First... Welcome to the forum! The more, the merrier! Second... I've had some minor trouble with these microscopic mites, myself. I use Schultz's 3 in 1 spray, which is an insecticide/miticide/fungicide all in one. I spray the leaves and bulbs, and about 2 weeks later, I follow it up with another round of spritzing with the 3 in 1 spray. I've found that if the bulbs aren't too infested, the spray will work. However, these mites usually show themselves with red or rusty looking streaking on the leaves and scapes... not blotches or circle shapes. You may not have mites... you may have a fungal issue, instead. Captan does wonders for fungal issues... in fact, I use it as a preventative when potting up any bulb. I use a small paintbrush and lightly dust some Captan powder on any part of the bulb that looks bruised or raw, and I dust a bit around the bottom of the bulb, where it connects to the basal plate. Then, I pot them up. Dusting your bulbs with Captan before storing them for their dormancy is a good idea, whether you have fungal issues or not. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! If you've been doing some reading here in the forum, then I'm sure you've run into many posts that talk about the different mediums us bulb lovers prefer, and why we prefer them. One of the main reasons I stopped using bagged potting soil is because I experienced a lot of rot and fungus issues. Since I've begun using a more porous, bonsai-like inorganic medium, I've had no rot or fungus issues, whatsoever. Most regular potting soils are too fine in particle size, and decompose too quickly, which causes the soil to collapse. The roots literally suffocate. The soil may stay too wet for too long a time around the rootball, and because there's very little aeration, there's no exchange of oxygen to the roots and gases away from the roots. A plant's roots need to "breathe". When you run into any of the links I've posted about mediums, please read the articles. They will explain in detail the relationship between roots, the soil, water... and they'll give you some very nifty medium recipes to try. After much experimentation, I've come to the conclusion that my bulbs are happiest and healthiest in an inorganic medium made up of larger particles which allows for excellent and quick drainage, aeration, and I have complete control over moisture and feeding. Anyway... glad to have you joining us! Keep reading... you'll be glad you did! There are a lot of very knowledgeable gardeners here, and we think we've got one of the greatest groups on GardenWeb!

Sounds like some kind of fungal leaf spot, but hard to say without a sample. The humid weather we've been having certainly doesn't help. If it's just a small percentage of leaves that are affected it's probably better to do nothing, except clean up the dead leaves as they fall. Do a google search for fungal leaf spot and there's lots of info. Larry

From your description of soil..."and the soil doesn't go right down to the bottom of the pot"... I think that it is peat (or mostly peat) that is now hydrophobic - if peat dries out, it is very difficult to re-wet. It usually hardens into a 'blob' around the root ball. When you water, water just 'slides' over it and doesn't get the peat wet/moist. That is why palmbob and hablu (both very knowledgeable) suggesting the plant is thirsty. I would take it out of pot, gently shake off soil you can and soak the root ball with leftover soil, compacted around the roots, in tepid water and gently try to get as much as possible of peat off the root ball (ideal would be to get all of it off). Try not to damage existing roots....After, set it on some newspaper or kitchen paper towels that will soak off excessive water. The 'little white balls' in the soil is perlite, that is ok. You should prepare well-draining mix to pot up your plant in. After potting up, leave it in some shadier spot for about a week, mowing slowly (every few days or so) into more and more sun to make sure it doesn't burn. I understand that you don't get too much sun in your location, but unless it gets more than what it is getting now, it will always grow etoliated (leggy), in search of light.

The plants have been indoors under grow lights for about three weeks now. I haven't increased the time or intensity since they've been in place, and otherwise, they seem to be doing well. I did water them last night, and water got on the graptosedum leaves. Good to know that the hawthoria might not be happy sharing a pot here.