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I have enjoyed the H. truncata v. maughanii I purchased over 1 year ago. It lives in my greenhouse, I have not killed it yet, nor do I care to. There are 8 leaves, in the center I can see what looks to be some frills coming off a leaf, sort of like a flower start?

Any advice as to how to proceed with this little gem would be muchly appreciated.

When/if to transplant
Type of substrate
Do they slow in the Winter?

Many Thanks

S

yes, that sounds like a flower stalk. Its that time of year! I find that it is best to transplant when they are in their growing season.

Flower stalks appear like slightly frayed sticks from between the leaves. They will rapidly elongate and start to open flowers after a few weeks.

Not to generalise but most Haworthias, including maughanii, grow best in fairly cool weather. If you have hot summers, or even just in a greenhouse, they will sit around not doing a lot. If you have bright sunny winters then that's when they will do most of their growing. I have dark winters and my Haworthias just sit around waiting for the sun to come back.

For Haworthias, I grow a lot outside on my deck (shading slightly a bit if they look toasty)... I also have quite a few indoors. Do you think that's a successful strategy? It's not a large area, so the numbers are limited, but it's a very bright East and South facing corner, and my Haworthias seem to be growing well there: H limifolia 'Nigra', H maughani, H tesselata 'Neat', H nigra ryneveldii, H pumila cultivar, H herbacea HBG TBA, H wittebergensis.

Outside... many many more. I try to find the brightest spot they can take without browning too much or crisping at the edges.

Cool weather? I had no idea. Our weather here is rarely "hot' sans our Indian Summer weekend this weekend...I think I'll keep it safe in the greenhouse for now...How often should these gems be transplanted? Do they like roots to have room, or compact?

I remember this came up recently at XericWorld.com another forum with a similar focus. Here is the direct link to the discussion:

http://www.xericworld.com/forums/agavac ... ncata.html

Sudhira wrote:Cool weather? I had no idea. Our weather here is rarely "hot' sans our Indian Summer weekend this weekend...I think I'll keep it safe in the greenhouse for now...How often should these gems be transplanted? Do they like roots to have room, or compact?

Possibly hot weather watering is part of the trouble for Haworthias, but it must be the sort of heat I just don't get. Also I don't grow the really difficult ones. H. maughanii is pretty tough and can survive drought, sun, and heat. Extreme drought probably contributes to the root loss that some describe as natural but I also don't see. Haworthias with thinner leaves need a bit more shade but probably not as much as most people give them; a completely grass green Haworthia is a little boring

I have taken all my (few) Haworthias down to -4C without killing them but I keep them mostly frost free. I water every few weeks throughout the year, but less in the middle of winter.

Haworthias have huge roots, but it is probably best to keep them in the smallest pot that will comfortably fit the roots. I'm sure the roots will expand to virtually any pot you could put them in. See this pot here, pretty generous but the roots are still bulging the sides.