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Aeonium advice please

Debbie124Debbie124 Posts: 17
in Plants
I have been given a cutting of aeonium schwartzkopf - single stem, about 6 inches long.  As instructed, I left it in an empty glass & it has grown roots, but those roots have turned brown & are quite firm to the touch - have they died please?  It has admittedly just been left since 1st September.  The "flower" at the top of the stem still looks fine & I may have one tiny new white root appearing at the bottom.  What do I do now to preserve this lovely plant please?  Plant up in a gritty mixture?  What do I do with it over the winter?  I only have a plastic greenhouse & brought my succulents indoors last year, managing to kill most of them :-(   Many thanks for any advice to this novice gardener.

Posts

  • punkdocpunkdoc Posts: 15,039
    If it has a flower on, remove it.
    It should only stay exposed to the air until the detached bit has calloused over.
    I would pot it into gritty compost, very slightly damp, and keep it inside, on a well lit widow sill. 
    How can you lie there and think of England
    When you don't even know who's in the team

    S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    Flower as in the rosette of leaves I take it? Don't remove any leaves, the plant will probably use some of them up to form the new roots so if you see any drying out or shrivelling then that is ok.

    I agree with punkdoc, pot it up into gritty soil for the winter and leave it on a bright (not sunny) window cill in a warm room, or under a grow light and heat pad if you have them. If the plant has no root then it doesn't need watering and you're just risking rotting the stem. A cutting that size with lots of leaves will have plenty of water stored to make new roots. It might stay dormant over the winter and not do anything until spring now though but that shouldn't hurt the cutting as long as the leaves stay fleshy. I've had a few succulent cuttings in the greenhouse for a few months now that haven't been potted up and they're still as heathy as when I cut them from the main stem. 
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Posts: 2,543
    edited October 2018
    You do not need to put the Aeonium cuttings in water to root,they could rot.
    If you can cut the bottom off your cutting and leave to dry off and callous over then pot up in a gritty compost and don't water it until you know it has rooted strongly,if in doubt don't!
    Your Aeonium maybe OK if covered in a plastic greenhouse as long as it is kept dry.Most succulents die from the wet in winter but can sometimes survive if dry.I keep mine in my unheated back porch over the winter which has never yet dipped much below freezing,though it was a couple of degrees under during the Beast from the East and I lost nothing.
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • Debbie124Debbie124 Posts: 17
    Many thanks punkdoc, wild edges & mad penguin - I shall get baby Arnie (my grown up Aeonium that I managed to kill last year was called Arnie Swartzenegger) planted up asap - much appreciated   :) 
  • pugslovesunpugslovesun Posts: 300
    Just seen this debbie and thought i would add that I had a couple of cutting last year, I let them callous over then stuck them in gritty compost ( this was in august ), and this year they've really taken off (been outside all summer). I've taken some cuttings in case anything happens to the parent that I've put in a dry porch & will not water. Apparently they don't need a lot of light over winter. 
    Would be tempted to do as mad penguin suggest, cut the bottom off, let in callous the straight into gritty compost.
  • Debbie124Debbie124 Posts: 17
    Many thanks pugslovesun.  I'm guessing I must've over-watered my succulents last winter.  Will try not to make the same mistake again.
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