My Succulents are getting soft, wrinkled, and brown, what do I do?
Lavigar
8 years ago
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Jayvee Chun (Manila Philippines, Tropics)
8 years agoRelated Discussions
My cactus has brown spots on leaves. What do I do?
Comments (4)You have a jade, aka, crassula ovata. It is in desparate need of light. Was this where it was when you moved in? If so, do you have a balcony on which you could slowly acclamate it when the outside temps are above 55 or so consistently. If you just moved it to this spot and it is better-lit than where it was, these could be sunburn marks. Typically sunburn marks are more uniform in shape, though. It should have about 1/5 the amount of space it has between the leaves. It almost looks like it is supposed to be a Crosby's Compact which should have all the leaves very close together with proper lighting. Jade grows spindly when it isn't getting enough light. I would take it out of the plastic pot and repot it in a clay pot. Buy one that is shorter. THey are sold as azalea pots. Your soil should be very free draining. When I mix mine, I use one part pine bark fines or soil conditioner, one part grit (decomposing granite), one part high fired clay granules (turface, aquatic soil), and one part small pea gravel. When you water it, water should run almost right through it. If you use peat based soils, they will compact and stay too wet, thus strangling the plant due to lack of oxygen. Even the soils that say they are for Cacti and Succulents are too peaty. You could also try coir inplace of the pine bark fines or in addition to them in place of peat. Almost anything you would use for a bonsai would be okay for a jade since they are very free draining. They don't need a lot of fertilizer. Use something low in nitrogen. I use Schultz Cactus Fertilizer mixed for every watering, but I only give it to them every other watering during their growing season. It is warm where I live until Oct or Nov, which is usually when I stop feeding and slow down watering to once a month until it warms up again in spring. We were warming up in March and then had a frigid spell over Easter holiday. I've gone back and forth with my plants, but having a mild spring has been nice for a change. I hope this helps, and don't hesitate to ask more questions. Do searches on this forum about Jades, and you'll get more than you ever wanted to know about jades. They are, without a doubt, my favorite. I have about 10 different plants, 10 starts from cuttings and two that are bonsaied....See Moreshould I get soft paws for kitty? how do I know if he's hungry
Comments (11)My cat's nails used to snag the sofa when she walked on it, though she never intentionally clawed the furniture. Next time you go to the vet, ask to have them show you how closely you clip the claws. It's possible you aren't clipping close enough. Also you might want to use a regular cat claw clipper instead of a human style clipper. Maybe then the claws will have fewer snags. You could also get a pretty throw and put it across the loveseat for now. I know he uses his clawing post, but another thing our cat loves is the cardboard clawing box, the one that sits flat on the floor, you put a little catnip in it to pique the kitty's interest. Just a Christmas idea for His Majesty. Get the velour seat; leather is too cold. Aerobeds are pretty tough, so I don't think you need to worry about that. If he did puncture it, it would just deflate. Don't get kitty declawed....See MoreWhat did I do to get things soft?
Comments (7)The only thing I can't think of why so little worked was that we do have a water softener so we're already starting out with soft water. I was also surprised that this Ariel made nearly no suds (I checked). I wonder if they changed the formula? There is very little information on it anywhere so it's hard to know. I'll keep the vinegar out of the machine - I never thought it did much other than maybe help residue wash away but now with the STPP it's not needed. I'm starting to wonder if this is how Mom did laundry back in the 80's without fabric softener? I don't remember her using much of it growing up and I also don't remember wearing cardboard. lol...See MoreMy succulent is dying and I don't know what to do. Please help me :(
Comments (16)Agree with Matt, leaves look rotting but are also sunburned. Rot wasn't visible in other photos. Many of the leaves are sunburned toward the tips... I wouldn't worry much about looking for turface and/or bark unless they are easily found. I went thru all of that (as many others did); found turface but not too lucky with bark (lots available, but is too large - 2" and bigger). So I settled for mix I use, with ingredients I mentioned in previous post (including photo I posted). BTW, I have read all posts by Al. I am very strong 'believer' ...but if you understand principle, you can make excellent mix using materials easily available, without going crazy looking for exactly the same...For example: Al's recipe doesn't call for perlite. But knowing perlites water holding capacity, one can figure out what it is good for and use it as a substitute for substrate not so easily found. There are many other substrates that are excellent if used in making well draining mix....See MoreLavigar
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