Yes, I make sure they have good drainage that's why I really can't figure out what made them sick ;o To be honest, thrifty as I am, I only use the soil they were already in the moment I buy them and besides, it is very hard to find a soil mix for succulents in my area. But from what I can see it doesn't really retain water cos' it contains small barks and I make sure to mix small rocks before I re-pot them. Perhaps them being in shade? But I always try to give them morning sun before I go to school so I really don't know ;o

I'm from a tropical country namely the Philippines :)

Will do. Thank you for your help!

Glenn hi. Lots of the people that come in here for help (me included), are having problems with sick plants because of the soil they came with. Lots of people use soil that holds moisture for for too long (including the garden places that sell them). Even Cactus and Succulent soil cause problems because the soil holds too much water for too long. At best the plants seem reasonably healthy, at worst they die quickly from rot.

You obviously had the right idea, putting small stones in the mix, well done!! You probably saved them.

Tropical climates are much harder to keep the soil mix dry between waterings.

Succulents need watering but also need to completely dry out between waterings. Thats why they have fat leaves, stems and/or roots. They are designed to live in dry, usually hot areas. Succulents will die much quicker in wet conditions than from lack of water.

To test if the soil is completely dry stick a wooden or bamboo skewer in the soil right to the bottom of the pot. Leave for a few minutes, then pull it out. If it's clean then the soil is dry, if it's dirty with soil bits the soil is still damp or wet.

There are a few in this forum who are from tropical areas and grow succulents successfully so don't give up but learn from disappointing situations or results. The tropical growers I can think of don't use any soil, just a mix of non-organic products, depending what they can get hold of eg small stones (the ones in your pots look the correct size, again well done!), volcanic products like perlite, scoria and some more. Do you have a hardware/gardening store near you? Perlite is very cheap and usually available in most countries.

I believe that your plant with the rotting leaves needs unpotting immediately. I think it's rotting. I would unpot it and wash the soil off gently but thoroughly outside (be a bit rough if needed) with a hose or tap and dry it a bit, gently with something soft. Then put it somewhere out of the sun to dry. Meanwhile take a few pictures to show us.

I will keep checking on you and see if I can find some of these other growers from tropical areas.

Helen

I've got some good posts lined up to copy and paste. Some good ones about soil mixes and helping sick plants in the tropics. Unfortunately I won't be able to get back to you until my 5 year old Grandson goes to bed tonight. It's 1:15 here in South Australia so it won't be for a while.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen perlite from garden/hardware stores around my area ;o So I pretty much just use whatever I have at hand which includes small rocks, but I'll do my best to find other things that will help with drainage as you've mentioned (:

Here's an update of my sick plants:

The first one gets worse each day. I'll pretty much follow your advise and see if it'll help my suffering plant ;o While the leaf on my topsy turvy
has completely rotten but doesn't easily come off. I'm considering potting the plants separately and observe if it will be of help. Thank you for your help!

Glenn. Can you take your worst plant out of the pot, wash the dirt off the roots, then take a few photos to put in here. It will almost definitely need cutting some roots that are rotting. Probably more. Also, before you even do that pull off any unhealthy leaves and chuck them in the rubbish. It won't matter if the plant is bare rooted for a few days.

Even if it doesn't survive, the whole process will be a great learning curve. Nothing is wasted ;-)

I agree with pulling the other three out too. Can you get 4 clean or new pots?

I've just been reading a heap of posts on what potting mix to use in tropical climates. They all basically said that we don't really need any potting soil in any climate, but especially in the tropics. And it doesn't matter too much what we use as long as it doesn't hold water too much and the best size is roughly half a centimeter.

So if you could gather enough small stones for the first repotting, we can take it from there. Don't forget the photos.

Also, rot will infect plants, including reinfecting the the original infected plant. So don't reuse anything in the pots.

This is a great learning curve for me too :-D

Glenn

What are the whitish granules in your pot? They look similar to perlite/pumice? Is what I circled in red in your photo rock you are referring to?:

If yes, they could be too big for a proper mix.

Leaves look like they are sunburned; it is important to put succulents into good light but gradually (sorry if I am repeating something said above, but have no time to read all responses).

Is there drainage hole(s) in your containers?

Glenn, I've copies and pasted bits of a conversation, thread, from this forum about potting mix thoughts and opinions in tropical climates.

I only put what I thought was relevant.

If you're getting a bit overwhelmed, the last post sums it up nicely.

