Well, I have just brought all of my tender plants in from the deck before the cold weather sets in, but I have a problem. My Crown of Thorns plant is so big that I really do not have room for it in the house. Can I cut it back? and if so...by how much. It's now in the garage...it will get cold but not down to freezing, light, but not much and no direct. I know that it will drop 30% of it's leaves because of the change in light, but that will happen no matter where I put it. If I cut it back I will be able to find a spot for it where it's not so cold. I guess it's at the point that if I don't cut it back, it could be lost for ever. So, what do you think? Can I cut it back by 1/2? 1/3? Not at all? We are in the North East, Cape Cod to be exact.

Thanks, Kids.

Sooey

That is my thinking also. If it's too big for the house it needs to go to a new house, die of frost out on the deck or be cut back and hopfully live to see another season in the fresh air and sunshine. I will cut it back tomorrow. It has gotten so large and round that it really is too big for me to pick up. This is an old plant and I would hate to lose it. I have cut it back in the past but never at this time of year.

Thanks for confirming what I already knew.

Sooey

It's not the ideal time to cut it back, but if it's that or lose I guess it's OK. I'd suggest not cutting off more than 1/3, esp. since you expect it's gonna drop lots of leaves due to its change of environment. I'd water it a bit less & more carefully than normal.

I cut one of mine back a lot abt 2 months ago. Have discovered these will water root oddly enough (if interested, look for a prior post of mine discussing this).

Also, note of caution if you don't already know this: as a Euphorbia, this will bleed white sap when cut, which can be irritating to the skin (tho' personally I haven't been bothered by this), pls. be sure to keep your hands away from your face 'til you've had a chance to wash well; better safe than sorry.

Best advice, when cutting, have a mister handy to mist the cut ends of the remaining plant (will stop the sap); let the cut pieces dry off a couple of days & THEN put them in a cup of water. Have discovered the hard way, if one doesn't leave the cuttings out for a couple of days, they'll rot in the water. Have fun & good luck!

Thanks for this good advice. I gave it a good look today and I think cutting it back by 1/3 will do it. That should make it a bit more managable in size. As you know, since this plant has those large thorns all along the length of the branches, it needs to be kept out of the way of foot traffic. The space I have that gets the most winter light, which this plant seems to need, is in front of the slider. I need to have access to that area several times a day so the Crown of Thorns needs to fit in. It is the one house plant I have that goes through the most adjustment each fall. It's out on the deck every summer and it thrives. When I bring it back in during November, I know it will drop 1/3 - 1/2 of it's leaves. It makes a mess and I'm after it with the hose of the vacuum cleaner every day.

Rooting it sounds interesting. I think I'll give it a try. I don't know what I will do with another COT, but I'll bet I can find a friend in need.

Thanks again, pg. Enjoy your plants. This is the time of year that I am so thankful that we get such good light in our house...all day long.

Sooey

I just came down to start the long awaited surgery on my COT but I thought I better re-check your instructions before I make the first cut. I have my spray bottle at the ready and I'll be wearing gloves...don't like sap of any type on my hands...ya never know! I'm going to try to root a few cuttings as you suggest. It sounds like COT cuttings need to be treated the same as the cuttings of the Jade Plant...they need a few days to harden off before you put them in water or dirt. I'll give it a go.

You are lucky to have such good light in the city. I know many who don't. I just love the light in our house. We have sunlight streaming into the main living areas of the house from sun up till sun down. Our living room, family room, den and kitchen are bright all day long. So much so that I need to keep sheers at the windows to slow down the damage the sun does to the carpets and fabric in the house. It's perfect for house plants.

Thanks again for the advice. I know I should have thought ahead and cut it back while there was still time before I brought it back indoors. I hope it works...I hope it lives...

Sooey

As I was in there, cutting away, I could see that the leaf drop has already started. The lower leaves turn yellow with little black spots, they curl and drop. It does this every year within two days of bringing it indoors. I'm sure it will live and thrive. I will continue to work on it.

Thanks for your help.

Sooey

My sis-in-law gave me my first CoT last July, and it has just been such a fascination for me. It's not stopped blooming since I got it. I put it immediately in the northeast bay window where it gets soem morning sun. Since the only other plants in that window are a large jade and an even larger fern, the CoT goes longer without water than it really should, but it's thriving & growing in spite of that.

