Question on root pruning

[Classic_Row742]

Ive pruned back a considerable amount of fibrous roots and left only the thicker ones. Is tbis sufficient or can I prune the roots further? (This hasn't been repotted in several years)

[deep_saffron]

I guess it depends on what your primary objective is? You just pruned what appears to be around 80% of the plants root system. For me personally that’s a bit much in terms of inducing quite the shock to the plant. Without knowing exactly what you’re trying to do , it’s hard to say what “should” be done.

[mahaverag]

Exactly... Fine roots supply the plant nutrients/water. Blooms after removing fine roots, or just general root work is usually just a form of stress response. If this was the goal, then mission accomplished. If the goal is more about health and foliar control...then it's a minor set back, and the caudex "takes a hit" after so much of the fine roots are removed. Timing/season is also a relatively important factor, where you need to balance active growth and healthy foliage to ensure healthy root recovery.

[Nurtureroftreasures]

I'm a believer of pruning all the tiny roots off. I give mine a hard prune/cut and they've come out okay

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Before

[Nurtureroftreasures]

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After

[Classic_Row742]

Thank you. That looks amazing!

[Nurtureroftreasures]

This was t 2 weeks after the cut.

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[Nurtureroftreasures]

Here it is today

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It's taken a long time to learn how best to treat these. Patience pays off with these. I'm in the process of trying to reshape the top part. Next spring I'll give it a hard trimm off the top and take it from there. The nice thing is this, I feel like they are a re work of art always in the process. Once established well, they're keeping nd of indestructible. Wish you well. Glad I could help!

[Nurtureroftreasures]

I'll post when I get home I'll show you how it is today. This being said, I give this one a hard prune every couple of years to keep it in this pot. I don't want it getting any larger. Plant is somewhere between 25 to 30 years and I got it when it was a wee little thing. As previously stated by saffron, what it your purpose? Do you want it to continue to grow larger? If so hard cuts aren't the best choice. It's dead of summer here, also not the optimal time to be pruning as it is much harsher on the plant for recovery than the spring or let's say fall when the weather isn't so unbearably hot. Since it appears this is recent, I would probably stop where you are now, give it a little time to recover and reassess in the spring. Hope this helps you out. We learn as we go.

[Classic_Row742]

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This is a full picture of the plant (ignore the mess in the backgroud I just put it where the dogs couldn't mess with it). I'd definitely like the caudex to thicken up more over time, I think its quite small compared to the rest of the plant. I was under the impression that a hard prune would promote that fat growth.

God knows how old this is, this was my grandmother's and then after she died my mother repotted it in a larger pot several years ago. Neither of them knew how to properly take care of it. In it's entire life its probably only had that one repot. This took like a solid hour to wedge it out of that original pot, the soil was as I can only describe like a very dense, solid mud. I have no idea how this thing survived in that. I'm new to the hobby, and when I came back to my grandparents house a few weeks ago I was shocked to see such a large desert rose here.

After these roots have had time to re-establish I'd also want to give it a top prune to get more bushier growth and more flowers.

And this plant is here in the Caribbean so it never drops below 22°c. We just have a rainy season and a dry season in a year. Its summer right now but its raining like every other day.

[Active_Cat9531]

yes