can someone help me with this? is this normal or not?

Pls allow some time for folks to see it & respond; more than 4 hrs pls., like maybe a day or 2?

Is your mix that porous through & through or just on top?

its gritty mix (more pumice). I only watered one time last week because the two outside leaves are little soft. I have this plant almost a month. There were a flower in the middle but it dried out two weeks ago.

when i got this plant last month, there were 6 leaves but two of them were crispy on the bottom and i took them out away. .

I though this plant suppose to have four leaves. I can start water this plant when those two leaves dried out. right?

Thanks Kara. again :)

Can I make a suggestion to just get some regular old terra cotta pots. The cups I remember you saying have holes, which is good, but the water doesn't evaporate as quickly in them.

I've seen some with six leaves. Usually it's four, but six is not unheard of:). Usually it's a sign of a little too much water when they have that many leaves. I wouldn't worry about watering them like ever. Control that urge. These honestly don't need water. I bet you a million bucks if you never watered this thing but once a year it would still live. I'm definitely not saying to do that, but I'm trying to let you know these plants are not the plants for people who like to water. Especially being inside. The next time this plant should get a drink is in late August. Then 2 weeks later another drink. Make sure the soil is dry before you water. If soil is moist after 2 weeks wait 3 weeks for the next drink. Once late fall/winter comes around stop the watering. Next time you should water is March/April. These plants do not need water during our summer and winter months. You probably will not need to water this plant more than 4 times a years. Twice in the fall and twice in the spring. I hope that helped. Goodluck:).

ps- avoid the urge to water. Remember thing thing will NOT die if you don't water enough, but will die if you do water too much:). If you like to water get some epiphytic cacti:).

This plant can have two pairs of leaves, it is not a lithops. But if they start feeling soft, let it absorb the pair. I let my plant tell me what to do. If an outside pair stays firm after winter, I leave it. Mine is now like yours, so I keep it dry so it can absorb the soft leaf pair.

Like gdinie said, when this plant gets plenty of water, it will stack freely. Two to three pairs of leaves are okay. You plant has been absorbing the squishy pair, so watering won't revive them at this point.

Yep, can attest to lack of watering. Got 2 of mine chugging along just fine. Cant remember the last time I watered... Oops.

Gotta ask though. Is the hole area mushy?

Hole being mushy or not is an important question.

Hi,

The hole is soft. I dont see anything. What do you mean mushy? like something comes out from the hole leaves?

Not really, I mean exactly as mushy means: it's very soft, it gives away like skin on a rotten fruit. As long as the hole and surrounding area isn't getting worse exponentially, I think you'll be a-ok.

Hi Guys,

i just checked the holes and the bottom part is little moshy now.

how can i save this plant? should i leave it outside of the gritty mix to dried out? or should i cut the two outside leaves?

The two big leaves seems healthy and hard.

please help :(

I think you should remove the rotting leaf to prevent it from spreading. You may require a sharp knife to cut it carefully.

I agree with Eww cut the rotting area with a sharp. If I could add one more thing:). When you cut it I wouldn't put it directly back into the mix. Wait until a nice scab has formed over the cut. Lay it on a paper towel in the driest spot in your home, and away from a sunny window:).

Hi Dan. Does this help you at all or tell you anything you don't already know? I also have a couple of split rocks and other Lithops and found this information helpful.

http://www.faithfoodfamilyfun.com/split-rock-succulent/

Tyler

I would cut that whole leaf off, just to be safe. :o
I've saved one of my p.neliis by cutting before. I think yours has a good chance if you move fast. Don't let it spread further! Rot kills quickly.....like the plague....

Hi Guys,

I cut both leaves!

It might die :( What do you guys think?

I should had cut it earlier when i so that tiny hole!

Thank you everyone for your kindly advise

Looks like it can survive. Pot it up dry.

Looks good. I wasn't expecting such a good job. You're a plant surgeon. Remember ZERO water:),

The bottom part became skinny after cutting the rot leave.

How many days do i need to wait to pot this again? ( Gritty mix more pumice)

Its already dried out. I am worry that it became skinny the bottom part holds the roots. is that ok?

Pot it now just no water:).

when should i know that i have water this guy? there are no old leaves to absorb?

Aren't those tiny new leaves coming up from the middle?

when you say Gritty mix more pumice, what exactly is in it? And remember, use a pot with a hole in it

I don't think that they are little leaves . There was a flower before and the flower dried out.

All my succulents gritty mix are from bonsai jack. A little pricy but I have like 30 succulents at home and all of them are living happily . Except these new succulents that I got baby toes( RIP) last week, split rock ( surgery ) . My lithops are happily for the moment.

Ingredients: 33% 1/4 Pine Bark Fines, 33% 1/4 Bonsai Block(calcined clay) and 33% Monto Clay(1/4 inch Turface).

The pot has hole

In my experience, sometimes a store-bought plant will fail on you and you'll never really know why. It could be that when you bring it home, it struggled to adjust to the new environment. I've also noticed that sometimes, up-potting and repotting will shock a new plant.

Regarding watering in my experience, after it's done flowering and you aren't seeing that fresh new pair of leaves start pushing through, it's okay to water. This mesemb is supposed to have 2 sets of leaves, not only 1 pair like yours currently does. But don't panic, it'll be ok like that. It may or may not take several months for it to grow anything new. Like Kara said, it should be ok to pot up. You don't need to water it for a while. like 2 weeks maybe.

I look for cues from the plant itself on when it wants water. I've noticed that with these plants, if the outermost leaves are a bit soft, NOT MUSHY- just if it loses a bit of that turgidity, it wants a nice drink. And a note about watering, especially in gritty mix. You should not live in fear of watering. If you water sparsely because you are nervous, the plant will lose the finer roots that help it take up water. And if you eventually give it a nice deep watering, it might die because there is suddenly too much water it can't absorb. But with that kind of gritty mix, I don't think you will run into this too-much-water-problem...
Remember though, that if the months are turning colder, it will not need as much water.

I think 66% clay will hold far too much water for this. If you can lower the retention that would be better.

I agree with eww so much clay is too much. And the bark fines on top of that - I would think that is too water retaining. If my mix, I would mix it with lots of grit - like 50% of the pre-made mix and 50% grit...but that is just MO...

ps: it would make your mix also less expensive...grit is very inexpensive (50lb for just about $10).

Actually , I only pot my split rock with one spoon from this mix and I mix it with pumice only in my split rock and lithops.

i have like 30 different kind of succulents planted with this gritty mix only.

i read that split rock and lithops like to be planted with pumice.

i just planted my split rock. Did I planted too low ? Or is it ok?

i am going to wait and water this guy in two weeks. The roots are so dry though .

thank you everyone

If it were mine, I would pot it higher in its pot, above the brim:

Is that where you normally keep it? It needs a heck of a lot more light if so

Dan Ale Zh

how are your split rock doing, still alive?

Hi, sadly no! :(