Uh oh, that doesn't sound good.

What do you mean "fold"? Got a picture? Did you just get it or have you had it for a while? Could anything have fallen/dripped in the cup, like drip from treated wood or something containing copper or some other strong chemical?

It sure sounds like rot, and they don't usually do that without provocation, but occasionally I'll have something fall apart on me for no apparent reason. Are the center leaves loose? Smell the cup-- does it really stink? When they're starting to rot I can usually smell it before I see it. It's a particularly obnoxious odor, how can I put this...... do the words "Montezuma's Revenge" ring a bell? Sometimes, though, a Neo will just decide to stop growing and put out a pup. It will look stunted but there's no rot involved.

Hard to know without more info, but even if it is starting to rot if you catch it early enough you may be able to still save it by cleaning out the cup and letting it dry out. You can still water the roots but don't let any water sit in the cup until it seems to have hardened off and healed up.

Or it could be that Kawika is just homesick. I told you he doesn't like to leave Hawaii! ;-)

Its 2 lower leaves nothing got in the cup, no stink clean as a whistle. Hope you see these its dark here
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Oh, if it's the lower leaves then that's a different ballgame. When you said "leaves starting to fold in the center" I thought you meant the leaves in the center were folding and turning yellow. If it's just one or two leaves you may be able to just remove them and it'll be fine, but if it keeps doing it, then that might be cause for concern.

I'm afraid I can't answer your question about what causes that. Do the leaves that are curling feel kind of papery thin too? I get that occasionally. In a more colorful variety those leaves would turn even more intensely colored, and I've never been able to figure out what causes it. I asked a panel of experts (Carol Johnson, Nat DeLeon and Ervin Wurthman) that same question at the BSI World Conference in Orlando a few years back and none of them knew the answer either, but they all knew what I was talking about. Their theory up until then had been that cold weather causes it, but when I told them I lived in Hawaii they just scratched their heads. If their combined knowledge and experience couldn't produce an answer, then I don't know what to tell you either, but Nat DeLeon refered to the phenomenon as 'death rattle red" (because when it hits a reddish plant the leaves will turn an intense scarlet-- it's like all of the chlorophyll is gone from those leaves).

Sometimes it grows out of it, though, so hopefully it won't be a death rattle for 'Kawika'. It looks good otherwise, and it's only a couple of leaves. If the whole rosette was doing that then I'd say it was on its way out. I don't suppose there are any kahunas in your area, what about a curandero? ;-)

Yes there is a curandero and he said" you are an over protective mom, leave the plant alone no cause for worry"

Naive Bob here. First off,I don't know,so I guess I'm in the same league as DeLeon,Johnson,and Wurthman.;-) [well,anyway,regarding the leaf thingy]. When I saw the photos,I said,'heck,most all my neos do that'.And I just wait for them to get dry,and remove them,and the plant goes on.Perhaps coincidently,that is where a pup will eventually emerge,but not always.But isn't it possible that being the first leaves to emerge,they are also the oldest,and most likely to expire first? So that the newest leaves will best utilize the available food to prosper and grow. Sort of conserving the available energy for plant survival.[out with the old,in with the new ?] Perhaps more fertilizer would help,but this is all guess work on my part. What do ya think ? ...Bob

NO FERTILZER ! between our extreme heat and normal thing fert does (turn everything green) not an option for me. I dont push my plants for production..I go the best color I can get.Im in it for the beauty :)

I understand.... ignore the fertilizer comment. Seeing your results,who could argue ? More pics are always welcome. Bob

Actually, Bob, that was pretty much my initial reaction upon seeing the pics. I was expecting much worse, and lord knows browning lower leaves are just part of the growth process. After reading the description over again, though, I figured that hotdiggety has certainly grown enough Neos to know the difference between normal aging leaves and ones that are doing something unusual, so I gave what is probably the worst case scenario for leaf curling. It is a little unusual that they would suddenly roll up in that manner, but not so striking that I am totally convinced that anything is really wrong. I say just remove them and keep an eye on it.

As to the fertilizer thing, I know a number of people who don't like to fertilize at all, but my experience has been that when it gets hot is when they need it most, otherwise they bleach out too much. You just can't give them too much, or too suddenly. I use slow-release pellets (Nutricote), but very sparingly, like maybe 1/4 the recommended rate, if that. Better to add just a little pinch at a time than a whole big handful all at once or you'll lose the form of the plant completely. I know Sharon fertilizes more than I do and her plants are bigger and broader, but the color is still good on them. I prefer to have them a bit more compact, but the downside is that you do get more brown lower leaves because the plant starts sucking the nutrients out of the old growth more quickly. At least I've noticed a difference when I do it regularly and when I don't. I think the main thing is to be consistant in whatever you do, and you can use light levels to compensate too.

I have grown alot of broms but never had a large one just start acting up all of a sudden. I've decided that rain and cool down probally caused it temps dropped and Kawika got more water than it should have. Wont be long till its as big as Ninja. Only plant I ever had do the center leaf roll thing was a Albo marginted Luna.