Plants · More Info

Hello again! I just bought the plant. Here it is in the pot and soil that the store used. Haven't repotted it yet. I've placed it here in the part of the house that gets the most sun. The seller has just watered it and suggested I water it again after 10 days.

I found something called Transplanting Mix "for newly rooted seedlings, cuttings and marcotted pants". It's made up of coco coir dust, soil and sand. There was also an Organic Soil Mix for Roses which (as it says in the package) is made of humus-rich soil and organic materials that provide good drainage: loam soil, coco coir, sand grits, compost and coffee hulls. I'm not sure yet which one to get.

Perhaps I'll wait a few weeks before repotting.

The "Transplant" mix may be too water retentive in your tropical location, because of the coir/soil/sand combination. If you are very careful not to overwater, you might be able to grow this in its current situation. I would wait at least 10 days or more depending how fast the soil drys out. These can tolerate several days of dryness without damage, especially if your humidity is high. The other option open to you, is to purchase some Perlite. Remove the plant and try to carefully remove as much of the soil as possible and add back an equal volume of Perlite and replant. You could also use any other course potting material but not sand.

Your plant is very beautiful. I believe it may be Echeveria chihuahuaensis, or E. 'Tippy', or E. colorata or a hybrid of similar type.

I have a number of succulents that have thrived for years. I always mix sand into my soil and make sure they have a pot with good drainage. I have repotted the shoots without any problems, they are very hardy plants as long as you treat them right. Plenty of sun (except for my aloe which doesn't like direct sun) and careful watering are the key. I feed mine once a month and water twice a month. A little gravel in the bottom of the pot will also help with drainage. The only real problem I have with my succulents is finding enough people to adopt the shoots and clones!

I didn't know there was an echeveria species that flowered, it looks really nice. From what I've read, the one I have might be an echeveria elegans. I'll take bikerdoc's advice and keep it as is in the pot for a while. Once I'm confident that I can keep the little guy alive, jackieg51, I'm hoping to try growing new ones from cuttings in the future. I'm also really curious to see it grow clones and try replanting those.

I'll see how this goes and post another picture in a few weeks. Thanks a lot for your input, guys!

Plants · More Info

Here's an update on my echeveria!

It's been several weeks so far and I've been giving the plant small amounts of water every ten days or so.

The bottom leaves seem to be turning brown slowly one by one. I've already picked off the ones that have turned completely brown. Is this normal or should I be worried?

It might be normal as long as the other leaves are firm. If they are not, then one might want to consider rotted roots or maybe not enough water.

i mean, sometimes the older leaves do that so its not really cause for concern, but im curious about your watering: what prompts you to water? like, are you watering every 10 days bc the soil is dry or bc the leaves lose their turgidity? in humid climates i'd be especially careful to water only when the soil is completely dry bc keeping the soil over-moist can lead to rot . . . not saying that it looks like rot, just a precaution c:

The leaves are firm. It's just the ones at the bottom that are slowly getting brown and drying out. I'm watering every 10 days, k8. About less than a shot glass full of water :) I felt that was enough to wet the soil, but not too much to drown it.

Carlyn
The succulents do best potted in containers with proper drainage, in very well draining potting mix. Then you can pour lots of water over and any excess will just drain out. Much more difficult to control if soil is water retentive.

Hi, guys. I'm sad to say my echeveria isn't going to make it :(

In my last post I mentioned getting a bit worried about the leaves turning brown. I watered the plant when I felt the soil was dry which is more often than usual because it's been a really hot and dry summer. After a few weeks the leaves started turning yellow and now they're bluish black. Am I correct in assuming it was caused by over-watering? It's ironic that it started dying when I paid more attention to it. Perhaps I should have stuck to watering it once every 10 days but increased the amount of water?

I really want to learn how to learn how to take care of this type of plant. I'm going to get another one soon and hopefully not make the same mistakes.

All may not be lost. Can't tell if watering is the issue, but certainly possible. Depending on how much of the main stem is viable, you could cut it so the end is all green and no dark material. Allow to callous in a shaded area for a week or more and plant in a gritty mix. You should have enough humidity that it may start roots without watering... but you said you've had a dry hot season, so some misting and VERY minimal water may be called for.

With most cacti and succulents you don't water them on a schedule really, it's more on an as-needed basis depending on when the soil dries out. Once it dries out completely, water thoroughly so water drains out of the bottom and the soil is completely soaked. Since succulents store water they're pretty tolerant of being dry so it's always better to err on the side of watering less often. They're easy to kill by over-watering, but hard to kill by underwatering.