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jfeathersmith

Haworthia repotting questions

J Feathersmith
8 years ago

I bought a haworthia a couple years ago; there was one large plant and one small offset in a 4" plastic pot. Well, it's now one large plant and four fairly large offsets, and they definitely need more space. I can also lift the whole cluster, potting mix and all, right out from the pot.


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(I think the fuzzy stuff on top of the pot is some kind of moss. It was there when I bought the plant, and much greener; but I haven't been keeping it wet enough to survive and didn't want to try.)

A couple months ago, I was thinking I'd repot them . . . in a while . . . and thought I had lots of time, but now they are so close to the edge of the pot that I'm wondering if I ought to not wait until late spring/early summer, because by then they may be injuring themselves on the pot edge.

I'm planning on putting them into an unglazed clay pot with a much grittier mix than they're currently in - should I stick with a pot with the usual height-width proportions, or would a shallower pot be better? Or, to put it another way: do they prefer to have horizontal space for their roots (and offsets) to spread out, or deeper root space? (I saw some "azalea" pots in the store recently and wondered what else besides azaleas would like a shallow pot.)

I've been keeping it (them?) within a foot of south-facing windows and watering approximately weekly or less. The first window got lots of direct sunlight, and the plant started turning red/brownish red in the summer, which freaked me out, so I moved it to another window that gets a little more shade due to trees outside, and it's been there for about 18 months. A couple of its leaves also shriveled up and vanished when it was in the heavy-sun window - I'm assuming I wasn't giving it quite enough water to make up for the heavy sun, but I'm not sure. I'd seen photos of wild plants that were shades of red, and I know that's a normal response of some succulents to lots of sun, but is it harmful long-term or just a normal thing? Are the plants healthier under such strong light that they turn red?

Also, what factors go in to deciding whether to keep a cluster together versus separating out the plants into separate pots? I think there are two more very small offsets growing up in between the parent plant and the bigger offsets, but I don't think there's room for those littlest ones to grow much.


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Thanks!

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