Here it is. Please help ;_;

Whatever next? Emotipot is a trading name for a tiny cactus/succulent in an equally tiny pot....emotion + pot = Emotipot.....who knew?Apparently they suggest you can take them anywhere with you, even in your checked in flight luggage!! Not a good idea considering plant import regs! The site says to water once or twice a month, if you have watered once every two months, then that is most probably why the poor thing is beyond redemption? It looks as if it's died already :( sorry to sound harsh but your friend would probably have been better buying a regular c/s rather than one of these. If you take it out, has it any roots, is it all dry and crispy, it looks like it is? Is there soil of any kind in the pot?

Gill UK

There's some sort of soil stuff which looks like saw dust or something in the pot. It's only been a week since I got this plant though, not yet a month.

Ah - I hope I don't sound harsh, but this looks like another fad using succulents. They've been put in terrariums, painted and bedazzled - all bad for growing the plants successfully.

I also noticed that some of the plants they used will outgrow these containers very very quickly! They are putting small rooted cuttings in the containers. Babies, if you will. And this doesn't look like much soil to me. (the plant pictured can grow to a foot long or more)

If you want to try your hand at succulents, we'll help you learn the ropes. The folks here have helped me tremendously! I, too, killed houseplants on a regular basis in the past.

I guess you're right. Such a shame though it was so green and happy a week ago I thought for sure I wouldn't kill it this time. I never had a good run with growing plants. I tried from normal plants to terrariums to even simple things like beansprouts and they all end up dead mysteriously, never even started growing or just falling off my window sill. Currently I have only 1 successful plant but it's looking like more of a beansprout than a flowering plant. I really am like the grim reaper when it comes to plants :(

Well, I should have said how sweet it was for your friend to buy you a plant that was advertised as easy for everyone. She's a good friend who was trying to help.

Chances are good that your past problems were due to the soil used to pot the plant and the amount of light it gets. And the wrong soil can lead to meager roots or outright rot.

You just need to figure out what works best for your plants and your growing zone. By the way - most of us put our growing zone and general location after our names. It helps when we are giving or receiving advice.

You're not the grim reaper. LOL You just need to get the right advice!

Yeah, that's too bad. i think you should really just try a plain and simple Jade, which, in my opinion, is a very beautiful plant. They are actually very forgiving, and are also easy to root. I have know idea what that plant was supposed to be, but I feel you would be much better off with something tried and true!

Just as I suggested above:) Yes a jade would be a good choice.

Gill UK

Pip - if you would like to try a jade, send me an email to my name at aol.com. Or you can send me a message by going to my page. I root a LOT of my clippings and share them with friends. I can share one with you if you are in the US.

I agree with Crenda. A couple years ago I killed every plant I touched. Spider plants, african violets, succulents, you name it. I was basically a plant hospice worker, easing their transition to the great beyond.

People on this forum are very kind and eager to share knowledge and advice. Because of this site, I can grow darn near anything now. I have a house full of plants and blooms from all sorts of species I could only dream about before.

Do not be too hard on yourself, we have all been there. Your friend was very kind to get this plant for you, it is not either of your faults this item was doomed to fail.

Try not to feel too bad. It was probably watered just before you got it or it was already in distress. Having worked at a major chain florist, I can tell you certain business people will practically sell you dried flowers and let you think you killed them! You never really know if something is healthy or on the way out unless you're into plants and have been around a species before, especially with the "neat" and exotic plants. Don't give up! If I can learn not to commit herbicide, you can too!

And I'm yet another testament to the fantastic help and support that can be found on this forum! I had a black thumb of death my whole life, it started turning a bit more brown last year, and after 5-6 months on this forum, it's at least something of a light shade of greenish. Trust me when I say you've come to the right place!

Thanks everyone for all the advice and help! I'm actually heading to Ikea today to buy some self watering pots so if I see a Jade Plant there I'lvl be sure to buy it! If there's any other plant that they sell at Ikea that you guys recommend feel free to tell me!

Not to be a Debbie downer but self-watering pots are not the answer to your succulent woes. :( Best to have good drainage. Trapped water will likely cause root rot.

Someone jump in to correct me if I am wrong --- Self watering planters are not good for succulents. They will keep the growing medium too wet. Succulents need to dry out between watering.

Better to get a cheap terra cotta pot for under a buck. Any pot needs a good drainage hole or holes.

And you'll want a gritty soil mixture that drains quickly. This helps the plant's roots and also helps keep you from over-watering.

Crenda - I totally agree with you...

