We have two caligirls (of the seven) and they've been found to be the most rambunctious. OTOH, they are also the best mousers.

Kara,

That's what I feared at first, but the areas were firm to the touch. I think some of the spots had pieces of old leaves still attached, but they do seem discolored.

cactusmcharris,

Wow seven? I have my hands full with my two. Neither of mine really know what to do with a mouse when they find one, but this one especially enjoys laying amongst the plants.

It’s so hard to tell sometimes what’s actually going on without actually having the plant in my hot little hand. It could be totally fine. Now I’m wondering about the roots because a closer look they don’t look very viable and they would just easily pull away from the plant. How long have you had the Pleiospilos and what type of mix is it in?

Another issue is by now it should have flowered for you and or began growing new leaves, or at least showing signs it’s about to do that. You can tell when this happens because the leaves start opening up and they just start to look different.

Kara,

That was my worry. While clearing the dirt from its roots, the roots seemed really dry and a significant portion of them just fell apart into my hand.

I've had this since the end of August or so - found it in the dying plant clearance section of Lowe's and hoped I could bring it back. It was in a mix of about 75% perlite and 25% cactus & succulent soil mix as I know they shouldn't have a lot of organic material but maybe that was too much.

Yeah I've been worrying about it not growing it's next pair of leaves, but wasn't sure when that usually happens for these guys. It successfully dried up its original base pair, but that's as far as it's gotten.

Not sure if this is a result of too much or too little waterings - I watered sparingly but maybe a little more than I should have in fear of the root hairs withering away.

My guess is they didn’t get enough water when they wanted it, so the roots just dried up and died.

There are three things that i can think of that you can do.

First thing is the easiest and that’s to do nothing. Repot like normal, start watering in a week, and see what happens.

Second give the roots a really good pruning. I’d cut back all what’s in the yellow.

It may stimulate the plant to grow new fresh roots. After you cut the roots let them callus over somewhere dry, out of the sun for a couple days, and then repot. Give a little drink in a week or two. Keep the plant warm.

Third is going to sound crazy, but it could work. You pretty much clear off all the roots but leave the nubby base.

You’ve got to leave that nubby base because that’s where all the cells are that will grow new roots. I’m sure there are scientific names for nubby base and the cells in that nubby base, but I’m too lazy to get all specific with words;). Your Pleiospilos isn’t like an Echeveria where it’ll grow roots out of the leaves. If you cut its leaves off they will just die.

I got this idea from Lithops-Stories, but the person tried it with Frithia pulchra aka Baby’s Toes. Click here and you can read what they did and from what I can see it was successful:).

I did the whole process a little different.

I picked a piece of my Faucaria candida off to try and it worked:)!

I melted some holes in the top of a tiny disposable tuperware.

Put water in the container along with the little piece.

I’ve kept it a foot away from a south facing window and about two feet from a heater vent. It took about 3-4 weeks for roots to grow. Repotted like normal.

Totally up to you with what you want to do and you wouldn’t be wrong. It’s all a learning experience. Good luck:). Keep us updated because we can all learn from the outcome.

So my fear of overwatering ended up being my downfall ah well, I guess this is better than them rotting.

Thank you for all of your ideas as to how to solve this issue! It may be the crazier of the three, but once I find one of my old Tupperware containers I'm going to try out the third method. After I gather my supplies and cut the dead roots, I'll be sure to start documenting the process!