Hi Dante,

Sorry, but if by fortnight you mean you're watering literally every forth night, you're overwatering this plant (& likely to kill it). Regular compost (like garden soil) is not right for this plant, too rich & too water retentive. It needs fast draining mix like for a cactus.

A picture would help a lot, but NOTHING on this plant should be moist; I'd take that as an indication of rot. So sorry, but we really need a picture to try & advise how to save to save this plant.

Karen,

Fortnight - every two weeks.

Jeff, I didn't know that either. Thanks.

Dante,
I'm with Karen here. Good advise.

Sorry, yes every 14 days, I have switched the soil to cactus mix, should I water it once a month or so? Thanks for the great replies so far :) ps: how do I upload a photo?

If you have Yahoo or Google e-mail service, you can use their photo-hosting (Photobucket & Picassa): once you've uploaded a picture to your album there, look for a way to share it, then really look for a way to embed it.

I use Picassa & once you choose that others may view your album, there will be a "link to this photo" legend on the right... when I click on it, I get a choice of linking or embedding, how large the photo will be, and also a box of text. Copy & paste text into your message here - it will look like total gibberish, but will look like a photo when you preview your message.

I hope that helps!

GB

Dante,
Welcome to the club. I also had trouble with posting. Almost gave up. Karen gave me good advise along with others. Look down this forum for new guy. and Having trouble posting a picture. All the advise is there. I use photobucket. It's free and easy.

http://i1059.photobucket.com/albums/t439/dannstter/d48b4d7b.jpg
I hope that link works, that is what happens to it before it starts to bend, thanks for all the help so far :)

Well not quite, one needs to copy the THIRD line of code here, but next time. I can see your pic, OK now.

WAYY too big a pot (unless the root ball is as big as the pot). Also, from here, that mix looks way too peaty & organic & I suspect is rotting the plant (I'd guess it doesn't dry out completely, yet the inner area may be dry).

That does seem to be rot spreading down that leaf. Not sure if cutting it off would be worthwhile, unless one wants to use the remainder to start new plants.

Something is VERY wrong under there for that to be happening. If it were mine, I'd turn the whole thing out on to newspapers & inspect roots for damage & rot. If you could show a pix of the roots, once you've crumbled off all the mix w/ your fingers (I wouldn't rinse it), then you can really see its root condition & diagnose further from there.

Ooops, sorry,

Meant to say thx Jeff for defining Fortnight, never would have guess that was two wks.

Thanks for the reply, since that picture I've changed the soil to cactus mix. The pot is large because there were a lot more shoots, but about 4 full sized ones have died since. When this shoot dies off I'll upload a picture of it to show you. Any ideas on how often it should be watered? And sorry I don't understand what you mean about the third line of code? Thanks :)

Dante,
When on Photo Bucket, just put pointer on the picture, then a window drops down. Go to the 3rd. one down marked HTML code. Click on this and the box next to it should show copied. Now you can paste it into this box.

I believe this whole plant is dying. I'd take it all out of the pot NOW or I fear you will have nothing left to save.

I don't need to see the dead shoot thanks (nor will I learn anything from it). Pls. only post pix only the part you wish to save (if any is left).

What I don't need to see is anything soft or mushy, if it's either of those two things, we don't need any pix of that either thanks, just to say it's rotting & pls. throw it out, there is NO RECOVERY from wet & mushy.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be brutal, but really, liquid inside is the worse case I've ever come across myself. I doubt this plant can be saved.

Pls, read the other posts about how to post pix (or do a search here on how to post pix), then, if using Photobucket.com, once your pix are loaded there, you'd cut & past the third line of code from there (Photobucket) to here).

If any of this plant remains alive you must not give it any water until you see new growth.

Karen I am so proud of you, you have been doing a terrific job. I don't need to check in here any more then to say hello to all of you. If you are going to make a mistake it is better them be dry then damp too long, I also have had experience with no water all winter and the plants outside in a whoop house. No heat or water no leaves just brown paper bags looking like leaves, they all survived, the rhizome survived it was full of water, we planted that and when it was warm enough and given water in the end of April, up came the new shoots. So they will live, between KAren and Jeff you will all do well. Norma

I always check the soil before watering ....

.. ?