Anyway, this is my story . . we either broke a stem of this plant off when we moved it, or the cat broke it off right after I set it in the window. I called sis-in-law to ask how or if I could start this, and she'd never done one, so we decided to dip it in RootTone and then in some good potting soil. It took right off, and by the end of July was looking beautiful! So I gave it to my sister for her birthday :)

Later, I read how you are supposed to start these plants and was amazed! I'd not really done anything right, but it worked anyway :)

Ultimately (IMO), you should separate the Haworthias from the E. milii as they have different watering needs.

The Euphorbia can be quite thirsty, while the Haw will only want such watering in Summer, they may well rot given such large amounts of water at other times of the year as the Euph will want. Just so you know.

Cinder, what is Mannee Jintana? Do you have all 3 plants in one clay pot? If so, I bet it's gorgeous when blooming, especially since COT's bloom most of the year..Do you have pics?

Karen, you don't water Haworthias in winter? Oh boy, all this time, even though mine dry out, completely, I've been giving drinks..I'd better check the bowls to see if they're okay..of course no cactus/succ gets fertilized in winter, in fact I still haven't fert cac/sux..What month do you start feeding Haws and other sux while I'm asking? They say not to water Lithops in winter, so when I had them, they didn't get a drop, but all are gone..Our puppy got hold of them last winter, chewed up 3 bowls of sux..lol..I'm lol'ing now, but wasn't the day I woke up to find chewed up plants, soil all over the rug, dragged throughout the house. Please let me know the best time to start watering more and fert Haw's..thank, Toni

Pls. re-read what I wrote a bit more slowly, what you said is NOT what I wrote. I wrote Euph miliis will want much more water than the Haws (which is not to say the Haws won't want water) at other times of the year beside Summer. I did NOT say I don't water the Haws in Winter. In fact, I've recently heard that they're actually Winter growers (I'm not sure, abt that but I know my Haws bloom in Summer).

I'm cautious abt watering my Haws in Winter because I've have a few of them lose their roots (which makes them very susceptible to root rot &/or death). I did succeed in re-rooting them (in pumice), but it was tricky.

I'm not as big on fertilizers as you are. Also, I belonged to my local C&S Society for abt 10 yrs., somewhere along the line, I was taught that Succulents don't really want a lot of fertilizer, so I don't give 'em much, maybe twice a year in Summer months only.

Since I started using Eleanors VF-11 last Spring, I don't think I fertilized last yr., as its instructions suggest using it alone (w/out fertilizers).

No specific time to water more, I go by observation, not the calendar, when I see more active growth I step up their water somewhat.

Last wk I gave my entire collection a watering of VF-11 for the first time this yr.

I've never grown nor do I know the first thing abt Lithops.

Tommy, your COT is lovely. Is the red truly red? I bought a few that say, RED, but they're really orange or maroon. I'd love to see or own a true, bright red. I just potted up one bare-root RED, so we'll see what color flowers are.

Cinder-Pie, what did you end up doing with your COTS? Toni

we were away at the time and had no clue.

so today, my husband hacked them all back so that they are little stumps.
should we bring them in, let them rest inside for a few months?
or just toss them and start again.

If temps aren't expected to dip below 35-40F, leaving them outside should be okay, but if it frosts, bring them indoors to warmth. Moreso if rain is expected. Rain and cold will definately kill them.

Was the soil wet or dry the days/nights temps dropped?

When they were purchased, all were babies..Guess I didn't think they'd someday grow larger. lol.

Larry. Cold shouldn't harm COT's, but those I recently brought indoors, 'after several nights @ 35F/1.7C, a couple nights dipped 32F/0C, a good number of leaves dropped..Some leaves had frost-bite.
But like you said, Euphorbias are tough. Unfortunately, not tough enough to be outdoors for long periods at 32/0.

Wonder how OP's COT is doing.

Euphorbias are from a lot of places - if you're growing a Madagascar Euphorbia (especially the medusoids) you're going to wind up with succulent jelly if you expose them to too much cold.