Plants look sick

10 years ago

Asking for help... Again.

Echeveria Black Prince: Outer leaves are curling up. Is it underwatered or overwatered? Too much or too little sun? Or is it already dying?

Kalanchoe Humilis or "Desert Surprise": Outer leaves are soft, wrinkly, and drooping.

And this echeveria (???) that I beheaded: The stem now has a tiny bud on it but the rosette looks like it's drying out.

And finally, the cactus I was trying to save from the early stages of root rot and cut in half: The cut part seems to have black spots and some of the "tubes" are shrivelled. Is it time to throw this away?

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Comments (4)

chuckerfly
10 years ago
Re E. Black Prince, the green color could indicate that it needs more light. Not sure about the outer leaves though, are they dry or feel mushy (could be rotting, hope it's not too late, check the roots also)? And the pot is way too big for it.

I'm far from being expert, but in my experience, drying of lower/outer/bottom leaves is part of normal growth. But if it's mushy, better save the healty part.

Hopefully somebody more knowledgeable will be able to help you further with your other plants. Good luck :)
donotcarebear
Original Author
10 years ago
Hi, Chuck! I really appreciate the help. It's an old post. I actually ruined that echeveria. It was big when I first got it but didn't like the damaged leaves so I took almost all of them off. It's still alive and there was new growth but definitely far from becoming what it was before. Haha!
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ealdwood (10a)
10 years ago
Second everything chuckerfly said with the pot being too big and trying to see if anything smells/leaf feels mushy. Drying up is not a bad sign, just natural or lacking water. Green is due to low sunlight, mine is like that too.

Also with the C&S soil mix, if it's too peaty and compact, and you don't water for a long time (because it's winter), and you re-water, sometimes it just sorts of doesn't absorb the water near the root ball which in your E. black prince case is probably on the shallow and small side. So if you make your mix looser, e.g. with perlite ....crushed granite, and other wet absorbing stuff like diatomaceous earth/turface), it's easier to get water to the roots without it standing in it.

IMO, Your e. black prince looks pretty good...but more water wouldnt hurt. This species is also not TOO rot prone. I can't see your mix though...

The echeveria one (yay for the bud on the stem, that's cool) same thing too. I think it needs more water and make sure the peat hasn't become hydrophobic already/make it looser.

No kalanchoe experience, and I suck at making cacti root. I can't see the black spots on the cacti, but basically no water until roots come out.
Tamiya #1 (AU, SG, MY & ZZZzzzz...)
10 years ago
Cactus looks fine... bury it deeper like 1" not just sitting on top of dirt.

Dont throw any carcass away unless it's a soggy bag of rotting ooze or its dried out into a hollow empty shell :) everything in between those two deathly extremities can usually be rescued! It may take several months though so just let it do its thing; bit of light & no water is all it needs.