Maybe OP is buying self-watering pots for different plants (non-succulents).

Oops, pls. wait -- before you go! Sorry to be a bummer but self watering planters aren't such a great idea.

They'd mostly be good for humidity loving tropicals, not for most houseplants really, but definitely not for succulents, it would help them rot. Better you know BEFORE you buy 'em; sorry.

Lena

PS: after writing this, I saw others had said the same, but then too maybe you're buying them for other plants as suggested possible above.

Well at least we all agree they're not the answer ;>)

Thanks for the concern! Luckliy they're are not for succulents they're for some other flowers and plants I bought a while back.

Not really related to succulents but is it bad to use different types of soil to grow a plant? A friend of mine recently bought a flower pot to grow some seeds but the pot is too high so the small packet of soil she had couldn't fill up the pot. I have a few different types of soil at home, some garden soil and a few containers of potting soil leftover from all the plants that I had that died. I was suggesting to her to put my questionably graded soil into the pot to add to the height before adding her own better soil for the seeds to grow on the top, in steading of mixino the different soil together. Is it a good idea?

I do not use soil from pots where anything has died for fear of fungi or other disease still in the soil. If I just rooted something in it to be transplanted out soon, sometimes I toss it back in a bowl of random soil mix I keep on hand. Otherwise, if it is old soil it gets added to my compost heap for the garden.

Mixing soil isn't bad, it depends on what the mix is and the kind of drainage. For outdoor annuals I don't worry too much about the drainage since we have dry summers and most of mine are not potted. Honestly though... a lot of my houseplants are all in somewhat random mixes depending on what I had on hand at the time. As in, some of my Hoya have a bit of african violet or cactus soil worked into their mixes. With houseplants you especially have to worry about good drainage and soil structure. Whatever soil I use for mine is mixed heavily with fine orchid bark, perlite, and/or pumice depending on what I have and what the plants need. Some plants have no soil in their potting mix, others have mixes that thst would kill your average houseplant. I grow succulents, African violets and a few other gesnariads, carnivorous plants, Hoyas, with a lot of random tropicals thrown in so it gets a little complicated. :) I am still experimenting with mixes, and slowly finding what works best for me and my conditions.

I recomend reading Tapla's guides on soil structure, and seeing if you can make his Gritty Mix for your next jade plant. He is our resident soil structure expert (among other things) and his posts are worth reading over a pot of coffee while taking notes.

But the takeaway, dont reuse old soil or suspicious soil. Mixing soil types isn't necessarily bad, as long as the plant is getting the soil structure and drainage it requires to prevent root rot.

Also it's not a good idea to plant seeds in a large volume of soil, they don't need it. You only need a small container to start them off, then as they progress you transfer them to a slightly larger container. Takeaway boxes work well for sowing seeds in as they are fairly shallow also you could use a yoghurt pot or similar. Reusing soil is not a good idea as Kim already states, it can contain and transfer all manner of nasties.

Gill UK

Are you sure it's dead? Maybe if you leave it out of the pot on a warm window-sill it would revive.

Thanks for linking this. I just re-read it again myself, and now am re-thinking a lot of my own potting mixes. It is a process. :)

I don't think my soil has any fungi, not sure about diseases though. The seeds that lived in them didn't live long enough to check whether they died cos I was stupid or from a fungal or diseases. I was originally suggesting to grow them in tinier containers but after the tiny plant my friend gave me died I'm not so sure.

Speaking of transferring from tinier containers won't the soil usually from a tinier container be different from the soil u transfer it to? Would it affect the growth?

If you are transferring a plant to a different container and changing the soil to something healthier for the plant, I would remove all the old soil from the roots. Is that what you're asking?

ez

Oh you're suppose to change the soil at the roots too? Usually I always see pictures of people just lifting all the soil from the plant and just repotting it surrounded by new soil so I thought that was the right way. Thanks for 5 the info though!

It depends, when we say repot we usually mean changing out as much of the soil as possible. This is good for new plants just purchased in crummy soils, and for plants that have been in the same pot a long time, among other things.

What you saw is called "potting up", which can be a temporary fix for a plant that needs more space while waiting for ideal conditions (repotting is stressful for the plant), or if the potting mix is fine but the plant just needs legroom.

One of the reasons for washing off all the original soil is that it is usually very peaty or pure peat. Peat is hydrophobic (very difficult to re-wet when dry) and usually caked on the root ball when dry. It literally repels water if so dry, and the roots can't take any of it in. Plant is 'dying of thirst in the sea of plenty', since water just slides off the peat and drains away.

