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Czech Republic  hanasplants Jul 16, 2019 2:43 AM CST |
Hello, I bought a succulent last year - the pot says Gasteria Carinata but to me it looks more like some type of Haworthia.  In autumn the leaves started to turn brown from the centre so I suspected root/stem rot and I stopped watering it in hope it would take longer for the plant to die. Two moths ago I noticed the leaves were getting less plump. I started watering it again (I make sure the soil is completely dry before I water) and it recently bloomed. The leaves are still all weird colours though (pink, purple, brown).   The plant lives next to the window so it gets direct sun in the morning. Do you have any idea what I do wrong? And after it bloomed I wanted to cut off the bloom stem but I noticed these two little guys. Are they new plants? What do I do with them?  |
Name: Baja Baja California (Zone 11b)              Baja_Costero Jul 16, 2019 10:32 AM CST |
 If the flowers are white, it's a Haworthia. If they are pinkish, it's a Gasteria. Continue watering when the soil has gone dry. The lower leaves will tend to turn different colors and that's pretty much normal, and nothing to worry about. The little plantlets you noticed on the flower stalk are called bulbils. They will continue to get bigger if you leave the stalk there. Eventually they will be big enough to be carefully removed and placed on soil to start new plants, if you like. The plant needs a bigger pot, maybe twice as wide, to continue to prosper. Or you can carefully separate the individual rosettes and leave just one in the original pot. If and when you do repot or separate the plants, be careful not to water immediately afterwards. Wait a few days to a week (depending on the damage) to allow the roots time to heal first. |
Name: tarev San Joaquin County, CA (Zone 9b) Stay Home-Save Lives-Wear a Mask!           tarev Jul 16, 2019 10:52 AM CST |
| Hello hanasplants, just to help you differentiate how Gasteria and Haworthia blooms look like: Sample of Haworthia flowers:   Sample of Gasteria flowers:      Some succulents change leaf colors as a sign of stress...either getting too wet, so the leaves starts to turn red, and becomes squishy soft. So got to scale back watering and hopefully plant does not rot all the way. Or sometimes if temps are cooler than usual and they receive increased sun exposure, they can also turn red. If your area is a low humidity area and you do not get summer rains like we do here, your plant will like stepped up watering. But if your area is quite warm and very humid, you have to wait for your media to dry out properly, to prevent root rotting. During the colder months, you need to adjust watering frequency, longer watering intervals and provide as much bright light exposure you can if you move it indoors, so try to position it ideally by a south facing window. |
Czech Republic hanasplants Jul 18, 2019 2:53 AM CST |
Thank you both! It seems it might be a Gasteria after all. Althought the individual blooms didn't hang down or bloom all at the same time like in the picture, they were pinkish. |
Czech Republic hanasplants Oct 15, 2019 1:55 PM CST |
Hello, I am back with an update. I repotted the plant and it seems it is doing well, thank you for the advice  The two little bulbils are growing and I wonder how to tell when they are ready to be planted? Will they develop roots? This is what they look now. |
Name: Baja Baja California (Zone 11b) Baja_Costero Oct 15, 2019 3:24 PM CST |
That's looking really good.  The bulbils will continue to grow until they weigh more than the stalk can support, and I suppose that's when they would touch the ground in nature. They probably will not develop roots on the stem. There's no hurry to separate them as they will probably grow bigger faster attached to mom than they would separately, without roots. Maybe wait until they are big enough to cause the flower stem to sag and arc downward. Use a sharp knife or fine scissors to separate them at that time. |
Czech Republic hanasplants Oct 16, 2019 2:38 PM CST |
Ok, I am going to wait until they bend the stalk. I guess I will come back for help when I feel it is time to plant them. I tried to quickly google separating bulbils and I found mostly my own photos I posted here and garlic  Thank you for your answers and patience! |
Czech Republic hanasplants Dec 17, 2019 4:40 PM CST |
So I thought I would wait until spring with planting the two bulbils, but they are quite big already and I am not sure how long I can keep them attached to the mother plant. This is what the plant looks like at the moment. I am not sure what to do because there is little light in winter where I live. The days are short and mostly cloudy... My haworthia cooperi is getting tall (but also just finished blooming  ) but this guy looks ok to me. If I decide to plant the bulbils, what do I do? I was thinking I would cut where the red lines are and plant the individual bulbils like that. Should I then water more to keep the soil moist?  |
Name: tarev San Joaquin County, CA (Zone 9b) Stay Home-Save Lives-Wear a Mask! tarev Dec 17, 2019 4:54 PM CST |
| I would prefer to leave it as is, just keep it attached with mother plant. I would really wait for it to be a bit bigger than that. Anyways, it is winter, it is not their active growth time. You will have bigger headache waiting for them to root in soil being small like that and ambient conditions not optimal for active root growing, so might as well let it get some help from mommy plant for the time being as you wait for the babies to mature some more.. Just be a bit more patient for now. Overall your mother plant looks quite fine to me, so if mommy is okay, then babies are okay too.  |
Name: Daisy I Reno, Nv (Zone 6b) Not all who wander are lost   DaisyI Dec 17, 2019 6:23 PM CST |
| Your plant looks really great! Good job! Do what Tarev says. Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and proclaiming...."WOW What a Ride!!" -Mark Frost President: Orchid Society of Northern Nevada Webmaster: osnnv.org |
Czech Republic hanasplants Dec 23, 2019 6:09 AM CST |
Okay, thank you In my eyes the babies were HUGE.  |
Southwest U.S. (Zone 7a) MsDoe Dec 24, 2019 10:54 AM CST |
| Not an expert here, but I would try layering these tiny plants. As Baja said, in nature this long stem would now be weighed down and touching soil. Looking at your photo, I can visualize just how this would be occurring in a natural setting. Can you leave them otherwise undisturbed but with a pot situated so the babies will touch some soil? They will have to not move around, maybe a small rock to hold the stem down without breaking it. I'd use a pot mostly filled with a very gritty, fast-draining mix but with a little layer of softer soil on the very top. I'd keep it pretty dry until they have roots, maybe just mist or water a little from time to time. I wouldn't separate them until long after they're rooted. You might not see much happening until the weather is warmer, days are longer and sun is brighter--but sometimes the roots will start developing when the rest of the plant is quiet. Please continue to keep us posted! |
Czech Republic hanasplants Jun 21, 2021 2:55 PM CST |
| Just an update in case it could help someone. I left the two bulbils attached, touching soil and they have not rooted to this day. However, the plant has produced more bulbils in the meantime and I took those off and planted. They were really small, only 1-1.5 cm (0.4-0.6 in) but they still rooted within a few weeks and are growing well (I would prefer to wait for them to grow on the mother plant a bit more but the stalk that they were attached to was drying up underneath them). |
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