If you intend to repot your plant, you can clip the roots of your succulents, though this is rarely necessary. The roots of a succulent plant don’t require much room and can thrive in confined spaces. However, it’s acceptable to cut your roots if you see that they are rotting.
When your succulent’s roots don’t appear to be growing properly, you might also want to think about pruning them. Succulents that grow very slowly occasionally have dead roots that need to be pulled out in order to allow for proper growth.
Before attempting to cut the roots of the succulents, first make sure that they have been growing for at least a year.
How To Trim Succulent Roots Successfully
Carefully remove the succulent from its pot before trimming the roots. Turning the pot upside down with your hand serving as a safety net for the plant is the most secure way to achieve this. A newly hydrated plant should not be removed because, in my experience, it is simpler to remove a dry plant for its pot.
Remove as much of the old dirt as you can after removing the plant from its pot. Any sick or overgrown roots should be chopped with a sharp blade or pair of scissors. To stop root rot from spreading if you have diseased roots, you should also clip a tiny portion of the healthy roots around them.
How To Know When Your Succulent Roots Are Rotting
By personally inspecting the roots or keeping an eye on your plant’s behavior, you can determine if your succulent has root rot. Rot affects roots when they appear black or dark brown and feel damp.
Alternatively, succulents exhibiting these signs may also require a cut:
- leaf tarnishing. The leaves will change to bright green or yellow.
- Fresh growth immediately withers.
- Weak. Use your fingers to feel the plant. The roots are destroyed if the plant sways readily.
How To Prevent Root Rot by Trimming
There are ways to prevent root rot from damaging your plant and your succulent further. Root rot treatment and prevention
First, take the plant out of the pot. Get a good view of the roots by removing any extra dirt that may be there.
3. Give the plant some time to dry. Keep the succulent out of direct sunlight and let it dry.
4. Empty and sanitize the pot. To clean the container and get rid of any potential bacterial or fungal growth, use an antibacterial soap or alcohol.
5. Replant the trimmed succulent in a cactus/succulent potting medium that drains quickly.
Cutting the diseased roots off one succulent, if you’re growing several in a pot, will also stop the others from contracting the illness.
Will the Succulent Roots Grow Back?
After being chopped, succulent roots will sprout again. Root pruning can promote the growth of new, healthier roots. It can take a few weeks before you notice a change in your plant if it is recuperating from a disease or root rot. Simply be patient and give it some time to heal. You’ll know the plant has grown new roots whenever you see it thriving and producing new growth.
How Do Healthy Succulent Roots Look?
You can check the roots for health after giving your plant some time to recover. The growth of new roots should be thin and fibrous. These indicate sound root growth. Roots that are thin and fibrous will absorb water and nutrients better.
What happens if you cut a succulent’s roots?
Any plant, including succulents, must have roots to remain alive. Succulents can’t absorb water, nutrients, or air if they don’t have roots. Therefore, if a succulent or other plant doesn’t have roots, it will most likely die rather quickly because it isn’t absorbing anything that will keep it alive. Make sure your succulents have roots before anything else.
What are some advantages of trimming succulent roots? It would be a good idea to clip the roots of your succulent if they are protruding from the pot. Additionally, repotting your succulent in a larger pot may be necessary if the roots are growing outside of the container.
Additionally, by trimming the roots of succulent plants, you are actually doing them a favor. Some of the succulent’s roots are ineffective because they are dormant or completely inactive. Trimming those inactive or dead roots will encourage the growth of new, healthy ones.
In other words, by trimming a succulent’s roots, you are actually encouraging it to grow new, strong roots. The succulent will grow bigger, healthier, and more quickly as a result. Any plant would benefit greatly from developing new, healthy roots, thus this should absolutely occur.
How should a succulent root be cut?
Although pruning the roots of succulents isn’t necessarily necessary, there are several reasons why you should, including;
- They begin to grow very slowly. The majority of the time when this occurs, your succulents may already have dead roots that should be removed since they prevent them from receiving all the nutrients they require to grow to their full potential.
