Aeonium sunburst variegata cristate - what to do?

[MikeDom]

Impulse buy last year, growing well and looking good, but getting top heavy. I'm concerned that the stalk which is thin and flat won't support it. Is there a way of removing some of the top growth and propagating it? This species is a new one on me.

[Diane]

You can take a few cuttings from it, they root quite easily in a gritty mix, and restart new plants. It sometimes throws off normal rosettes too, which can also be propagated.

[MikeDom]

Thanks Diane, as usual I shall probably wait until it falls over before I do anything

[Liz M]

It's probably the reverted growth that is making it top heavy. I would carefully remove all of them and as Diane says, root them after leaving them to dry for a few days. If you don't remove all the reverted rosettes you will risk losing the cristate growth, as the normal rosettes will be much more vigorous.

[MikeDom]

Thanks for the advice Liz, will do.

[MikeT]

I'd echo what's been said, but add that for me it does get straggly and top-heavy after a couple of years, usually means it's time to break it up and restart from cuttings. You can see aerial roots in your photo, that gives you a good indication of how easily cuttings will root. The normal rosettes, once removed, will soon root and grow to a suitable size for selling, so a good one for keeping a sales table supplied. Mine gives me a few normal rosettes every year for plant sales when our Branch Show is on.

[MikeDom]

Thanks for the advice Mike.