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Revival Via Propagation

joossa

Aklys
Last year, I had a very nice, compact, clumping Echeveria. It was producing at least six pups last November. Like all Echeverias, though it didn't like getting overwatered, especially in the cooler months.

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I overwatered it and it began to lose some lower leaves. Then I saw that its stem was turning black: stem rot from overwatering. For anyone that has grown species in this genus, you know this is a really bad sign and that there is very little chance of recovery.

Before the rot spread and claimed the life of my beloved plant, I took off several leaves....

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I let them sit and callous over. For some of them, it was too late as the rot had already spread to the leaf base, but some made it. So, I put them on top of some cacti soil in little pots....

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Some time later, some began to grow roots!

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Even more time passed and little plantletts began to grow....

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Now they are outside in the shadows of their bigger cousins and are starting to get pink tips due to the indirect sunlight!

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I am so happy I managed to save my plant in one way or another. The road ahead is still tough though, so I am giving them lots of attention.

I'll update on their status in the future.
 
Succulents are great for making new plants from the tiniest bit of plant material, just lay it on dry gravel over occasionally moist soil and roots ought to form rather quickly. Don't cover with plastic or anything, if the humidity is high, roots don't seem to form as readily.

People will probably get tired of me saying this but get rid of that nasty mucky soil for your succulents - eew!

Try a plant or two in some Shultz Aquatic Plant soil, it makes it almost impossible to water too much and rot them cos it's just fired clay bits. Use the smallest pots you can (under pot the succulents) and a fast draining material that doesn't retain any water and you won't get the rots like your mother plant did. If your potting mix is not dry after 3 days it generally holds too much water for these things.
 
Try a plant or two in some Shultz Aquatic Plant soil, it makes it almost impossible to water too much and rot them cos it's just fired clay bits. Use the smallest pots you can (under pot the succulents) and a fast draining material that doesn't retain any water and you won't get the rots like your mother plant did. If your potting mix is not dry after 3 days it generally holds too much water for these things.


Hmmm... I'll have to look for it at my garden center and test it out. Lately, I've been using a mixture of 60% to 70% perlite and the rest is miracle grow cact/citrus mix, which already has sand and perlite. Do you find the Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil where the other soil additives are in the garden center/department?
 
I find the Shultz Aquatic Plant Soil by the pond supplies. Check Home Depot, Menards or Lowes outdoor garden centers. Look near the pond liners, pumps, etc. If you buy it at a "plant specific" place you'll pay out the nose for it. I picked up a bag last weekend while I was at Linder's nursery and I paid $14.99 a bag whereas at home depot it was only $4.99 a bag! They didn't have the price up and I didn't ask, never imagining it could be that high. They sell the aquatic plant soil rebagged as "Clay Soil Conditioner" but it's higher than when sold as "aquatic plant soil" but both are the same product, 100% fired (baked) Arcyllite clay shattered into large sand like pieces about 1 mm - 2mm in size. It's very lightweight so I mix small gravel in with it so the plants will stand up easier when just planted and to get some variation in the potting mix.

There's even cheaper stuff called Cherrystone Grit www.cherrystonegrit.com which looks very promising that I just picked up on Monday. it's just a pinkish white crushed quartzite granite 1/16" - 3/16" in Size 2 (comes in various sizes) and is super cheap 50lbs bag for $9. If you live near a farm animal feed store take a look as it's sold around here as chicken/turkey feed. I will proabbly use this and the aquatic plant soil 50/50 as pure gravel might be one heavy little plant pot! :D
 
I didn't know Echeveria could be so temperamental. I have had one for several years that I put outside in the summer and I ignored it. It just did fine with summer storms. I just recently got some different kinds so i will have to be more careful, I suppose. Good to see they are so easy to propagate, i want to try that with mine ASAP now that I know how easy it is because it is leggy and falling over with a weak stem now that it has some age,
 
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