Flat Flapjacks - or my weird Kalanchoe luciae
As many of you know, I have quite a crop of K. luciae on a raised island in my yard. They put on quite a show of color in our cool winters.
Now, I have a patch of plants that are laying out flat. It looks like they are in the shade, but this is only the morning sun. Later they are in full sun.
Here you can see normal right next to flat. The spots are not scale, but little divots that the blackbirds poked into them. (I swear, it is a game with them. I come out and they start pecking. I think they are provoking me into chasing them!)
This is another closeup. In the upper right corner you can see a deflating stinkhorn fungus. I don't know if a fungus could be the problem?
It has been very very dry for us since October. I wonder if I am not watering them sufficiently - a different problem for me! These plants are at the top of this raised island, so maybe it is drying out faster?
I need to separate a lot of these, so maybe I should dig up one of these flat guys and look for scale under there. Scale tends to stay at the bottom of the plant, so I could be missing it. The leaves are rigid and feel just like the other, normal looking plants.
Any thoughts? Maybe I should just not worry about it. Hopefully, our rainy season will start later this month. Then I'll have a new worry! LOL
Comments (11)
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Comments (17)those photos above are all of Kalanchoe luciae, not thyrsiflora. K thyrsiflora, as one can see from several previous threads on this site, is a very rare plant. I have never actually seen one offered for sale except at the Huntington, where they have several growing in their cactus garden. K luciae is a much more interesting and beautiful plant, though, so be glad you have what you have and not the much rarer but less interesting K thyrsiflora. mfyss is correct that the flowers of K thyrsiflora are yellow while those of K luciae are white... I just happened to photograph some of the Huntington's K thyrsifloras flowering last week...See MoreWhat the heck is going on with K. luciae?
Comments (17)Crenda, I'm sorry your plants are being held hostage by these nasty mystery pest. From experiences, plants become vulnerable hosts to certain detrimental pathogens like davez7anv had mentioned. Up till today, there are no explanation as how to they appear or attack plants. But studies had shown so far that they thrive in warm and damp conditions. The warmer the better, and any signs of exposed wounds are perfect entrances to take host within the plant's succulent stem and leaves. Most plants just die really quickly without much clues or signs, and also with very healthy roots systems. Especially when your plants are grown outdoors within the ground, they are no limits to what pathogens might be lurking under. So far the best way to combat such nasties are to feed your plants with symbiosis organisms that are allies of your plants. I personally haven't tried these yet, because most of my experiences happened during the peak of summer. I bought this after seeing the reviews and I intend to feed my plants before the warm season begin. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A8PG6RI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I also experimented a little with these super organisms on my seeds, and results are not spectacular, but they really do activate some of my really difficult seeds. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GM1AULU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Anyhow, it's worth a try, it's not that expensive, and what do you have to lose? Just take it as extra fertilizers for your plants. As always, do share with us the results once you do decide to try....See MoreAlso need help with this flapjack
Comments (8)This is one of my favorite plants! They pup well. It is Kalanchoe luciae, btw. Good for you on repotting and ensuring proper drainage. I think most of the problem you are seeing happened before you purchased it. The outer leaves are quite etiolated, indicating that HD had it on display (or a shelf) that was shaded. This plant really thrives in full sun. The center of your plant looks much better. Those long damaged leaves will be absorbed by the plant and fall off, leaving your the center to grow and give you a nice, compact plant. Here is a look at the center of one of my pups. The leaves are growing up, not laying down. Your center leaves look similar to me. And in full sun, you will get some great color! Water your plant when the potting mix is dry. You can check it with a skewer, chopstick or even a pencil. Insert it into the mix, wait a minute or two, then remove it. If it comes out damp or cool (touch your cheek or back of your hand), then wait on watering. If you can wean the plant into full sun you will have better results. Otherwise, give it the most sunlight available. Things will correct themselves in time. Good luck!...See MoreHelp!! What is this on my flapjack plant??
Comments (3)First off - I'd like to let you know that our prayers are with everyone in Louisiana being impacted by the floods and rain. I've got family in 'Red Stick', so I am very familiar with your current situation and your normal climate. The damage on your plant does look like sunburn, but I'm wondering about it getting splashed by some chemicals. Did you bleach the patio and perhaps some ran off and splashed the plant? Or perhaps used some insecticide spray? I have found Kalanchoe luciae to be very sensitive to these chemicals. This plant was accidentally splashed by insecticide - it is outgrowing the damage, but looks similar to me. My flapjacks have been struggling this summer, too. They have been in the ground and flourishing for several years, but this year they are showing some crispy leaves. To make things worse, after a week of rain I checked on the plants. Dozens of leaves fell off in one particular area - all at once! See that dark spot on the stem of the bottom plant? That's a big chunk where something (probably a rat) ate it! The rodent bit several stems significantly enough to cause the leaf loss. Experience tells me they will heal just fine, but they look pretty sad right now. Notice the familiar brown spots on the leaves. You know that your plant needs more light; you said as much. But when the skies are dark and the rain keeps falling, not much you can do about it! You didn't ask, but I'd like to make a suggestion about your potting mix. I think you would do well with a better draining mix that has very little organic matter in it. I realize that this is a wetter-than-usual summer for you, but the humidity that is ever present works against your current potting mix drying out well. You also need a drainage hole in the pot if there is not one. I have high humidity and plentiful rain in the summers, too. The first step I tried was adding 60% perlite to the cactus potting soil. That still didn't work for me with all plants outside - and my not having an area to move them out of the rains where they would still get plenty of light. So I ended up with a perlite, granite chicken grit and turface mix. I would seriously consider mixing in perlite and chicken grit with your soil, ending up with about 20% soil. Your plant will appreciate it. In the end, I think your plant will outgrow the damage that you are seeing! Good luck - with the weather and your plants!...See More
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL thanked Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA- 6 years ago
Well, I didn't learn a whole lot by digging. I decided to dig up one of the plants that was really close to another --
But it seems the roots are fused together. So they both came up. OTOH, the roots don't look bad.
I was looking for fungus and nematode root knots, but all I saw was a little yellowish peat (left from something in the distant past!) and a few pieces of perlite.
I saw no mealies or scale on any of the leaves, including those that I knocked off.
There's no apparent damage, but palmbob got me to thinking . . . I wonder if falling or damaged palm fronds have strafed the tops of the plants? We haven't had much rain, but we've had some wicked winds. I also need to check and see if a sprinkler head is hitting this area, although I would think all the plants in that area would show signs of too much water.
Hmm - very curious!
- 6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoCrenda 10A SW FL thanked Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA
- 6 years ago
- 6 years ago
Palmbob - I think you may be on to something. This may be a dumb question, but do Christmas palms drip something that could be more "toxic" (for lack of better word) during a dry spell? That's what has been throwing me. We have been dry dry dry and these rotty looking symptoms appear. During the rainy summers, not so much.
I was looking more closely at other plants around my palms.
Aloe x spinosissima is showing signs of crown rot!
And a closer look -
Notice how the leaves look kind of funky in the first picture? It feels like edema.
I do have a couple of pups if this plant succumbs to rot. Shame if it does. This was the first year it finally bloomed.
And a couple of Aloe vera are showing spots of some sort.
I am not sure if there is a fungus or two at work on the Aloes and Kalanchoes. I am going to spray them with a copper sulfate solution. That worked the last time I had fungus starting.
Kara 9b SF Bay Area CA