What factors affect the rooting speed of succulents?

Gardeners who have experience rooting succulents after beheading them will certainly have this feeling: succulents at different times, in different locations, of different varieties, in different states, and in different environments all root at different speeds.

As for rooting methods, there are those planted directly in pots, the vermiculite rooting method, the water propagation rooting method, and the hydroponic rooting method. With pot planting and vermiculite rooting, there is also the difference between watering and not watering. Which of these rooting methods is actually the most reliable? It seems quite confusing, right.

Actually, rooting may look chaotic, but in fact there are still patterns to follow.

The factor with the greatest influence on rooting speed is variety. It is indeed true that some varieties root quickly and some root slowly. Simply put, this is something determined by genes, and it is very hard for us to change.

Let me give a few examples to explain why different varieties of succulents root at different speeds.

For example, Lithops and Conophytum are mostly distributed in southern Africa. The regions where these succulents are found have very distinctive features: there are clear rainy seasons and dry seasons, and the soil has relatively poor water retention. This causes these succulents to develop a very obvious dormancy period, and when rainwater is lacking they simply go dormant.

So what about their rooting habits? The same applies. Because the dormancy period causes Lithops to lose the vitality of most of their fibrous root system, re-rooting is a very natural need for Lithops. They are also very sensitive to moisture perception. As soon as it rains, they immediately detect it and begin rooting rapidly. Because the soil where they grow has very poor water retention, this rooting process must be extremely rapid.

So when we grow Lithops, we are not worried at all about disturbing them. After they shed their skins each year, digging them out and replanting them once is completely fine. When we trim the roots of Lithops, we also trim them relatively heavily. After potting, we generally just water thoroughly with a large amount right away. After one or two rounds of thorough watering, the Lithops have settled into the pot, and this process takes at most only 1 week.

We can extrapolate a little: succulents in the genus Aeonium, such as the Aeonium arboreum and the Aeonium dodrantale, have a native habitat in the Canary Islands that also has an environment with very distinct dry and rainy seasons, so these varieties also root relatively quickly. For Aeonium arboreum and Aeonium dodrantale, we rarely use auxiliary methods like water propagation rooting or vermiculite rooting; basically we just plant them and water thoroughly, and that is the end of it.

However, the rooting time of succulents like Aeonium arboreum is clearly affected by the dormancy period. They root quickly during the growing season and much more slowly during dormancy. This is also because the dry season in the Canary Islands is extremely thoroughly dry, with no external conditions for rooting at all, so this varietal characteristic evolved.

To summarize roughly, those succulents that grow in environments with uneven rainfall distribution and relatively poor soil water retention generally have fairly strong rooting ability. They often have to go through the process of roots withering and regrowing, so rooting is already routine for them.

There is another category of succulents whose living environment is very different. In some regions, there is very little rainfall all year round, and even when it rains, the amount is extremely low, so these plants do not rely on rainfall for daily survival, but on fog. In some places, sea breezes bring morning fog; in other places, they rely on the large temperature difference between day and night to obtain morning dew.

Either way, this kind of environment is harsher than one with rain. They cannot casually give up their root systems and must constantly collect the extremely tiny amounts of moisture around them. A very typical example in this kind of living environment is Dudleya.

Dudleya will not easily give up their root systems, and of course rooting is also relatively less easy for them. They need a sufficiently long environment with slight moisture to induce rooting. When we root this kind of succulent, we need a certain amount of patience; this is not something that can be quickly settled in just a few days. Some gardeners say that their Dudleya has been rooting for half a year and still has not successfully rooted. This is often because the rooting process was interrupted and not continuously maintained.

For those varieties that are extremely difficult to root, we often use hydroponic rooting or simply plant them in the ground and leave them alone. The reason for doing this is that hydroponic rooting or ground planting can both maintain a very stable moisture level and will not let drying and wetting alternate and affect the succulents' mood for rooting.

Let us summarize the above a little. That is to say, the humidity factor and the variety factor are actually highly correlated. For succulents growing in places with alternating dry and rainy seasons, heavy watering for rooting is often more effective for them, because high humidity, that is, rain, is an important factor that activates their rooting. For those succulents whose dry and rainy seasons are not obvious, or where rainfall is especially low and they rely on morning fog to survive, continuous lower humidity is more useful for rooting.

Setting aside the variety factor, the temperature factor also influences rooting speed. On general principles, as long as the extreme high temperature that the succulent can tolerate is not exceeded, the higher the temperature, the more favorable it is for rooting. Of course, this extreme high temperature is also different for different varieties. Some varieties are a bit higher, some a bit lower. If you want to understand this aspect, everyone can pay attention to information about the succulents' places of origin. Those succulents native to the tropics perform better under high temperatures. For example, some epiphytic succulents in rainforests, such as Rhipsalis and Schlumbergera, root easily when the temperature is a bit higher. For some succulents growing in tropical regions, such as Euphorbiaceae, Cactaceae, and Echeveria from Mexico, as long as the temperature does not exceed 40 degrees, their rooting and settling-in performance in summer is also mostly quite good.

Another important factor is that the succulent's own state also has a great influence on rooting. Freshly beheaded succulents root relatively easily, because all the tissue cells are quite active, and the cells naturally differentiate into roots more easily. If it is a relatively old old stump or a very old branch, it is best to cut it once before rooting, exposing fresh tissue, so that rooting is more likely to succeed.

Some people have found that succulents that have wilted from water loss after air-drying root more easily, and this also makes sense. Because the hormone levels in succulents that have wilted after losing a large amount of water rise rapidly with water loss, and this also prompts the succulents to root. For those stubborn succulents that absolutely refuse to root, air-drying them until they lose water to prompt rooting can also be considered a not-bad Plan B.

Using external hormones such as rooting powder has roughly the same effect as air-drying the succulent until it wilts. But rooting powder must enter the succulent's body to have an effect. Some gardeners dip roots whose outer skin has long since become woody into rooting powder and then try to root them, only to find almost no effect. This is because these hormones cannot enter the succulent's body. You must let the rooting powder contact fresh tissue for it to have an effect.

Today's content is a bit scattered, so let us summarize once more.

1. Succulents whose native habitat has obvious dry and rainy seasons root more easily, because they are more sensitive to rainwater. The best way to root this kind of succulent is heavy watering to force roots.

2. In native habitats with obvious dry and rainy seasons, succulents often also have an obvious dormancy period. For these succulents, rooting during dormancy is much more difficult than during the growing season.

3. Those succulents that mainly rely on fog for moisture are suited to maintaining a slightly moist environment for slow rooting.

4. As long as the extreme high temperature is not exceeded, rooting is easier at a slightly higher temperature.

5. Only fresh cells can sense environmental stimuli, so for succulents whose outer skin has already become severely woody, it is best to cut them open to expose fresh tissue, then dry the wound before rooting.

6. Wilting succulents root easily because the concentration of hormones accumulated in the body rises rapidly. When using rooting powder, you should also note that rooting powder is only effective if it is contacted and absorbed by fresh tissue.