What to do with those Haworthia offsets? (19 pics)

When I said "Haworthias are next" in my last entry, I meant it literally 😄

I've grown several Haworthias before but wanted to expand the "collection" a bit these couple of years to have a more or less diverse selection of plants. The problem is I like them all! The big, the small, the fat, the delicate, the little offset-babies, the massive round stand-alone rosettes and the "hens with chicks" - all kinds and in all growth stages. I wouldn't have the room for all of them because they are not only generally bigger then the plants I usually grow. Turns out they also grow much quicker than expected. The majority of plants I bought were very young or sometimes damaged but they quickly outgrew the awkward age and damaged leaves. Others just kept on growing and developing offsets along the way which, of course, I simply have to keep and see what they'll turn into. Luckily they don't require sunlight to be very intense and grow happily on my bedroom's windowsill.

As the plants grew bigger I was presented with a dilemma. What is prettier - a single rosette or a bucket full of Haworthia heads? You gotta decide early on and it all comes down to the question of leaving versus removing the offsets.

With some I was sure from the start what I wanted the plant to be. It was clear that the final destination of the fast growing Haworthia attenuata was going to be a big bowl. And now it's in a 25 cm container with some more room left to freely spread.

With others I was pretty sure they're better off alone.

Like this Haworthia limifolia. With this type of leaves how would an offset sufficiently spread?

Or this Haworthia pygmaea. It's way too pretty in its symmetry.

While it was not that hard to remove the H. limifolia offsets (I've given away so many over the years), I didn't have to face this situation with the H. pygmaea so far.

This year it decided to multiply. And the offset isn't even growing from underneath. Instead it's pushing new leaves from the middle. I won't be able to remove it safely so.. bye bye nice round rosette shape. I'm sure it will grow into something beautiful eventually but it will never be the same.

Same story with this Haworthia magnifica var. acuminata 'Grey Ghost'. So far, I have removed 6 offsets from it as they were conveniently growing from the bottom. The one that's growing now is more of a second head. I'll have to leave it and see where it goes.

Initially, my plan was to remove all green-ish offsets while keeping any all-white ones on the plant (it had one already but I stupidly removed it and it of course never rooted). The plant had other plans, oh well. I guess I'll lean into it and just let it do whatever it wants going forward.

I did get two very promising "almost" white offsets from it. They rooted and are coming along nicely. They might become more green as they grow though.

With this Haworthia magnifica fa. asperula I 100% support the offset growth. Got the plant cheap at a fair, with all those strange and damaged leaves. With the new perfect plant heads all around it, it will significantly improve.

Here's a good solution! Just grow 2 identical plants and have one as a single rosette and another run rampant.

Haworthia cooperi v. truncata

 

Maybe in the end it's not all that important and it is best to just leave the plant be and let it grow in whichever way it wants. A healthy plant will always be beautiful, no matter its shape and size. I like each and every one of them!

The gift that keeps on giving: A Haworthia story (23 pics)

Winter is over! Warm and sunny days are coming and I can't wait to watch the plants grow. The weather is still being funky - we've had snow and -2°C on Sunday and +15°C with some sun/rain combination yesterday - but most of the lithops are watered and conophytums are sleeping and things on the windowsill are starting to change for the better. Well, except for the mealy bugs. Still need to deal with those...

I've been thinking what story to tell you and decided that something positive and uplifting would be best for the start of the season. I need some cheering up myself and this is what makes me smile these days. If you follow me on Twitter, you might know this story already. It's fun to tell it in detail though :)

Last year, when I was seriously getting into Adromischus, I also started growing more of the Haworthias. These plants can get rather large so I can't grow many. After browsing through those beautiful pictures online, how can you resist? Several plants have found their way to my home. Amongst them, a Haworthia splendens, you know, the fancy Japanese kind, with fat chocolaty leaves and everything. I was quite proud to call it my own but even before I could brag about it it just rotted away in what feels like a day. It turned into a nasty stinking mush without so much as a warning. Tough luck.

I was still hoping to save some of it so I kept pulling of leaves and cutting it to get to the healthy tissue until all what was left were two small half-leaves. I stuck them into pumice and left them alone. This was last May. 

 

 

A couple of months passed and contrary to expectations the leaves neither rotted nor dried up. They just shriveled a little and looked like this in August. 

And then, in September, things started happening! Those are new roots. How exciting is that?

And it gets better! Although it still takes several more months until then.

Last November the leaves finally started pushing new growth. 

And check out those roots!

By January I could already separate one of the baby-plants from the mother-leaf.

(This one kinda grows from the backside of the leaf because why not?)

In March, with a bit of sunlight, the chocolaty color started coming out, too. Along with the leaf pattern and texture.

Every little plant comes with its own fully developed root.

And the thing is, after I started separating bigger plant-babies, the leaves kept growing new ones. I already have five of them and they just keep coming!  I'm very excited to watch them grow and will let you know the final count :D

Winter update (10 pics)

January is almost over and I feel like I'm doing really well with my new year's resolutions. Let's see.

I wanted to eat less and move more (that's one very typical new year's resolution, haha) but I'm glad to report that I lost 4 kilos just by walking and hula-hooping everyday and by reducing chocolate input. I wanted to watch less TV shows and spend time more productively. Well, I found a loop hole in this plan so now I'm watching TV shows while simultaneously hula-hooping (I can go for an hour or more). Also, my apartment has never been cleaner (productivity plus calorie loss). 

Unfortunately I'm still awfully slow with replying to emails. I'm trying though! Also, my plans for being more creative are still just plans. I cook my own lunches 2 or 3 times a week, if that counts...

In terms of weather the new year so far has been cold but mostly sunny. Lithops are regenerating, conophytums seem to be already getting ready to sleep. I'm not watering the adult Anacampseros but some of them are showing new green leaves. Maybe they feel the spring coming closer? Haworthias look the happiest. Look at those fat leaves the H. limifolia has grown!

All in all, it is a sleepy season. Nothing is happening. Everything is waiting for the spring.