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Donkey’s tail (Sedum Morganianum) looks like a sturdy plant at first glance with all its cascading, trailing stems covered in succulent rounded leaves, but appearances can be deceiving. This plant is very fragile, and if you aren’t careful while handling it, you may end up breaking off its leaves.
In general, I have found it is best to handle these succulents as little as possible, but that can’t be avoided when it’s time to repot or transplant one into a new pot.
So, knowing how fragile donkeys’ tail plants are and how easy it is to break off their leaves, the question remains: how do I repot them without damaging them? The answer to that question is easy… very carefully! The process of repotting donkey’s tail succulents is the same as it would be for transplanting many other types of succulents, except that you just have to handle them with more care.
But how exactly do I repot my donkey’s tail succulents? That is what I cover below.
How do You Repot a Donkey’s Tail Without Losing Leaves?
The best time to repot one of these plants is when they are young and aren’t too big to handle.
I’m doing this right now with some donkey’s tail starts that I had propagated from leaves. (see this post here)
and it is now time for these baby plants to be planted into their first pot.
(Here’s a picture of how they looked while they were being propagated from leaves)
These plants are still very tiny and fragile, and even though they are healthy right now, they need to be planted into a pot with deeper soil so they can continue to grow and thrive.
Now that it’s time to repot one of these plants, I will handle it almost as I would with other succulents, the difference is that I will handle it with a more delicate touch.
Note: You don’t want to lose any leaves on a Donkey’s tail at any time because they don’t regrow new leaves to cover up spaces left by the fallen leaves. This is why you don’t want to handle them too much or place them where they will be disturbed or bumped, which could break their leaves.
When the plants are larger and loaded with strings of beautiful trailing stems, the process is a little trickier, but it can be done in a similar manner.
Select an Appropriate Pot
Start by selecting a pot, preferably one with drainage holes to allow excess water to drain out of the soil when watered. You don’t want the roots to sit in any water since that would cause root rot to form. There is a way to successfully grow succulents in pots without drainage holes. We discuss this in this article here.
But it’s easier and safer for your plants when there are drainage holes in your pots or containers.
A terra cotta pot is a good choice as it wicks away any excess moisture faster than other types of pots. Hanging pots are an excellent choice for an established donkey’s tail plant since they display the trailing stems to their best advantage, although there are many other choices too.
Add Some Succulent Potting Mix to the Pot
The soil should be a well-draining soil. You can prepare a succulent soil mix by combining cactus potting soil with perlite or sand for aeration or by making your own succulent potting soil using a recipe. We have a couple recipes here to get you started.
You can also buy pre-made succulent soil mix for your own convenience. This one from Amazon would be a good one to use.
Remove the Plant From its Old Pot
Loosen the dirt around the baby donkey’s tail plant. A toothpick is a great tool to use for this part of the process. Carefully loosen the dirt around the base of the plant, and try not to hurt the roots.
Lift up the baby plant with the toothpick, or use some other tool like a small spoon. Tilt it into your other hand. Be gentle and be sure to use as little pressure as possible while handling it.
If you are repotting a larger plant, carefully loosen the plant from its pot and inspect the root ball. There shouldn’t be any compaction when dealing with baby plants, but older, more established plants may have compacted roots.
You can tell it’s compacted if the root ball was tightly coiled around in its old pot. If this is the case, loosen them carefully to encourage healthy growth. You may have to gently tip the plant into your hand, being careful to not break off any leaves while you do this.
Note: Tightly coiled root balls are one of the signs your plant has outgrown its old pot. Read this article to learn why planting your succulents or cacti in clear pots can help you keep an eye on their root health.
One method for getting larger plants out of their pots without damaging too many leaves is to let the plant dry out completely. When it is dry, poke three or more shish kabab sticks into the soil around the plant. Take a grip on all of these sticks at once, and pull upwards with one hand while pulling the pot off the bottom with the other hand. There’s a video link at the bottom of this article that shows you how it is done.
Plant the Donkey’s Tail into the New Pot
Plant the donkey’s tail into the fresh soil by placing it root side down and then gently move the soil to cover the roots. Don’t put any pressure on the leaves.
Don’t water immediately after planting. Let your plant adjust to its new pot for a few days first. Then resume your regular watering schedule.
Here’s a picture of how they look now that they’ve been repotted.
If you want to learn more about Donkey’s tail plants, this article from Wisconson Horticulture Extension has some good information. https://hort.extension.wisc.edu/articles/burros-tail-sedum-morganianum/
Ashley Glassman / Herbal And Succulent Alchemy on Youtube shows how she transplanted her larger donkey’s tail plants. She uses shish-kabab sticks to help her lift the plants out of their old pots. I need to remember this trick when my plants need repotting when they are larger.
The video is titled: My Secret Weapon For Repotting Donkey And Burrow’s Tail With Minimal Damage
This post was written for cactus-central.com and is not permitted to be used on other sites.