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drmedusae

Split rock in trouble

11 years ago

Hi all, Nelly, my split rock, came into my possession sporting three sets of leaves. The bottom ones turned to mush soon after. I cut them off and disinfected the wound with ethanol. That was a little more than a month ago. Nelly then seemed to have recovered, and seemed to be in the process of reabsorbing her second pair of leaves. Today I checked at the junction of those leaves and her stem has these wet looking soggy spots. There's also white fungus (?) growing there. She's in half perlite half cactus soil mix. The soil is dry and I haven't watered her in a long time (3 weeks maybe). Is she a goner? Can she be propagated through leaf stubs? Thanks a lot! I am quite attached to Nelly and I would hate to lose her.


Comments (5)

  • 11 years ago
    last modified: 11 years ago

    I don't think you can propagate Pleiospilos nelii by leaves, so you may be out of luck. If the soil is still wet or damp, you can try to dry out the pot by putting it on a paper towel or in front of a fan (since it looks like unglazed terra cotta).

    Pleiospilos nelii on Llifle

    Otherwise, repotting may be a good idea to check overall plant condition, while also getting rid of any excess water the plant may be sitting in.

    Not sure of where you live or what your growing conditions are, but you will need to water carefully and lightly in 50/50 perlite - C&S soil mix, especially if the pot is much larger than the plant. A full soaking every 3 weeks would probably be too much in that type of soil.

    For reference, mine is growing outside/full sun in a 3.5" pot in a very gritty mix (mostly grit, but also some turface and bark). It's watered lightly every 2-4 days, otherwise it starts to look soft (by touch is the easiest way I currently gauge watering it). All depends on the weather.

    If I was to keep it inside, I would maybe water lightly every 3 weeks? That would be in partial shade and temps ranging from 21-35C for the non-growing season.

    drmedusae thanked ewwmayo
  • 11 years ago

    Thanks, ewwmayo. I have not given Nelly a full soak ever. When I received her-I removed all the soil attached to her roots by washing in water. After placing her in the soil, I gave the soil a light misting and the next time I fed her, it was a light misting as well. Because she is in the pot that I also have three lithops. I gave the lithops a light misting day before avoiding Nelly but maybe that was enough to upset Nelly. Yeah, the pot is pretty big because I read lithops have really deep tap roots. Thanks for the link with the info. I will re-pot Nelly, perhaps apply some fungicide and hope she makes it.

  • 11 years ago

    I figured as much! I always worry about watering and killing mine because it fluctuates between being a little soft to firm, looking the same otherwise.

    Based on this page, the pot should be able to accommodate a nearly 4" long tap root. Here are typical terra cotta pot sizes:

    • 3.5" wide pot - 3.5" deep
    • 4.5" wide pot - 4" deep

    Related, I find my Lithops are a lot thirstier than my Pleiospillos. They happily take nearly twice the amount of water. Not sure if others experience the same.

    drmedusae thanked ewwmayo
  • 11 years ago

    drmedusae, if you live in a zone 6 climate that isn't desert or mostly arid, this plant will only need a few thorough drinks of water per year at the most, especially if you keep it indoors. They are highly succulent and can go very prolonged lengths of time without water. Additionally, if you wish to lightly water this mesemb with mist, you really need to put it near a fan or some other ventilation source to prevent moisture from being trapped in the small crevices between leaf pairs.

    IME, the best method for watering these is a 'light' bottom watering, most often done during late summer/early fall or in early-mid spring, depending on your climate. In a zone 6 climate, my best advice would be that if you got another one of these plants, plan to NOT water it at all during the summer. Place it in a very sunny spot for the whole summer. Just make sure the soil temperature doesn't get too high, or you might get root death. If the inner leaves become soft during the summer as well, you may want to give it a small bit of water; I don't know what kind of zone 6 you live in or if you keep the plant indoors or out, so the leaves might not soften up. Misting the plant during the summer may also be a good idea, but as I said earlier, this requires good ventilation to stave off rot.

    I'm sorry your Nelly is going by the wayside :-( but gardening is a learning experience, and everyone on here has killed their fair share of cherished plants. Live and learn :-)

    drmedusae thanked Ben was 10a/26, now 7a/34
  • 11 years ago

    Thank you, ewwmayo and Ben. Ewwmayo, the terracotta pot is 5 and a half inches deep. I got it at dollar tree-quite a steal. Yes, my tiny lithops look ridiculous in that huge pot but they are happily "tap dancing" in there...I hope. Poor Nelly though...:( You are right about lithops taking more water--mine are salicola and they seem to rather like more water than I thought they would. Ben, thanks for the instructions. I live in Michigan. I bought Nelly after a year of longing to get a split rock (I am mainly an airplant girl and soil bound plants seemed too troublesome,). I am planning on getting more lithops and split rocks but Nelly's special. Yeah, gardening is a learning experience. My succulents have been turning my hair white more than I would like but it's also very rewarding. I will follow the instructions you gave. Thanks, guys! <3 meddy

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