If you didn't water your Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' in summer and it still got black rot, here's the reason

Didn't water the aeonium in summer, two of them got black rot - can the others be hung upside down to prevent black rot?

First of all, if your aeonium went a whole summer without water, it wouldn't develop black rot by now, because without watering there's no moisture in the soil, the soil is dry, so how could black rot possibly occur? Bacteria won't breed in a dry environment.

If you regularly mist its leaves or the air humidity in your environment is very high, this could cause it to turn black. If black rot occurs under these circumstances, it's recommended to give it more ventilation and spray the leaves with mancozeb or carbendazim as a preventive measure. Then black rot won't occur. This is black rot caused by excessively high air humidity.

Another situation where black rot occurs is with a Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' that was recently potted up. If that's the case, what causes this black rot? It's because you didn't let the wound dry before planting, so a bacterial infection set in before planting. After a summer, this led to black rot - you just didn't notice it beforehand. So after buying a Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' or before taking cuttings, you must let the wound dry thoroughly; only after it's fully dried will it root quickly and avoid black rot.

In summer, if your Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' plant is relatively small, it can't go a whole summer without water. Not watering will only cause the whole plant to shrivel back and dry out completely, with all the leaves dropping off. What succulents call dormancy is simply that the process of the roots absorbing nutrients and water becomes very slow. If the potting soil stays dry for a long time, the roots get no moisture at all and dry out. And the stems gradually shrivel back, drawing all the moisture out of the stems and leaves. We can choose, when it's ventilated, to give it a little water to make the potting soil moist. Only this way can you ensure it gets through summer safely. No matter what plant you grow, ventilation must be good. Poor ventilation is the single most critical factor that causes black rot and root rot.

As for the upside-down hanging you mentioned, this should be the first thing Xiao Qi brought out to make a video about. It's also this upside-down hanging that Xiao Qi talked about. What did Xiao Qi tell you before about the purpose of this upside-down hanging? Hanging upside down to dry is to prevent it from losing too much moisture, and to prevent the branches from being bent under pressure while drying, keeping the main stem in a straight form. That way, when you work with it later, the branches won't get bent, and when you plant it, you can ensure a good shape. Hanging upside down to dry will not help with black rot as you suggested. You must be clear on this point.

As for whether your other Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' plants should be hung upside down: if you're worried, I suggest taking all the Aeonium arboreum 'Zwartkop' out of their pots now and checking them over. Check whether their root systems have any rot. Then let them dry for a while longer, and plant them in moist soil. After planting, do not water. Planted in moist soil, they can last two months, and then after autumn, watering directly will get them growing right away. This can also prevent black rot in the rest of them. If any have black rot, be sure to dry them well - even drying for half a month or a month is good for them.

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