Haworthia Watering

[WayneByerly]

I repotted about 80 cacti this last growing season in a 10-15% organic (douglas fir fines ONLY) and 85-90% inorganic (pumice,BonsaiBlock, turface, etc) soil mixture. I also switched to a Fertilize-when-you-water with Dyna-Gro Orchid Pro 7-8-6.

And reading something about Haworthia also wanting a fast draining soil mix, I repotted all of my succulents (MOSTLY haworthia, but SOME euphorbia, pachypodium, agave, gastrolea, aloe, etc) in the same soil mix.

But recently, I began to think I should water my Haworthia a little bit more often, as some of them began to look a little dry, and began to give them a spritz when the top inch got dry, instead of waiting until the WHOLE container went DRY.



Then, wondering what kind of soil they live in, in their natural habitat. So I did a google search, and I found this page on Llifle.
http://www.llifle.com/Encyclopedia/SUCC ... einwardtii

it's about Haworthia reinwardtii specifically, but I would think that it would be applicable for all Haworthia. The ONE thing I found about this page that I found significant was the suggested pH ... a non-acid soil ... so I think i'm going to stop watering my Haworthia with the acidified water that I mix up for my cacti, and start watering them with water right straight out of the tap (well water, NOT city water ... we have a 225ft deep well here on the property).

I had two Haworthia attenuata potted in the same container as two Haworthia reinwardtii. Wondering whether or not their roots were healthy, I decanted them. The roots of the Haworthia attenuata looked great!!! The roots of the H. reinwardtii were, however, a little bit different. SOME of them looked fine ... nice white roots, that look nice and healthy (long one growing from the specimen on the left in the first pic below) ...

20181113_030222.jpg (69.76 KiB) Viewed 2673 times

... there are some more fresh white roots from specimen on the right ... but SOME of them ... on BOTH specimens look dark and black and don't look near as healthy as the others.

20181113_030250.jpg (114.92 KiB) Viewed 2673 times

Sorry about the quality of the photos. Or the lack thereof actually. The lighting was atrocious, and I'm SURE that everyone is familiar with what kind of effect THAT has on the quality of a photograph.

So I'm coming here to the forum and see what people here think. Am I giving them too much water? Or not enough? Or have I been giving them water that's too acidic?

I've ALWAYS had great responses from the people here on the cactus forum, so I'd like to thank any and everyone here in the succulents section for any replies, suggestions, thoughts, or comedic commentary.

thanks peebles

[esp_imaging]

Relax. They look healthy. I'd give them the same type of water as the rest of your collection. Nursery grown plants seem to do OK grown in pure peat.

Some people say that Haworthias constantly lose and regenerate their roots. In any case, I normally find a few older roots which have died when I repot them. So long as there is a reasonable amount of root which is living, you are OK. Or even if there isn't, an easy-growing species like reinwardtii would re-root easily.

Like a lot of South African succulents, I find they grow quite well so long as it's a moderate temperature and they have water - they like to grow a bit in the cool of Autumn or early Spring, not only when it's warm. (llifle.com reckons they are winter growers and summer dormant. In the UK this probably means winter dormant and don't overwater in heatwaves in the summer; you may need to adjust to your local conditions).

[greenknight]

From what I've read, when they go into summer dormancy in hot weather this stimulates them to regenerate their roots. I would imagine that you Tennessee summer do get hot enough to cause summer dormancy. I let mine get very dry between waterings, they do fine.

[nachtkrabb]

To me, your plants just look fine. I only wouldn't use any peat in the soil and leave them potted for at least a year before uprooting them again. I think they prefer having time to get used to their surroundings and get accustomed to soil and water and general conditions. They are not so fast living as we humans, aren't they? -- Some Haworthias as H. cymbiformis seem to need repotting at least every other year as they otherwise have too much (own) rotting mateial around them -- one sign more for me indicating not to use peat or garden earth holding peat.

Your well water seems to be a real luxury, normal tap water should be ok, too. I would use fertilizer only when they are growing strongly or flowering, or (sparingly) when your soil is very old.
N.