THREAD POSTERS NAME: savemysucculents.

THREAD TITLE: Succulent ID and soil question.

THREAD DATE: March 18, 2015.

POST BY: savemysucculents

I've been reading up as much as I can on how to care for them. Will be repotting them in new soil this weekend. What mix should I use? 50% perlite and 50% cactus soil or garden soil? If I can get pumice, should I add some or will the perlite be enough?

Are the soil in the Ikea ones okay? Or should i repot those as well.

I'm living in Singapore, it's hot and humid here, what should my watering schedule be like?

POST BY: k8

i'm not familiar with the climate in singapore, but if it's humid, i'd think you'd be better off with a mix with less organic matter (ie soil) and more "grit"-- stuff like perlite, pumice, gravel, etc, so it doesn't stay too moist for too long....

it was mostly trial and error until i got into an okay watering schedule (well, it's still trial and error, but at least i'm doing better than i was before!).....

POST BY: savemysucculents

What size gravel should I be looking for?....

Currently I have perlite, pine bark, 2-4mm wide pebbles....

LECA balls, light expanded clay aggregate, smallest available are around 4-8mm. Seems too large

-volcanic sand?

-pumice?....

POST BY: ehuns27

You may want to make a mix with things like granite, pumice, perlite, and bark and use the pebbles as a top layer. Make sure you wash off the bark fines first.....

POST BY: savemysucculents

LECA is made by baking pure natural clay at 1200 degrees Celsius for 3 hours in rotary kilns; the end product is pH neutral, doesn't degrade and....

The pellets are uniform in size and have an attractive, natural appearance......

POST BY: ehuns27

I would definitely say that would be great for a potting mix then. Just make sure you sift finer particles out. If you don't have a sieve you can rise them as well....

POST BY: savemysucculents

I found several posts on people using just LECA balls as a growing medium, without mixing anything in.

POST BY: ehuns27

Choosing your growing medium is essentially a personal preference. You can add whatever you like to a mix that suits how you care for your plants and how you want them to look aestetically.....

but if It is more humid, you may want to stay away from materials that hold more moisture than others. They key to a good mix for succulents is a loose, fast draining medium that allows the plant to obtain water while not sitting in it.....

POST BY: Pagan (7)

The gritty mix is all about the rough similarity in the size of the particulates, and only secondarily about the actual components. The particulate size most often suggested is about half a centimeter and definitely remove the fine bits. You will do well with just these two ingredients, tweaking the proportions as you learn both about your watering habits and how the plants adapt to it.

Wow, thank you so much for your help Helen! I highly appreciate all the insights and have learned a ton. I did the exact thing as you suggested with the first plant, I washed the roots and let it dry overnight. Earlier, I pulled the unhealthy leaves off the plant and repotted in a new mix. I found a bag of soil-less potting medium with vermiculite in my local and mixed it with sand/tiny rocks and rice hulls and used it to pot my plants individually and separately. Hopefully, they'll do better this time.

Here's what my first plant looked like before repotting:

And my topsy turvy

The other leaf has been infected (refer to pic 1) and I've found these 'bite-likes' in another leaf. Though there were no signs of insects around my plant.

Rina, hello. I'm unsure aswell as I only picked it up locally for cheap. But it is very light so I assume it can be pumice? And no, it is a piece of bark. They are almost only in the shade/indirect sunlight most of the time though, I only put them in the sun thrice a week for at least 6 hours ;o -- Yes, the containers have holes for drainage. Could it be my plants being in shade/indirect sunlight? I'm just afraid to put them out in the shade because the weather here has been alternating from sunny to rainy the past few weeks.

Glenn. It sounds good. You've got some lovely white healthy roots on that first plant. Have to admit that I expected much worse. I thought we would have to do drastic surgery on most or all of the roots and maybe the plant itself.

I agree that the damage on the leaf looks like bite marks. I just read a post where someone was advised to check for snails, slugs, caterpillars etc and I've read posts of animals that like some succulents like squirrels and more. Even one person's cat!!

Just a quick question, on the first plant there was a dark spot at the top of the roots. Did you feel it to see if was soft flesh like rot? It could also be a shadow in the photo or some soil that wouldn't come off (I've had that).

Also roots get damaged when repotting and they need at least a couple of days to heal before watering.

Good luck with your babies. Keep us updated in this thread. I'd be interested to see the progress.

