Echeveria Painted Beauty not so beautiful

12 years ago

My Painted Beauty has gotten awfully tall with growth only at the top and a couple long stalks of spent blooms that won't die back like they do on my other echeverias. Any problem with just cutting them off? It's also growing a lot of hair-like roots from the main stem.

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Should I just cut the tops and start new plants or is this type of growth common for this variety?

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paracelsus

12 years ago

Jeff is right, but I wanted to expand a bit on his answer. When Echies get too leggy it is good to behead them and re-root the rosette. In your case something has gone wrong in the roots, or the stem, resulting in all of those air roots that have formed because water and nutrients no longer pass through the stem because of fungal infection (the black areas on the stem).

It is necessary to cut the stem above the infection, or the cutting will fail. Normally I would just say to cut below on those air roots, and you're good to grow, but in this case you need to be certain to cut above the level of the rot. I cut about two-inches or less below a rosette because roots will form faster on short stems, and because that leaves more beheaded stem that can be set aside in it's pot to wait for new rosettes (branches) to form. However, in your case, what remains can simply be composted. It will not grow because it's already dead.

Make your first cut just below the mass of air roots, and keep cutting towards the rosette until the cross-section is clear, free of any dark colored infected tissue. Keep cutting in small increments until there is no more infection visible in the stem. Then set the rosette down somewhere in the shade (upside down is fine) for 3-5 days to let the cut callous over. Then place the beheaded rosette on dry soil that is 75% or more inorganic materials like perlite, pumice, gravel, etc. Do not water until you are certain the plant has grown some new roots. This may take a few weeks, so be patient.

Normally, the best time to behead Echeverias is in early Spring because the plant is entering a major growing phase and the beheaded stems will produce more branches compared to beheading in the the fall. But in your case, there is no time to lose. You must take action now, or lose the plant. Correct any soil drainage problems you may have with a new, free-draining, soil mix.

Brad

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Comments (10)

cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
12 years ago
From what I can see, Karyn, that stem looks distinctly unhealthy. I'd start over, ensuring you have a healthy stem first.
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paracelsus
12 years ago
I forgot to say, yes, cut off the sent inflorescences. :-)
karyn1
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the info. There's plenty of stem above those roots, probably about 6" of one and 4" of the other. I had intended to cut the rosettes off just below their base as I don't like the appearance of all that stem. The stem doesn't have any black areas. It's a reddish brown. If the portion of the stem below the aerial roots is dead why is a new rosette forming just below them, about an inch above the soil line? It's perfectly healthy looking. Would it be possible to cut the top rosettes and discard most of the remainder of the stem above where the new rosette is growing or do you still think it's diseased? I just took pics but there's either something wrong with Photobucket or my computer. I can't get into anything besides my main album and can't upload any pics. I have no idea how to post directly from my computer.
pirate_girl
12 years ago
Hi Karyn,

FYI: I've been having trouble w/ Photobucket since last Friday at least. At first I thought it was my home computer, old, slow & not well protected, but find Photobucket is also hanging my office computer (state of the art, fully protected, etc.)

I can just barely get it open, can't actually view my 'recent Activity'. Can you?
karyn1
Original Author
12 years ago
My Photobucket account will open to the main page with my original album displayed. The box to the right with all my other albums can't be navigated so only the first 8 or so albums are displayed. I can't upload any photos. My recent activity page comes up with text only, no pics showing. It was fine yesterday. This sucks!
cactusmcharris, interior BC Z4/5
12 years ago
My recent post with Bambi was done via PB and I've had no problems - I wonder what gremlin lurks over yonder?
hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
12 years ago
Echeveria nodulosa, of which 'Painted Beauty' is a slightly but only slightly stouter selection, is naturally a lanky and elongated grower. It's the price to be paid for that coloration: frequent cutting and re-rooting. I would cut and re-root the rosettes at the tips, and let the remaining tangle grow and develop new rosettes, which you can then cut off and re-root.

You might try growing the re-rooted rosettes a bit on the hard side, to slow down the lanky habit a little. You won't be able to prevent it, just slow it down.
karyn1
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks for the additional info. Still having Photobucket issues and they haven't responded so I was trying to post a pic using a different image hosting site but can't figure it out. I'm technologically challenged. lol
karyn1
Original Author
12 years ago
Finally!!!
New rosette
{{gwi:634813}}

Echeveria Painted Beauty not so beautiful

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