Now that I am in repotting mode, I decided to go digging around and see what horrors are lurking in the unhappy pots. If you wiggle haworthia and they feel loose, it's time to see what's going on with the roots. Haworthia have a tendency to lose their roots if it is too hot or too cold and this season has been weird, it was hot and dry for a long time, then rained a lot and was cold in summer, then autumn was hot and dry. Time to check and as I suspected:
The roots are all gone. For many in that state, they already started growing new ones and it's better to clean off the dead husks so that water will reach to the new roots. Some cleaned-up plants showing new roots.
And some others that aren't doing much
After they were cleaned up, I repotted them and then instead of watering, I put them on a heat mat. The odd thing about succulents is that heat stimulates root growth, not water. It's close to midwinter and they will do better on the heat mat than if left outside in the cold
I got this Haworthia chloracantha on the weekend and I'm glad I decided to check it too
Sometimes they look like this if they are unrooted offsets although this one has fine roots but a case of mealiebugs. It's always good to repot new succulents whenever you buy them.
First posted here on my blog in Weku