Glenn

Perlite is usually quite white, pumice could be whitish or grayish or even black. hey look somehow similar, perlite is very light - if you blow at it, it will likely 'fly'. Pumice less, and that is one reason many ppl do not like use perlite. But it is very good addition for creating good drainage and I use it a lot, since pumice id difficult to find where I am. Whatever it is, looks good for a mix.

Just about all succulents should be in hours of sunlight daily. And best if they stay outside all the time - unless you do not have access to outdoor space. They need to be first acclimatized to direct (meaning unobstructed) light, and eventually stay there all the time.

BTW, vermiculite is ok for seed sowing and maybe rooting, but I would discourage using it as a part of fast draining mix - it doesn't. If there is only bit of it, it is probably ok. Same with sand - unless it is quite grainy.

Helen

Just in case you are not aware, one can post a link rather than copy & paste...much faster...You can always post a link, direct person to a post you liked most (by date, time & person posting it); that will give them chance to read it whole + chance to read entire thread if interested - there is always other ppl contributing good tips...

Helen. I thought so too! But luckily, I didn't have to.

I will check for them every now and then. It is currently rainy here but the sun still comes out after it pours. Is there any spray/insecticide I can use to avoid them?

Yes, it didn't felt mushy but rather just like a healthy stem with discoloration.

Uh oh.. a few hours after I repotted, it lightly poured here.

I will, thanks a ton, Helen!

Rina

I will consider getting a bag of it when it is available. Pumice is often out of stock in my local hardware but I'll be sure to check regularly while perlite, is quite hard to find unless shipping is made.

After I repotted, I let them stay outside and get all the sunlight they need. It is quite rainy these past few weeks so I highly doubt the sun will scorch them to death.

Thanks for the insights, Rina. I'll continue experimenting on mixes by adding materials that can help with drainage but not harming the plant.

Glenn, now I've worked out how to insert a link into a post, I'm deleting most of my posts on that subject and editing some like this one. You would have noticed rina trying to help me.

The actual link is a few posts below this one. It's about succulent potting mixes in the tropics.

There is a link icon just below the box where you type your message. Did you use that?

Gosh, I'm sorry to say I think you may have just taken things from bad to worse.

As said above, vermiculite is not good to use w/ succulents, it can hold water, which we don't want for succulent plants. Sand can be awful as it tends to clog roots unless it's VERY course.

These amendments you've made may make your drainage worse, not better as you've added materials that retain water & impede drainage.

Your soilless medium would be great for tropical plants, more like those native to your area.

I notice your little rocks look very much like the pumice I use. I was thinking just try potting the plant that had the burned/ rotting leaves, in just the little rocks. They'll be fine, don't add any soil at all, it may be just what you need in your humid environment.

If this idea works, that will give you better idea how to deal w/ the others.

Oh, I do not use mobile for reading GW...too small, and perhaps different set up- I don't know. I like to be able to see the photos and text clearly:)

Link is shown when one is typing a post, just below, same as a photo icon - but that's on laptop or desktop. I think it should be same everywhere :( - but I am sure it doesn't matter what I think, lol.

Glenn how are your plants gong??

http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/1845045/succulent-grower-in-the-tropics-needs-help-with-gritty-mix?n=13

Glenn, above is a link to someone living in the Philippines who was asking about potting mix for succulents in tropical climates.

Lots of interesting information and she also has made a list of potting mix products that are available near her.

Helen

You can go back to any of your posts and DELETE words or whole posts that are mistakes. They don't serve purpose and just clutter thread and are off subject. Hope you don't mind me saying this, just trying to help.

Same with spelling mistakes, or all kinds of extra characters in the text they didn't notice typing (like the brackets in your posts), or even missing words: ppl usually post 'correction' in new post: there is no need for that, just EDIT...These options are available only for a short time in original post (maybe an hour or so after posting), but much longer in subsequent posts (at least couple of weeks, perhaps longer)...

I typed some words in bold capital letters/uppercase not to shout, just to make sure reader notices. And I am not picking up on ppl that are from non-English speaking countries or English is not their mother tongue (I am one of them, haha). And, I do not know if this is available on mobile devices (but I think it should be).

Thanks rina. Advice taken note of. Yes definitely editing available on mobiles. Didn't realise subsequent posts can be edited/deleted for that much longer.

I'd like to take out, delete all this stuff about putting in links and just leave the link that I managed to put in for Glenn. Any other suggestions on what else?