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aaypua

Question about wrinkled leaves

10 years ago

Hi. I noticed my echeveria has some slightly tender and wrinkled leaves. At first I thought it was thirsty because it is on a sunny windowsill with direct sunlight from 7am to 12pm more or less. I watered in on Sept 15 and the leaves still haven't plumped up. So I watered it again on Sept 16 after I checked that the soil was dry and it was. I checked it today again they are still wrinkled. I don't think it is rot because I've seen rot before and the leaves aren't turning yellow and squishy. I'm not sure anymore what's causing it to be wrinkly. Is it too hot? It's 30 degC here on average.

Comments (22)

  • 10 years ago

    Any feedback will be appreciated :)

  • 10 years ago

    What mix is this in? When was it repotted? Have you verified that roots are healthy?

  • 10 years ago

    How much did you water? is it dry now? It might be getting too much light, as the leaves are turned up quite a lot.

  • 10 years ago

    Is there soil under the pumice?

    If there's a rootball, I suspect it's hardened off & the water has passed straight through the pot, not penetrating the rootball, which would leave the leaves still wrinkly / thirsty.

    (Looking back, I see soil, bet it's stuck to the roots, impeding taking in water,)

    Can you ease the plant out of the pot & look at the rootball?

  • 10 years ago

    The plant is in a 50:50 soil and pumice mix, Roots are healthy and there is no rootball.

    Maybe it is just thirsty? It's really hot and sunny here and I didn't water it for three weeks.

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Why it is not watered? 3 weeks is a very long time.

    So are there roots or not? - you say that there is no rootball, but roots are healthy. Are you thinking of rootball as something bad?

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    I'd say thirsty as well ... When mine get the limp squishy leaves I water in a bowl, filling up to the rim of the pot, and let it soak up water for a few minutes before draining off. Next day leaves are back to firm and plump :)

  • 10 years ago

    rina_Ontario, I didn't notice that three weeks had already gone by :( Based on Karen Sternberg's comment, a rootball is soil that has hardened around the roots and thereby stopping the roots from absorbing water. At least that is how I understand it. So I checked my plant and the roots are healthy and loose.

    bunkfree_4a_canada, a friend of mine also suggested that method to me. I'll try it and see if it will improve. Thanks!

  • 10 years ago

    A rootball is clump of roots at the bottom of plant. They may or may not be twisted, intertwined together. What Karen was referring to is the peat (peat or potting mix high in peat most often) that is caked-on the roots, and hardened to whatever degree. If it is really hard, it is usually difficult to remove. Hopefully it will crumble off easily. If not, you could use bamboo skewer or chopsticks to help. If that is not enough, the peat has become hydrophobic - very dry, hard and doesn't allow water to penetrate. It is difficult to re-wet. So plant in that kind of situation doesn't get any water, since it can't get to the roots, regardless how often you try to water.

    That could have happened to your potting 'soil'. Even if repotted into good new mix, if that old soil was left on, it still causes same problem. That is why it is best to remove all old soil.

    Your mix sounds good. And if there isn't anything interfering with water uptake, you are not watering plant enough.

  • 10 years ago

    Thanks Rina, for clarifying Karen's comments.

    That brown soil DIRECTLY at the base of the plant looks like pure soil from here (the pumice is around it). Is that clogging the roots?

    Respectfully, pls. show us the unpotted bottom of the plant if you'd like us to try to help further as clearly, SOMETHING is not right here.

  • 10 years ago
    last modified: 10 years ago

    Aaypua, my bet is on hydrophobic soil from going bone dry for 3 weeks. As previous posters have said, peat can repel water once it's gotten dry enough. It's like a cellulose sponge: you have to soak it to get it to absorb water once it's gotten completely dry. This is no big deal. Just soak the whole pot in a bucket of water for up to 10 minutes or so to be sure the medium is absorbing water again. It's a good way to water plants anyway, but any time a plant goes complete dry, a good soak is in order to rehydrate the hydrophobic parts of the soil.


    It is a lovely Echeveria. Do you know what species or cultivar it is?

  • 10 years ago

    I tried bunkfree_4a_canada's suggestion and it worked! I'm so glad! The leaves are starting to go back to normal, stiffer and not wrinkled anymore. Thanks for all your help! :)

  • 10 years ago

    thats great. So nice when there's an easy fix!


    I'd still really love to know what type of Echeveria it is. Such a nice one.

  • 10 years ago

    kwie2011, I am not too sure but I think it is Echeveria lila? No one could ID it for me so I just did a visual comparison online.

  • 10 years ago

    Did you mean E. lilacina?

  • 10 years ago

    Rina, Google E. 'Lila' or E. 'Lola' and it appears to be the same plant: very pale with a pronounced point. I think nurseries play with names a bit. E. lilacina appears to be different.

  • 10 years ago

    I saw E. Lila (also mentioned about the 'net as Lila China) on succulents.us right before Lilacina and Lola, and the description says "similar to Lilacina and Lola". Probably a Lilacina hybrid like Lola.

    my Lilacina is a fussy little brat LOL. Her lower leaves always look bad. I've repotted and I think she's doing well now - but the lower leaves have always looked haggard.


  • 10 years ago

    Hmmm, that name is new to me, lol (many are!). I should have carefully google it before posting :)

  • 10 years ago

    I thought she meant Lilacina as well, which is why I googled it :)

    I have an Echeveria I want to identify and the closest I can come (pics look identical) looking online is Fleur Blanc - which seems to be a made up name on pinterest and etsy :/

  • 10 years ago

    I saw one labeled Fleur Blanc at Home Depot yesterday, in the standard tray of mixed 3" succulents from Altmans.

  • 10 years ago

    Sue, I did see pics of Fleur Blanc in Altman pots online (but not on their website for sure) but I can't seem to find any info on the variety itself. Maybe an E. Van Breen? Hmm. It's very pretty and the leaves propagate very readily so next year I'll have quite a few of them :-P