Hi Naomi and welcome to this forum. Yes, this is an Echeveria. It is normal for them to have the lower leaves turn yellow/brown, dry and fall off. Eventually, it will grow a tall stalk and you will want to remove the head along with several inches of stem, allow it to callous for a week or more and replant it. The remaining stem should grow new heads with time. The black spots might be water damage when droplets remain and sun causes a local burn. Other may have other opinions.

Welcome, Naomi. =) Sounds good where you have positioned it~considering your weather/conditions. Thumbs up there! Good idea to get it in a pot soon. :) Yes, you've got it...it IS an Echeveria...Echeveria 'Imbricata', I believe.

Howard has given good info/advice. As he said, it is normal for the lower leaves to desiccate & fall off. Unless they have some disease or bugs on them, let them do this in their own time. (I have no patience & pull them off.) Looks like there might be a black spot on one of them-I'd pull that one off. (This might indicate it is not snail damage.)

If the areas you circled that have gouged out-looking spots, it could be from getting banged up in transit or a snail/slug got to it. If they were black spots on the leaves when you got them & then turned into this, it's possibly some form of disease. If it looks like it's spreading, I'd cut off those leaves. Otherwise, leave them on & let them grow out (dry up/fall off).

As for the cut mid-stem, not sure what would cause that-but can't see it clearly. Keep an eye on it. In case there are insects present, I'd spray with a 50/50 solution of rubbing alcohol & water. See if the wound heals (scabs over) or if it gets worse.

Good luck with your plant!

Thank you very much for your replies and advice. :)

I have a few more questions though. As I've mentioned in my first post, there are some offsets already. Do I need to cut them off already and pot them separately? Or should I keep them intact?

As for pulling off the leaves, how should I go about doing it? Should I peel/pull it off up to the stem? (Sorry, I'm not sure how to say this properly. I hope you understand what I mean though) :)

Also, the cut mid-stem seems to be healing now.

Thanks again.
Naomi

Dead leaves should peel/pull off easily. There has to be enough length in the stem of the offset to allow it to be planted. This means you would need about an inch or so between the head of the offset and the main plant. Since it will be a very thin stem, you probably would only need it to callous for a few days before planting. If you want some pictures, I can do it.

Hi!

Pictures would be of great help.
I hope it won't be too much trouble on your part. Sorry about that. I just want to be sure that I do things properly and not ruin Echos in the process. :)

Thank you very much!

Naomi

Pls. remove the black plastic bag, if you haven't already. It'll interfere w/ drainage if not removed.

Naomi, not sure what kind of pictures you want but I trust this may answer some questions you may have and if not, just ask some more questions.

This is Echeveria imbricata, one of a couple I have that is in desperate need of a whack job! It should have been pruned last fall but.... well, no need to go there!

The several arms and head are becoming etiolated from insufficient sun and short days of winter here in Michigan. There are the usual accumulation of dead brown leaves which need to be removed.
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Whether you have a single stem or multiple stems as in this case, the procedure is simple and the same. Use a pruning shear or some cutting device with substance so you make a clean cut without crushing the stem. Leave yourself enough stem on the cutting to plant after you have allowed it to callous in a shaded area.

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Remove any dead leaves and any that might be yellowing because they don't offer anything to the plant and will have to be removed anyway. I will allow the larger cutting to the right to callous for at least a week while the smaller ones possibly less time; for the most part whether it is 4 days or 8 days, it isn't life threatening! When you are ready to plant, select a mix that works for you in your area and growing conditions. DO NOT place it in sun afer planting; light shade or filtered light works until new growth begins. DO NOT SOAK the mix after planting. A bit of moisture is OK but most people wait until there is new growth. Echeveria can wimp out, if kept too dry.

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As I said, these are general thoughts and should work for most, not all, succulents. Another example is this Euphorbia decaryii v decaryii that I cut yesterday. I will allow it to callous for a week to 10 days before planting and I will have 3 new plants that should send out new rhizomes later this summer.

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These are awesome pics! Thanks, biker, I had no idea these things could make "little trees."

Hi everyone! :)

Wow! It can grow that tall? Thank you very much for the pictures! :)

I've removed the dead leaves already. And I'm seeing about an inch of the stem and the offsets, there are about 4 of them.

Thanks for the concern pirate_girl. :)
At the moment, Echos in a plastic pot with the same soil when I got it. Will re-pot though with a mixture of pumice and loam soil. Not sure about this mix though. Are there other mixes that are better suited for my plant? Or, will this do?

Last but not the least, I think I have another dilemma...
I noticed that some of the leaves are getting soft and are sagging. Is this what biker meant by "wimp out"? It is kinda hot here right now though.

Do I need to water it more? I'm scared of over watering it. I just usually water once a week.

Thanks!
Naomi

Hi, I got given this Echeveria around June time and I am just wondering if you could help with what could be making it go a bit unhappy and if theres any way of saving it. The plant seamed healthy all summer. I've recently moved house still in UK, its always leaned to one side and I thought it was doing okay but recently I noticed the leaves just wanting to fall off. I've kept these to dry out and repot , ,but also the stem has gone a blueish colour as shown in the pics . Not sure if you can make this out as my pictures didn't come out that well ,was thinking of clipping the top of and repotting it but not sure what I am doing, any help would be great thanks Alice

Alice,

Typically when you have a new problem/new question, it's best and most polite to post a new thread, not add to someone else's. Just letting you know for the future. :)

Your soil is much too dense and heavy; it retains moisture too long. To make a lighter, more well-draining mix, I'd mix some of that soil with at least 50 percent pumice or perlite or something else, so that it ends up very gritty-looking. Do some searches on soil. Over-watering might also be an issue, in addition to the soil, as well as inadequate light. These things contribute to leaves dropping, and if the stem is blackening and becoming mushy anywhere, it's rotting -- in which case, cut off any rotten growth and allow the stem to re-root in dry, well-draining soil. I'd cut off the top of the stem, removing all of the stem that currently hosts leaves, and the stem should then eventually produce new plants branching off to the sides.

This thread might help you, as well as this one.

This post was edited by teatree on Thu, Nov 7, 13 at 17:37

whoops sorry all a bit new to this , thnx for saying though i now no for future ,cheers for feedback much help ,and will try a new mix and also cutting of the rotting stem away,