On the other hand, if wet - it is too wet and takes long time to dry out.

Piplupcola - Here is an example of a succulent I bought on the weekend. This is a perlite/soil mix that resulted in healthy good roots when grown in a greenhouse. You can see how much perlite they used:

And here is the plant after I've washed away all the old soil:

Yes but when you have sown seeds in a small container and they have grown on, when you transplant to a larger pot there is no need to wash, shake or pick off the old soil. Just make a hole in the new medium with say a pencil and drop the seeding into the hole, making sure you don't break off the root, tap the pot on the table to settle the mix around the root and let it grow on again. The soil can be the same or one with more food and more suited to bigger plants. :)

Gill UK

The concern is when the roots have grown in a soggy soil and are starting to suffer. If you keep them in that soil and just put the plant in a bigger pot surrounded by fast draining soil, the roots are in no better a position. The soil will still hold too much moisture in the root ball.

ez

Oh I see! I never heard of that before! I really learnt a lot of things from this forums I'm glad I came here! It's really difficult finding any indoor plants especially flowering ones (I like colors hahaha) I can put in my home that can survive because there's not enough windows that face the sun but I think i might try the Jade plant everyone has mentioned.

If you really want more plants, there are solutions to light problems...many of us face the same - living in colder climate and having to keep plants indoors during many cold months...one has to be creative :) Supplemental lights help a lot. Most important is to get the potting mix and watering right.

I actually live in a tropical climate with lots of sun and rain! It's just that I only have 1 window I can work with because the rest are ledgeless or too high for a table.

Piplupcola, pls. excuse me but I'd like to invite folks to search "emotipot" & read for themselves. Their tag line is "The cactus listens to your heart".

I was going to try & describe it, but really can this be for real? The article casually mentions wholesale orders of 100 units -- how can this be? It's doomed to almost immediate failure, pls. take a look & chime in.

No room on the window sill you say? hehehehe... I just put glass shelving in several of mine. ;)

Imontestella, I agree 120%. It is irritatijg the length marketers will go to to make a buck at the expense of their own product and customers. But then, folks are selling airplants hotglued into glass ball vase things, or worse as refeigerator magnets, tiny keychain terrariums, dormancy dependent carnivorous plants inside of plastic death cubes, it is just one more thing. :/. And don't even get me started on seed vendor scams...

Some places are selling live baby turtles in key chains, so nothing surprises me anymore

That makes me sick. My first love affair with biology was Herptelogy, and that image brings out urges and inclinations in me thst my usual pacifist self would never consider.

Good Lord, Manuel, who would do that, let alone sell them?!? I used to say, over and over, "now I've seen it all", but apparently there are no end to surprises.

ez

That's how I also feel about it, angry, and thinking now I've seen it all. Supposedly those key chains have concentrated oxygen that will keep the turtles alive for a few days...

Another plant death has fallen upon my household. This time it was my precious little plant that has been miraculously been growing well for almost half a year. The day before yesterday it just suddenly started wilting and the bottom of its stem started turning brown and woody, and now today I've noticed that the water under it's self watering pot has stop going down. Another death to my hands... and I was so proud of this one. Its the highest plant I've ever grown and now it's just dying before my eyes.

I don't think I can save this one. I'm gonna miss u planty ;_;

Can't tell what the plant is, looks like some wining plant. Most of plants should not sit in water - have wet feet.

Haha its actually suppose to be a flower some flower called Nadeshiko I think, just that it's been growing indoors so it became more like a vine which was fine to me because it was growing well and a live plant is all that matters to me. It's actually sitting on top of the water not in it, there's like a cotton cloth thingy that like absorbs water for the plant when it's drinking

I am not a fan of self watering pots. The most common way that people kill plants is overwatering.

Have you tried bromeliads, piplupcola? They can be very easy houseplants.

Nadeshiko needs full sun. It became weak and etiolated because it was desperately reaching looking for sunlight. Without sunlight it was doomed to die

I have no clue what Nadeshiko plant is...googling shows me some weird characters and so on...what plant it is actually? Manuel could you enlighten me please ?:)

Agree with Nil about self-watering pots...

In either case, I did not suggest that plant is actually immersed in the water, but there is water at the bottom part of container, and it may be getting too much - not knowing the plant, I shouldn't have commented.

Rina, I think it is a type of Dianthus. They generally only last a year or two, I think. Well, they only last that long for me!! LOL

Crenda, Thanks. Is there a wining Dianthus?