Hello again! I wanted to get back to you all about a month after my original post with an update and another question about this plant. I do believe it is a hibiscus although it has never flowered in my care (5 years). As you may recall and see from the photos I submitted in February, it seem to be on its way out. I was distraught about this since it had been my mother's and in a way some of you may understand, I felt like I was letting her down by letting it die - and perhaps even causing its demise. So I set to work, following the suggestions given by you kind and knowledgeable folks. Here's what I did. I removed it from its pot and found a relatively small tangle of roots in rather wet soil. Now this was the same pot and soil it had been in at my mother's where it flourished. I was surprised that the root mass was not larger - it did not fill the pot, and I was surprised that it was so wet because there was plenty of drainage. Nonetheless, I removed most of the soil and repotted it in fresh, dry potting mix. It's actually a succulent mix because that's what i had. I hoped it would allow good drainage to keep the roots happy as I had been told that they don't like to be in cold wet soil. I also drilled extra holes in the pot and raised it up out of the saucer using several chopsticks so it would never sit in water. I gave it a small amount of water just to moisten the new surface but hoped the dry soil around the roots would wick away excess moisture. I also moved it closer to a heat source, right in front of a SW facing window. Of course I checked on it daily and after about a week stuck my finger in to see if the soil was still damp underneath. It was. So using a chopstick I poked around trying to gently churn it up a little. I figured it couldn't get any worse than it was. I was willing to experiment. Now, almost a month later, here are some photos. You'll see most of the leaves are completely dried up and many have fallen off. But there is one branch that still seems viable and I do believe I've even seen some new growth. The other day I noticed a small black flying insect flitting on the soil surface. I got out my insecticidal soap and sprayed the leaves and the soil surface. I don't know if it was a fruit fly from my compost bucket or something else but the plant hasn't gotten any worse. Now I am wondering if I should fertilize/feed it and if so, with what. Again, all opinions welcome - you guys really helped me out! Thanks.

They are fungus-like organisms calle oomycetes. Unless you are using a microscope you won't see them - they are microscopic organisms. They are called 'water molds' because of their preference for moisture and high humidity and ability to survive and move with running water. Some of the most devastating of plant pathogens are associated with water molds - potato and tomato late blights, sudden oak death, various root rots, pythium (damping off). Downy mildew is also water mold and its presence is typically quite visual compared to others and usually less fatal - one generally only sees the end result of other water molds, which is plant death.

Soils are touchy subjects and difficult to agree on, but maybe I can help you reason through by explaining a little about how water retention works. First, the size of the particles and the particles' porosity determine how much water a soil retains. Soils hold water in the air between soil particles (in vapor form), inside of soil particles, on the surface of soil particles, at the interface where particles contact on another, and if the spaces between particles are small enough, soils will hold water in those spaces instead of air. The least desirable water in soils is the water held in spaces between particles. This is because it deprives roots of the oxygen they need to function normally, which limits growth and vitality, and can even cause the death of roots and fungal root rot diseases. Fortunately, it doesn't much matter what soils are made of. As long as they hold favorable volumes of air and water, you can grow in them. In fact, if you want to water every hour, you can grow perfectly healthy plants in a bucket of crushed glass. To make your job easier, you might consider some tips. Soils that hold almost NO water between soil particles (except where the particles touch) and hold almost all water inside of particles are going to be easier to grow in and offer greater opportunity for plants to realize their genetic potential. In order to achieve that end, the particles a soil is made up of need to be fairly uniform in size and larger than about 1/10" in diameter. At a diameter of less than 1/10", soils start holding water between particles, and the smaller the spaces between particles, the more water is held there. You can take a mixture of particles that hold no water between the particles and destroy the drainage and aeration by adding fine material (smaller particles). Imagine a pint jar of BBs. There might be a half pint of air between the BBs. If you add a half pint of sand to the mix, or coco coir, all of a sudden the larger air spaces are all gone, and the smaller spaces, because they hold water more tightly, are filled with water. I think you COULD make a very good soil with nothing but pumice and crushed terra cotta, but how well it will perform is going to depend a LOT on the size of the particles. IOW, you'll need to screen them so the particles you use are between .I-.2" in size, and it will be more important to eliminate the fine material as opposed to that material that might be a little more than .2". I don't see the coir as being a plus in the mix I described. Fertilizing can be monkey easy if you get an appropriate fertilizer. Al

Agree with what daxeek said... It is definitely etiolated. That color - from reddish to darker, almost brown - is desired by many. It happens in strong light. Acclimatizing any succulent to full sun is important for any plant, to avoid sunburn. Which is different from suntan :) Just MO, but it is overpotted - pot too large for plant. But you could leave it in it, since this plant should grow fast and will fill up that pot eventually. In the meantime, it is important to make sure it doesn't sit in soil that is wet for too long. Big pot = lots of soil/mix = takes longer to dry up. Easiest way to find out how dry it is would be using bamboo skewer (or chopstick, thin dowel or even pencil). That way you can insert it deep inside - more important to know how wet or dry it is deep in the pt. Top will dry up fast, but roots are deeper and will rot if in wet medium for long times. IF MY plant, I would cut it quite a bit. Something like this (just a suggestion): yellow line is where I would be trimming off long branches and leaving rest (with roots) in the pot; these should continue growing. Blue line suggest trimming long cuttings, they are just too long. But you could cut them into few pieces: Etiolated parts will stay as long as they are, so your plant will not look as neat as it could. That's why you need to trim/behead it. Any cuttings can be stuck in dry medium, and they will root fast and easy. Mine are still outside, and will be until it gets consistently cold overnight. Hoping for few weeks...In the meantime, they are exposed to any rain we get, and none is suffering. Crenda grows many outside (great weather in Fla!), bring them indoors for winter. But you have to assure good light, otherwise it will keep growing same. Above all: do not be terrified :) ETA: Crenda posted great post and photos...and, pls. indicate where you are (best to put that info next to your name as others do).