- Root rot symptoms include leaf browning, easy wobbling, or early wilting of fresh growth.
- start to become root-bound. When this occurs, you’ll typically notice that your succulents’ roots begin to tangle and occasionally see their roots emerge from the holes.
Trimming the roots of your succulents is one approach to salvage them if you notice these symptoms. Succulent roots can be clipped at any time, although it is always better to do so at the start of their growing season. If you do this at a different time or near the end of the growing season, the succulents might slowly produce new growth, but once they start actively growing again, they’ll merely take up where they left off.
To give you an idea, the majority of succulents are active growers in the summer, but others, like Haworthia and Aeonium, are winter growers. If you’re unsure of when your succulents are growing actively or dormantly, you can use our article on succulent dormancy 101 as a guide.
When aerial roots begin to grow on your succulents, you should also cut their roots. Despite the fact that they aren’t actually hazardous to your baby, taking them out will enable you to make them look more presentable and attractive. Furthermore, getting rid of bacterial roots is easy! All you need to do is carefully pluck or cut them off with a pair of scissors, keeping the plant in its pot.
When aerial roots begin to appear, your succulents’ roots should also be pruned.
Additionally, before pruning the roots, especially those that are growing slowly, it is vital to verify the state of the soil. Most likely, you’ll need to repot the plant or provide it with fresh soil to promote healthy growth once more.
Can I cut my succulent’s aerial roots off?
From oak trees to succulents, roots are a crucial component of all plants. Although there are many different types of roots and some that are specialized, all roots assist their plants in the following crucial ways:
- Roots absorb moisture and disperse it throughout the plant.
- Nutrients are absorbed by roots, which then distribute them throughout the plant.
- Roots hold plants firmly in place, usually in soil.
These functions are often carried out by roots, which develop at the base of plants and reside in the soil. When the plant’s underground roots are unable to adequately meet its needs for water or a stable base, stem roots will eventually form. When you observe a succulent forming aerial roots from the stem, it is doing so to meet a need. Aerial roots on succulents are typically a sign that the plant needs more moisture or anchor points.
What Do Aerial Roots Do?
Airborne roots have the capacity to capture water vapor from the atmosphere and transfer it to the rest of the plant. This increases the soil’s moisture supply. (Some plants, like mangroves, that are adapted to grow in marshy or extremely moist environments actually use aerial roots for the reverse process to aid in plant respiration. Before aerial roots could form, succulents are likely to perish in such moist environments.)
In several different ways, aerial roots support plants as well. In the case of vines like ivy, they may climb a structure, or they may help ground cover plants proliferate by creating new rooting sites. On succulents, aerial roots often develop where a component of the plant is likely to fall, either as a result of damage or evolution. The plant will sprout aerial roots in preparation for coming into touch with the dirt if it is damaged or etiolates from lack of light. When this happens, the aerial roots will be able to root into the soil, absorbing water and nutrients while serving as an anchor for that area of the succulent.
The plantlets of Kalanchoe houghtonii can be seen in the image above, each of which has a spray of aerial roots growing on the little stem connecting it to the mother plant’s leaf. These little stems will eventually dry out and snap, causing the young plants to fall to the ground. When that time comes, their aerial roots will be prepared to plant themselves firmly in the ground and produce a new generation of Kalanchoe. In this instance, the aerial roots on the succulent are prepared to support the new plantlets when a portion of the plant drops.
What Aerial Roots on Succulents Mean
Succulents with aerial roots indicate the plant is attempting to fill a need. Sometimes the plant’s needs are satisfied by the roots that are sprouting from the stem. However, you should always make an effort to spot these changes in your plants and figure out what they signify. To maintain the succulent’s health and vitality, you might decide to alter your care practices.
Sedum rubrotinctum “Aurora” needs water. Observe how a few of the leaves have a slight wrinkle to them. The succulent requires more water as evidenced by this. The leaves are lovely and full overall. I doubt that I would have seen the early puckering indications. But in response, the plant is growing aerial roots to increase its water intake. That is a definite indication that the plant requires a little extra water. To guide your succulent care, keep an eye out for signals like this. Just be careful not to overreact and give it too much water.
