I'm not sure what has caused the mystery spots. Does your glass pot have holes in the bottom? I'm guessing it doesn't. It is possible to drill drainage holes in the bottom of a glass container but usually the glass containers we see here don't have that. The potting mix looks like ordinary potting mix rather than a mix meant for succulents. Often the mixes sold by stores that are labeled for cacti and succulents have insufficient drainage. An ordinary potting mix can be amended with something that promotes drainage, like perlite, to make the mix more suitable for cacti and succulents. Though your plants don't look terribly unhealthy (can't tell if there is one plant or two in that pot) I suggest repotting them in a mix with better drainage and using a pot with proper drainage holes in the bottom.

The roots of succulents need a lot more air then most house plants. It would be best in a pot with lots of holes in it with a more porous soil mix made for succulents. If the roots don't get air, they can't function and pick up the water they need. Lots of water in the roots and it can't use it.

Take care of the basic needs of the plant and every other thing falls into place. If rot sets in, it could be too late. You might have to remove the plant out of the container and fully let it dry out on news paper before re-potting back up.

Hi! I actually just repotted it yesterday (it was in a coffee mug till I could get something sufficient). I have a layer of rock on the bottom to help drainage and air things out. My soil is a mix I made of dirt pumice/perlite and sand. My other succulents have finally started to perk up after being shipped with no dirt in a box for a week.

Week without the soil is absolutely no problem for succulents. Problem would be only if they were exposed to freeze, or high heat for a week in a box. You didn't say where they travelled, so we don't know.

Your plant would have been better off unpotted rather than in a container without drainage holes. Or, you could plant it in any plastic container that had holes poked in the bottom.

If you want to grow succulents that are healthy, forget about mugs or glass containers - or made of any material, without drainage holes. Layer of rocks a the bottom is of no help, so forget about that too. Same with fine sand. You need to mix materials of approx. same grain size, as close as possible. So no to sand, unless it is grainy - so really a grit. Perlite (that has been sifted) or pumice are ok, try to get grit if you can, of similar size, or leave it out. Many ppl use just Cactus&Succulent soil and perlite (sifted) in 1:1 ratio.

Spots could be result of plant being bruised in the transit, but often develop from incorrect watering. From what your plant is potted in, I would wonder if the latter is the cause...

Your plant may be Crassula arborescens ssp. undulatifolia aka Blue Bird or wavy/ripple jade.

It should be potted in a container with drainage hole, in a well draining mix, and given lots of light (it may have to be acclimatized to it). Reddish margins developm in good sunlight.

I agree with Rina. Rocks in the bottom instead of drainage holes doesn't help drainage or aeration. Really, the pot needs holes but people often try it
without holes anyway, so good luck, I guess. I mean, some people manage to grow just about anything in non-ideal pots with a terrible mix but they have to be very careful with watering, temperature, and sunlight.

Thanks for the tips guys. I haven’t had any of my plants do horrible with my soil mix so I think I have that part down. I’m thinking this guy is going to need a bigger pot.

Okay! Brace yourselves haha. Here are all my plants that are in the same soil. I’m propagating some jade and aloe. I don’t think my snake plant counts here cause those things are savages and grow in anything and have some more composted soil than the rest hahaha.

And as for watering goes, all my succulents get a few sprays at their root base from a watering bottle 1-2 times a week. I never drench them. Alsooo to clarify on the sand, it’s only about 10% or less in my mix. I put all of my mix in a big pot and pull from there. My aloe babies have more because they were pulled from around their mother and they were all growing in straight sand, they have a bit more in their pots than the others. All of my pots have holes in the bottom.

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Comment on your snake plant. Doesn't look like the common ones I've seen. Could be a seedling hybrid. Not a standard Sans. trifasciata. Do you have an ID?

What works you you is what counts. We mix soil to accept our own growing conditions. I noticed that one soil mix is not best for all the different plants I grow.

She’s a silver queen! They’re super evasive and banned in south Florida where my parents are. They grow like weeds there and are not native so they’re not allowed where they are. My dad had to rip them all out so I took a few and this is what it turned into! She’s another one that was growing in straight sand. That’s why I have sand mixed in because the soil here is naturally sandy.

Invasive***

Scientific name: Sansevieria hyacinthoides

Plants look ok. Many seem to be quite young plants? Baby toes looks etiolated to me, I would give it some sun. Otherwise nice plant. I wouldn't use mix you do, but as Stush said, if it works for you...And I still don't know you growing zone?

When I water, I drench them, and also they get rained on while outside. Spraying individual plants with a bottle seems like too much work, but I have too many plants and it would take a long time. Enough that I have to do some watering while indoors for the winter. But I try to keep many cooler, so they get water very seldom during winter. During summer, a hose is my best friend, lol. If I could, I would "order" rain about 1x/week - that would take care of watering :)

2-3 mo later...

