This is really the key. Do you really know the importance of root pruning in succulent plants?

A few years ago, I asked an old player in the succulent circle: how to fertilize succulent plants? Veteran players say that he is basically not a fertilizer, succulent origin is mostly in arid areas, the soil is poor, and have never heard of who is going to fertilize them. Root pruning every year is enough to grow by watering and a little fertilizer in the soil.

If someone else told me that, I would basically laugh it off, but look at this player's more than 10 years of flesh age and thousands of pots of treasures, whether you believe me or not.

In the past two years, we have also tried to root a very small number of meat (there are no human roots in the greenhouse), and we will find that the meat will grow better.

Of course, if you don't prune the roots, you don't necessarily die, but if you don't absorb it well, there will be deaths and injuries in extreme cases. The more common situation is that when the root system is not good, how to water the meat is a dry and shrunken dead appearance.

When should I fix the root? How do you fix it?

Usually the best time to repair roots is at the beginning of the growing period, which is why we post this article today. Spring and autumn growing season.

Usually, the root system of a plant is divided into straight root and whisker root, which is similar to the root of radish, with a main root, which grows around the main root, such as daffodils, and none of the stout main roots are all fine fibrous roots. Among succulent plants, at present, I have not seen the taproot and whisker root classifications announced by the authorities, but we usually observe that there are some similar ones, and we do not know whether they can be classified into these categories, but we can understand what kind of roots need to be trimmed anyway. (here I quote a picture from the encyclopedia)

Usually need to prune is the aging absorption of blocked roots, these roots have one thing in common is that the root center is no longer fleshy, either dry or seriously woody.

We can prune all the three kinds of roots shown in the picture above, we can trim all the dry roots, for the healthy fibrous roots of the main roots, we can trim the fibrous roots and leave the main roots, and the Lignified roots must be cut off thoroughly until the white flesh in the center of the roots is exposed. If the roots are all finished, then even the stems can be trimmed together.

After the repair, I personally prefer this style, because planting is very convenient, and it is not easy to plant a handful of beard roots by hand. I guess we all have some experience of this situation.

The wound must be dried after root pruning, which is not in the sun, but slowly in a ventilated place. if you are anxious to dry for one or two days, you should pay attention to the soil not to be too wet, otherwise it is easy to rot. When drying for a few more days, the soil can be slightly wet. Of course, you can not directly bask in the sun after putting on the basin. The growing season is relatively fast, and some common goods can take root in a week. The root system that has just grown is white. There will be some fluffy things around, which is not moldy! It's a very healthy root system.

When a few new white roots can be watered, you will find that several white roots that may have taken a week to shrivel out will be full of flowerpots in 2 or 3 days. Finally, the metamorphosis of this meat plant has been completed, and we can begin to see the light and maintain it normally.

Therefore, when buying imported succulent plants, many people will ask if they have roots, but in fact, it does not make much sense, because even if they have roots, I suggest that they be planted under roots. However, most of the Korean products still have a little root, while most of the European products only leave the main root, in fact, the impact is not very great, the succulent plant itself is very tenacious, the root is very fast.

Lifeline, lifeline! It can be seen how important it is for succulent plants to keep roots!

Root cultivation needs to keep balance.

I believe that many children will ignore or lack understanding of the area of 'raising roots'. They often think that it would be good to have soil and water. in addition, people tend to pay more attention to the plant performance above the soil surface. in disguised form, it will ignore the microecology below the soil surface.

For a long time, under the serious influence of Japanese and Korean style, most people tend to think that only granular dust-free soil is the best plant material. In fact, this view is very one-sided and belongs to typical borrowlism. Under different cultivation environment and geographical climate, it is impossible to apply a cultivation system completely.

Ventilation is to promote gas exchange near root hairs to facilitate root hair breathing, so we have always advocated breathable media, so granular materials are regarded as a good choice for ventilation. However, if we ignore the function of the medium to retain water while breathable, it will be disconsolate if there is no water as the reaction material.

Therefore, the permeability of the medium must be treated rationally, and there is no need to blindly pursue granular materials, which does not mean that the more particles, the better. To judge according to the environment, the overall balance is very important.

1, in the environment of strong ventilation and humidity fluctuation, such as balcony, balcony and so on. It is recommended to reduce the proportion of particles, and appropriately add water-retaining media like vermiculite, and use more fibrous mixtures, such as fibrous peat and coconut bran, because these small particles are the best attachments to root hairs. Without these things, it is easy to cause root hairs to dry up, and plants can not grow well if they enter the cycle of repeated rooting.

