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This poor plant is an attempted rescue - the last potential survivor… | Pests, diseases and problems | Planta community

Eva

This poor plant is an attempted rescue - the last potential survivor from a plant catastrophe in my mother in law’s rented house where the light didn’t reach and the heating wasn’t on downstairs through the winter. I had to cut the plastic pot off to repot it, and even being as gentle as possible, only shreds of the root system remained intact. I’m a monstera and pothos kind of plant parent and don’t know much about succulents - the first photos are the rescue operation and the final photo is today. It’s looking pretty grey and toppling out of its pot if moved too quickly. Is it alive or am I just propping up a dead plant? If there’s hope for it, how much should I water it while waiting for roots to develop?

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  1. Adrian

    Hi, Eva. I rescue plants from box stores for fun, and I’m happy to report that the roots look very healthy, even if the root system itself is shallow. I’d recommend picking up some Bonide’s Rooting Hormone Powder from a local nursery or hardware store, along with some good cactus mix (I swear by Espoma’s Organic Cactus Mix. Please avoid Miracle Grow’s soils for this. Even their cactus mix. Not well-draining enough.) Cover the current root system with a liberal amount of the rooting powder (you can sprinkle a good amount onto it, then try to pat it up the base), then from there, you can either put them all together in a pot again, or split them into smaller pots by groups of 2-3 pieces. The biggest key would be picking a shallow pot that’s no more than 1-2 inches wider in diameter than the width of whatever size root ball you want to work with (depending on if you break the plant up into multiple pots or keep the pieces all together again). If you want to use the white pot in your first photo again, I’d place it lower in the pot and NOT fill the soil all the way to the rim of the pot, instead just adding enough soil to cover the current root system. The light coloring you’re seeing on the base of the plant is from it being potted too deep for its root system, so repeating that will only increase the risk of overwatering and root rot. Bottom-water it from now on, and gently pop it back out of the pot in a month to inspect for any new root development. Add more rooting powder if needed. Hope this helps! 😊

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