What should you do when a succulent stops growing after being in its pot for years?

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Images: Le'an

Some beginner friends may have this problem: my succulent has clearly passed the acclimation period, so why isn't it growing? A succulent that has clearly grown for many years, why does it stop growing during the growing season? And so on. Who is "clearly"? Ahem... these signs mean it's time to repot and trim the roots of your succulents.

If a newly potted succulent still shows no movement after passing the acclimation period, you need to repot it and trim the roots again, removing the fine dead and rotten roots that were missed before; for a succulent that has been in its pot for years, the breakdown of the granular potting soil can cause it to stop growing, and at this point you also need to repot it and clean away the normally dried and rotted parts of the roots. Moreover, proper root trimming itself easily stimulates the succulent to grow new roots and regain its growing vitality.

After taking this pot of Nana's Hook out of its pot, the root system really wasn't ideal. Look, most of these fine roots have already dried up.

Clean away all these dried roots. If you have patience, you can slowly trim them bit by bit with a knife; if you don't have patience, you can just cut off 2/3 of the root system entirely, or simply pull at them with your hands a few times, which is also fine. Dead leaves should also be cleaned away so they don't harbor insect eggs.

Next is the root-washing step. After trimming the roots, soak the roots in clean water or a carbendazim solution, which can greatly reduce the chance of succulents suffering pest problems. Of course, for friends with many succulents, this process may be too time-consuming; if it isn't a succulent you just bought online and you've confirmed there are no pests at home, you can also skip this step.

But whether or not you washed the roots, the next step of drying the roots is very important. Place the succulent whose roots have been trimmed or washed in a ventilated, cool environment and let it sit for 24 hours, until the roots are dry and the wounds left by trimming have contracted and healed, then you can pot it. After trimming the roots, remember never to pot it directly. Remember! Remember!

The above is the root-trimming method for most succulents, but there is one rather special variety - Echeveria derenbergii - which very likely has very long, lignified old roots; yes, it looks like an old specimen. If you trim the roots according to the above method again, it will basically not escape dying. So how should Echeveria derenbergii have its roots trimmed?

First remove several layers of leaves from the very bottom of the Echeveria derenbergii. Don't be reluctant; the removed leaves can be used for leaf propagation. Keep going until fresh stem is exposed.

Then directly cut off the lignified section of root and stem. Don't feel sorry, because this section is already useless.

After that is drying the roots, letting them dry in a ventilated, cool environment until the wound is dry, healed and contracted.

For a rootless seedling like this, it is best to use the root-inducing method to grow roots first, and then potting it afterward will make the acclimation process much easier. For an introduction to the root-inducing method, please see:

If you don't use the root-inducing method and pot it directly, you also need to dig a small hole in the middle of the potting soil, then set the Echeveria derenbergii seedling on the surface of the potting soil above the hole, with the roots close to but not touching the potting soil in the small hole, and quietly wait for it to grow roots, after which it will directly reach into the potting soil and grow normally.

Have you found the reason your succulents stopped growing? Hurry and get them growing again~

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