I am opposed to the so called biodegradable plastics for a number of reasons. The primary one is that they are a highly fossil-fuel dependent product, both for growing the massive amounts of plants needed and for production and for the recycling. Most of them require high heat and moisture to properly biodegrade, otherwise they tend to merely crumble into smaller particulates that do not re-enter the biosphere in a way that contributes usable nutrients. Currently there are less than 100 communities nationwide that actively compost biodegradable plastic, and it is a problem in the waste stream because it is getting blended with recyclable petroleum-based plastics and ends up needing to be sorted, or it gets burned, creating methane by-products. Because of the specific plant characteristics required for biodegradable plastic, they are exclusively made from GEO plants, primarily corn and sorghum. I prefer not to support most of the large industries that control Genetic Engineering, because of the unresolved issues regarding cross pollination, heavy-handed dealings in court, and a lack of transparency and long-term biological and environmental testing. These GEO crops are raised with high petroleum practices, and significant amounts of synthetic inputs. There will be improvements in the future to address some of these issues, but re-usable is always best, recyclable is second best, and biodegradable is better than disposable, because the environmental impact of the manufacturing process increases each time. Re-usable lasts as long as it's cared for, recyclable and biodegradable still have significant presence in the waste stream and require further fuel inputs to process properly, and disposable, with the possible exception of toilet paper and the like, is just accommodating our demands for convenience. That's the short answer. My kids wore cloth diapers, you probably aren't surprised.

Plants that stop growing or die after blooming have their bloom stalks arrise from the center of the plant. That is to say, they bloom from their terminal bud or growth tip. We see this in lots of plants. Aeoniums and many sedums will bolt into flower as their terminal bud grows quickly from a flat rosette to a candelabra of flower buds. Bromeliads also flower from their terminal buds, thus the flowers are always from the center of the cup. If I remember correctly the succulent broms like dyckias and puyas also flower from their terminal buds. So, these plants will split into multiple offsets after flowering. This can be unfortunate in a beautiful specimen of Dyckia platyphylla with a single large symetrical rosette of glossy bronzy succulent leaves. After it flowers it will divide into several main heads while it also offsets around the base, eventually making a tightly compacted thicket of offsets. Plants that flower from their terminal buds but do not offset will die. Examples of this are certain aeoniums like A. nobilis, A. tabulaeforme, Agave victoria-regina, some large rosulate tillandsias, navelworts, etc. In the example of agaves one often finds offsetting and non-offsetting forms in the same species. So, nowadays, most of the Agave victoria-reginas that we see are offsetting clones. But, when I first started growing succulents the only plants of this species that I saw were non-offsetting plants that were grown from seed. When a plant flowers without offsetting as in these examples they are called "monocarpic". Many plants that flower from terminal buds will persist for many years, gradually going down hill. In sansevierias we see this in mature growths that flower, stop growing and then just sit. They can look very good for quite a few years but eventually start to slowly die, usually with the outer leaves dying first. With trifasciata I like to cut out the old growths at their base, to improve the look of the plants and open them up so that the newer growths have room to grow. I often do this with broms as well. But, if I have something I want to propagate I sometimes remove the new growths as they mature and keep the ugly old growths to offset again. I have some Aechmea orlandiana 'Ensign' plants that got really ratty but put up beautiful new growths every year. I have also done this with Sans. 'Moonshine' and 'Laurentii Aurea'. Jon

Eesh. That does look like burn. Strange that it would happen so suddenly out of the blue after three months. Could it have grown quickly in height recently? I only have one aeonium variety, not even sure of the specific ID. It's lime green and dark green with pink margins. It's done very well and cuttings seem to take without trouble. I've had the original plant for 5 years in a planter without drainage (gasp!), and it's grown long and draping to 12", which I rather like in its current location on a shelf I installed in the center of a western window. It's grown plenty of aerial roots, probably in response to its terrible situation (I water so stingily to prevent drowning), so I clip cuttings with some of the aerial roots and pot them up. They respond immediately, probably within a week or two. And I have to admit that the cuttings I've set in 4" flats are already outperforming the mother in vigor, rosette size and color after just 4 months in a greenhouse with daily temperatures fluctuating between 120F daytime to 40F nighttime (in recent winter months). Typically, 3-4 new offshoots set after the end is cut. I've personally found these to be rather hearty outside of frost. I'm in central Texas, though and they're often used as annual landscape plantings in our poorly drained, shallow, caliche soil. Don't be discouraged just yet!

The roots of Aeoniums are pretty wimpy and hair-like with all the water-storing parts of the plants being in the stem and leaves. These wimpy roots are prone to drying out and many of these plants decline if not keep moist for at least most of the year (a few exceptions exist, and those will rot if watered in summers). Many Aeoniums will produce aerial roots that grow right out of the stems, particularly if the stems are getting long and leggy, or fall over, or are in a cramped pot. ...Aeoniums are ideal pot plants needing very little other that soil for support and water. Rarely does one need to fertilize these plants. If growing Aeoniums along the coast, the humidity and rains/mists will often mean they never need to be water, either. But in dry climates they will probably need to be watered frequently or put on drip irrigation. I have rarely overwatered an Aeonium and the more frequently I water the ones I have , the better they look. They do not need to be thoroughly watered, though as the main water-absorbing roots are near the surface with the deeper roots functioning nearly solely as support... ...Pot life also means one can move the plants in and out good and bad weather situations. As mentioned already, these plants do not like heat, and high temps will often cause root death, and then plant death. So during high heat times of year, they may need to be moved indoors in a window (indoors in low light is also very difficult for these plants and most will quickly weaken and colors will fade). Soil type is not a big issue with potted plants, but generally Aeoniums perform better in standard potting soils rather than super well draining and nutrient deficient cactus soils. Remember these plants do not like to dry out. Repotting is good for the health of the plant, but should be done ideally after summer's over, near the start of the main growing season. (from Daves garden) I have few, they are not as big as they would be if potted in ground. They are in very gritty mix (no soil at all), and I water them bit more often. Reading above article, maybe I'll add some soil when repotting next time. Sorry, I do not know if the hair-like roots will make gritty mix dense - maybe yours are really pot-bound and need repotting. Do you use any sand? I was given few plants with sand in the mix, and it was quite hard. Here is photo of a root ball of a jade that was quite pot-bound, with many roots visible, in gritty mix. It was in same pot for few years, and pot started to break. But it crumbled off easily, I think I washed off some: