norma