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Cacti & Succulents
asdittenbat112

soft conophytum

8 years ago



I have had a few conophytum for over a year and they haven't caused me any problems, I pretty much treat them the same as the rest of my succulents. Back in September I got a new one and when it got here I didn't have any time to repot it so I kept it in original potting for about 2 months. Ever since I changed the potting it has gone down and downhill. Within a few days it looked extremely wrinkly. I waited a little bit and watered, and it stayed the same. Then I thought maybe it's under too strong light so I moved it to the outskirts of the light. It seemed to be doing a little better but now I see I don't think it is. It is soft to the touch, not completely rotten yet but very very soft whereas the rest of my conophytum are firm to the touch. Can anyone tell what's happening? Or best to just unpot it and see if the roots are dead? I just don't want to disturb it anymore than necessary.

Comments (5)

  • 8 years ago

    Any idea about the ID? With conophytums, identification is critical because these fellas are very sensitive to the timing of everything. What specific species will tolerate in summer may be fatal in winter.

    Must read.

  • 8 years ago

    Thank you Pagan. It is conophytum "ernianum". I guess I am just confused because I always read about the outer leaves drying up but so far I have not seen that with mine. They just form new pairs of leaves through the old one but I have never witnessed them turning into a crispy "sheath". And even when this does happen they still stay firm. I have never seen one become wrinkly and soft to the touch. Maybe this one is going to surprise me and is just forming the crispy sheaths. I just hope it's not rotted.

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  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I would unpot and check the roots. Its a little early for it to be sheathing over. My conos, under T5HO lighting, get some water once a week during the winter or they start to wrinkle. My home heating keeps the air real dry along with a fan on 24/7 for air circulation, my pots tend to dry out real fast during the winter. Is it in pure pumice?

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Sometimes succulents can go downhill for a bit when being potted into a gritty mix for the first time. Especially with little mesembs. I would just leave it be. Still would water and pull away to the outskirts of your lighting. Like you said you've done;). Just for now. Until you notice them plump up a little.

    I repotted my baby toes at the beginning of fall. Heck it could have been late summer. About a month ago it snapped out it's funk;). Looks much better now.

    This Lithop had terrible roots and was absorbing it's older set of leaves. The roots were completely desiccated. I repotted into pure pumice. This was last Spring. Not the best time to do this, but I did;). Left it alone and around August I started giving it a little bit of water. Hoping it would stimulate some root growth. Now it's perfectly fine and well anchored in it's pot. What I'm trying to say is there's not much you can do at this point, but leave it be and hope for the best. Sometimes these things can take months to recover. Keep your eye on it;). Don't try to do anything extra;).

    How long ago did you repot it and what did the roots look like?

  • 8 years ago

    if you can still pull at the skin and there is still some tug to it, I doubt it's rot. It'll be very soft and mushy, almost watery to the touch if it is rot.
    It looks very dehydrated. Like Kara mentioned, gritty mix takes some getting used to and if you don't know any better like I did, you can really dry out your plants. Soil retains a lot more moisture then you'd think.

    Here is also a website I really like to reference when I need reminders about growing conos.

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