...and another 2-3 mo later:

And if happy, they bloom:

So pretty! I’m in Florida, zone 9. Yes mine are all babies. All of my succulents are from a mystery box I ordered. They’re all 2 inches. Baby toes showed up that way, I was kinda upset but I do have some new growth which is the only one out of the 6 that have started to sprout so quickly (I’ve only had them for 2 weeks). Here’s a picture of my mother jade tree that I’m propagating clippings from. The old owner of our house left it and it’s been outside all through rainy season and had a ton of rot. Probably why he left it but I’m determined to save it. I just went through last week and cut all of the speckled and weak parts off. I’m starting to get some red on my baby ones! I hope they bloom! Jades are the only ones I have outside.

You are lucky being in warm zone :) That big jade was likely rotting because of bad drainage. If it doesn't get below freezing, you could grow it in ground. They could reach 5,6 or more feet tall, and be full of blooms. As long as there is good drainage...Do you know what aloe is it? Pls. post follow-up photos of your succulents.

I agree! He had potted bonsais throughout the front landscape and took them with him. Now it’s all bare. I’m thinking if this guy can last through the winter (1 or 2 frosts here) then I’m going to plant him in the front. Here’s the momma aloe! She was a baby I took from one of my parent’s which was growing in straight sand. She was potted when I took her babies (which are the ones I have in mini pots). So technically I’m onto growing grand babies right now haha! I have no idea what I’m going to do with them all when they get mature.

Well guys I did a thing... I just said screw it and planted the jade. It was really bad. Here’s some pics of new soil vs old. There were so many beetles and snails in there. Also here’s a big rotted piece I cut off. I’m not sure how well this is going to do. I think she’s a lost cause now that I’m seeing how bad the root system is. Fingers crossed this helps.

Jade's are really tough plants. As long as you have a clean cut and healthy section and let dry out for a few days, they regrow roots fast and resume growing. Water is their biggest enemy.

I had one from my wife's grandparents house that was there in a cellar window for years with out water heat or anything. One dried up stump that came back to life after some tender loving care. House was unheated and we get temps below zero.

I shook off as much of the old dirt as I could and cut as much rot off as I could. I’m going to hold off on watering it for a couple of days. I heard they are pretty resilient.

Just looking at the photos, so not absolutely sure, but:

I wouldn't use either soil (2 pics)

there is still rot, you need to get rid of ir or it may spread

try to get all soil off the roots, shaking may or may not be enough

...and no water for much longer than just couple of days...they are resilient, but not forever, and if there are many things wrong at the same time it really sets tem back

Thanks for the advice! That “new soil” is pure Florida dirt. I have some miracle grow potting soil, not mixed with anything. Do you think I should add some of that to it? I did get most of the soil off, I didn’t want spray down the roots so I did my best it get most off. Also, I read that honey is a good rooting hormone, should I add some of that to the roots as well? As for the old soil, I’m letting it air out and will mix it up occasionally to dry it out. Do you think it will be useable again or completely contaminated?

Are you planning on planting it in ground or pot?

I have heard about honey, but never used it on plants. I grew literally hundreds of jades from cuttings and never used any rooting hormone of any kind. I do not know anything about Florida 'dirt', but wouldn't use dirt of any kind in a pot - JMO. I usually throw old soil on a compost heap and use finished compost in garden beds, but not pots. Miracle Grow potting soil is in general not liked, but again - I do not use it. Cactus & Succulent soil mixed with lots of sifted perlite or pumice is used quite often (in 1:1 ratio). I also used a hose to get rid of old soil from the roots in the past, but it is not needed most of the times.

Well it’s in the ground now with just plain old dirt. We shall see how she does! I’ll keep y’all updated!

Growing in ground is different than growing in pot. Drainage is important in either case, but often easier to achieve in ground, using native soil (not so suitable for pot). I have some hardy succulents planted in ground, but added lots of gravel since soil here is very sticky, hardly draining clay. And I try to plant them on mounds that help with drainage. Your jade will probably do well in ground (hopefully not rotting further), so pls. post follow-up photos.

Of course! Thanks again for all your help and advice!

Florida soil is often sand based and that looks to be the case here. So succulents should like it.

Drainage layers in the bottoms of pots, tubs and other normally sized containers interfere with drainage by causing water moving down through the soil column to back up when the layer of markedly different particle size the drainage layer consists of is encountered. With this barrier not being crossed until the soil above becomes fully saturated (field capacity is reached). Resulting in the false impression that the drainage layer is causing water to drain rapidly through the entire pot, because of how it rushes through the drainage layer and out the bottom after saturation of the soil above has occurred.

Where drainage layers do produce an improvement is with large, broad containers with wide bottoms where water needs to move sideways across the bottom in order to escape successfully. In these instances drainage layers provide a zone for this water to move through, with this need being more important than the fact that the water is backing up in the soil above before entering the drainage layer.

UPDATE!!!! Look who got a new pot!!!! Baby toes! And added a living stone to the collection (amongst other succs)! Mamma jade has been doing great now that she’s in the ground! I’ve got new growth and she’s starting to get some reddish tips!