2. In the humid and muggy environment, such as warm room, indoor and so on. It is recommended to use a dust-free medium with good permeability and appropriately increase the proportion of particles, which is helpful to eliminate stagnant water and make root hair fully contact with gas. Due to the high humidity of the environment, it is not necessary to worry about the dryness of root hair, but should pay more attention to the flow and exchange of gas.

The process of rooting

You can't expect a small seedling to grow into a big radish root in the first place. Do not transplant and trim roots frequently, try to make planting in one step and maintain more than one year at a time (some adult plants can change pots every 2 to 3 years). Too frequent transplanting will affect the systematic development of roots and shorten the life of roots.

1. The root system is a micro-ecological balance system, and any plant is an organism. We should believe in the self-balance of life. As long as we do a good job in the preliminary work, the soil is well matched, and the environment is improved, the growth problem is their own business, and the growers should not intervene excessively.

Because a micro-ecological environment is gradually formed around a root system, the root flora can effectively ensure the development of root hair and prolong the life of the root system. Therefore, do not randomly change the cultivation environment (do not change location every day), do not randomly use fungicides (unless necessary), do not randomly use chemical fertilizer (rigid seedlings, slow growth are not the problems that chemical fertilizer can solve).

2. We often talk about why the roots of plants in Japan and South Korea are so good and white, and there is no aging phenomenon. The root lies in the efficient cooperation of planting environment and soil quality. As long as the root is kept in a soft micro-ecological environment, there is no pathogenic bacteria, no extreme environment, and the part of the stem and leaf environment is stable, the root will be healthy and long-lived.

The key to the solution is to grasp the relationship between humidity and permeability of the matrix, neither too wet nor too dry, balance and experience. The reference value for us is that we can choose a moderately closed environment (stuffy, similar to many greenhouses), the combination of ventilation and moisturizing, not too much watering (not not watering), the temperature should not be too high, and observe whether there are diseases at any time. Do not apply chemical fertilizer or unfermented fertilizer at will.

In a better root maintenance environment, the old root can even be replaced in situ by the new root (the new root grows inside the old root). This phenomenon is called "nested hairy root", which is a sign of successful cultivation.

3. In addition, the response of the part above the plant soil surface to the cultivation environment also directly affects the balance of plant endogenous hormones, and then affects the root system. Leaves are used for photosynthesis, and the stronger the photosynthesis, the higher the activity of cytokinin and the downward transport of auxin, which is conducive to root development, but strong light does not mean strong photosynthesis, and excessive light may even block photosynthesis. so moderate light is the key to planting.

Plants with growing points and leaves can root as long as the environment is suitable and time is enough, and gradually form intact roots; decapitated plants without growing points had better retain leaves, otherwise the roots will gradually shrink; decapitated plants without growing points and leaves must not be cut off prematurely after the formation of new buds, and 1 or 2 buds should be properly retained to meet the life span of the roots in order to produce more seedlings.

Many friends used to think that the bigger the basin, the better the root development. This is indeed the case with "talking on paper". But in our specific cultivation process, this is often not the case, the bigger the basin, the more likely to rot the root, the larger the basin means more soil, and more soil means more water conservation and more airtight, so the key lies in the imbalance between water conservation and ventilation.

At this time, in order to better meet our daily cultivation, we should choose a basin that matches the size of the plant, and the safest way is to choose a basin that is larger than the 2~3cm of the plant. For jade dew, Vientiane and so on, a deep basin is necessary. If it is cultivated in a muggy environment, it is best to have holes in the basin wall or choose a basin with breathable materials, such as a red pottery basin.

Cultivating good roots is a process, and the process is tortuous. Throughout the year, plants also have to grow, send, harvest and hide, in tune with 04:00. Therefore, the best state of the plant can be seen during the growing period, and the root system is naturally the best state, while the dormant period often does not see a very ideal state, and the root system is mainly maintained to prevent excessive dampness and heat from rotting roots.

As a matter of fact, there is no fixed method for plant cultivation. We must adjust it at any time according to our own environment and understanding of plants, return to our own cultivation environment, understand the characteristics of plants, think more and try more, in order to raise plants well.

Heart, patience, then patience!

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