It might be challenging to determine whether a succulent is reaching for more light or whether that is simply how it grows. If it grows aerial roots along the stem, it obviously requires extra support and may be preparing for that part of the plant to fall to the ground. Etiolation is severe; don’t wait for these roots to emerge before taking action. Aerial roots, though, might occasionally shed light on the situation.
Aerial Roots on Succulents
This Kalanchoe tomentosa Silver Panda is flourishing inside in good condition. The aerial roots show that it needs a little bit more water. The succulent’s leaves are large and firm, and all other signs point to a healthy plant. You could slightly increase the watering frequency while maintaining the same amount for the plant. However, it’s likely that this succulent’s requirement for additional water has been met by the roots that are emerging from the stem.
Aerial Roots Looking for Support
This kalanchoe is expanding swiftly and has started to etiolate a little. When a plant grows very large and reaches out for more light, it is said to be etiolated (EE-tee-oh-lated). This stem is forming aerial roots as it bends down and over to create anchor points when it reaches the soil. The best course of action for this one would be to cut back the stem and let it to root independently in a different soil-filled pot. This is how stem cutting propagation works at its core. This stem would soon create an active plant on its own thanks to its extensive aerial roots.
What to Do with Aerial Roots
Succulents’ aerial roots are a crucial sign of the health of the plant. Understanding this will help you maintain the health of your succulents. Feel free to cut or trim back aerial roots from succulents that are growing roots from the stem after you have recognized and taken care of the necessity that led to the roots’ development. However, don’t just brush them off as irrelevant and get rid of them without first looking at the underlying problems. For a reason, the succulent invested time, effort, and resources in growing those roots.
This Sedum rubrotinctum ‘Mini Me’ is not a true hanging succulent; rather, it is a low-growing ground cover plant. Longer stems generate aerial roots as they look for a place to spread out on the earth. The plant will only grow new roots even if these ones are cut down. To create numerous other plants, the stems can be pruned and rooted in soil.
Succulents’ aerial roots indicate that the plant requires something that its normal root system cannot give. This is a favorable review of your care. The message these roots deliver is the same regardless of whether types generate them more frequently.
I hope you found this post to be useful. Please leave a remark if you have any questions, and I’ll get back to you within a day. ‘ till later
P.P.S. Would you consider joining my Facebook group for cactus lovers? We discuss design, identification, propagation, and care of succulents. They’re a friendly bunch who would love to meet you!
What happens if a succulent is cut?
A succulent cannot return to its original compact height and shape once it has been stretched out. But don’t worry!
Start by using good-quality scissors to trim off the succulent’s top (I adore this pair so much! Definitely worth every cent! Leave 2-3 leaves on the base for at least an inch or two. If you leave a few leaves on the base to absorb sunlight, the base will thrive.
I’ve seen bare stems produce new offshoots, but it takes a lot longer than when I leave a few leaves on the stem. You can trim some of the stem to shorten the cutting if the cutting (the top portion you cut off) is too long for your taste.
Allow the base and the cutting to dry for a few days. You can plant the cutting in soil and start watering it once the cut end has calloused over (totally dried out and appears “scabbed”).
Cuttings do, in my experience, require a little bit more frequent watering than a fully rooted plant. To prevent the stem from becoming too soggy and rotting, use a soil that has a really good drainage system. Here is more information on how to grow succulents from cuttings.
Within a few days, maybe, but most probably within two to three weeks, the cutting should begin to give off roots. You should reduce watering as the roots take hold in order to put the plant on the same “schedule” as fully rooted plants.
Within a few weeks, the base, or original plant, will begin to produce additional offshoots. This plant can still be taken care of in the same manner as before the cut.
The leaves you initially left on the base plant can eventually wilt or drop off. Although highly common, this won’t always occur.
But if they do come off, don’t panic! Without the “parent leaves,” the young rosettes will still be able to develop.