Hello, cyneo. That's a cute little guy you've got there. I like the rocks you added. I am not an expert ... and I can only guess about the translucent bumps on the insides of the leaves (somebody spilled something on him, maybe?). My contribution is to say that your "zebra cactus" is not a cactus but a Haworthia -- perhaps Haworthia reinwardtii âÂÂZebrina.â Haworthias are more nearly related to Aloes, Agaves, and Yuccas than to cacti. They come in different shapes and colors; like yours, many of them are dark green, many have white spots, many are pointy. Some are pretty nearly unbelievable! And if someone else comes along and says you have something else rather than H. reinwardtii 'Zebrina' -- well, they'll probably be correct.

Yes, that sounds like way too much water for the soil mix I am guessing you have. If the brown leaves are soft (or any green leaves, for that matter), that's definitely over-watering and a sign that the plant is developing rot. I'd pluck out the plant and check the root system and stem. Remove the brown leaves and any others that are soft, and feel the lower stem for any soft/mushy areas. The roots may also be rotting away. If there's an issue with the stem being soft (ie. rotting), you'll need to cut from that area of the stem upward until you hit healthy stem (stem that is green on the inside). Then, place the now-rootless plant in new, completely dry soil (absolutely, completely bone dry, so brand-new dry, well-draining soil to be safe). The plant will grow new roots likely in a few weeks' time, and no watering until the plant has re-rooted. No watering a succulent or cactus that does not have roots, ever. It's a Haworthia that has a strong will to live, so with the removal of the rotten area, it will re-root with some time and do just fine. And, yes, it can turn red with a lot of continued direct sunlight, but it should be the whole plant that will begin to redden, and again, that'll fade off with time as light lessens. It's also fairly unlikely that, from inside the house, this particular Haworthia would get enough sunlight for it to redden. The Haworthias that have windowed leaves are far more delicate, prefer more shade outside, and are more inclined to redden with direct sunlight, even through a window. This post was edited by teatree on Mon, Aug 26, 13 at 0:22

Yes, mine don't put on hardly any new growth in summer and don't look their best until mid-winter. I still get flowers in the summer like Fluffy (cute name...), but winter is when they really shine. J, I agree with Norma about removing the flowers. They're not much to get excited about anyway, but I know that's hard to do the first time you get them. Once you've seen them a few times, then they just get to be a little annoying because they're so sloppy looking. (Try having a couple dozen all blooming at the same time, all those long flower spikes hanging everywhere!) BTW, chances are what you have there isn't fasciata but is more likely attenuata as fasciata isn't as widely collected as attenuata. The difference is that attenuata has the tubercles on all surfaces of the leaves whereas fasciatas leaf tops are relatively smooth. I have a few different clones of attenuata - here's one... ...and I've linked David Martin's site, Haworthia.com, for a pic of fasciata. Denise in Omaha Here is a link that might be useful: H. fasciata

Zebra plant/ zebra cactus are common names for haworthia attenuata (or fasciata) and yes you can take it off if you want :) Common names can be confusing because they can be used for vastly different types of plants, as Karen illustrated above. I have a haworthia *limifolia* (edited after Rina's good catch!!!) that had 8 pups when I repotted. I removed them all and have had varying success with the pups. I lost most of the really tiny ones, they just didn't root on their own. I would have left them attached but some broke off when I was trying to arrange them in the new pot with the mama so I went ahead and took them all. I have 4 left, and one that only had 5 leaves has roots now and has started to grow. Kd