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Please help me keep these plants alive!

7 years ago

I recently inherited multiple plants and am not sure what they all are. I dont think I am caring for them appropriately as many are starting to wilt or turn brown. I dont know if I am under or over watering them or if it is a sun issue. I have never taken care of plants before and seem to have quite the brown thumb.

Please help me figure out how to care for these plants. They were in a window but I have recently tried moving them outside to get some light and have not really noticed a difference with most. The aloe did seem to get worse outside so i am not putting it out anymore.

Here are some pictures:

Any help is appreciated! The more simply you can explain things the better! Thanks!

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Comments (4)

User
7 years ago
The Aloe vera does not need full, blazing sun and will bronze if the sun is too strong (yes, most Aloes are much more sun loving, but not this one). They are in clay pots, so dry out quickly. If they are in sun and heat, they may want more water. Succulents are not cacti; and you may be under watering at this season of the year.
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leruyle1 thanked User
Andrea ME z5b
7 years ago
In the second pic you've got a very nice clump of sanseveria (snake plant) it prefers low to medium light and likes to dry quite a bit between waterings and the other plants in that pot are Kalanchoe thyrsiflora (maybe flapjack) it also likes to dry between waterings but would prefer to be in direct sun for most of the day so I would recommend separating them from the snake, they'll get big if they have more room and sun, also use a very fast draining potting soil like a cactus or succulent mix. The third pic looks like a very sad and shriveled jade plant (Crassula 'Gollum') he also likes to dry between waterings but it looks like that might have been taken a bit too far. I would put him in bright, mostly indirect light, and water well but not until the soil dries (there is a tendency to overcompensate by over watering a plant that has been stressed by drought so watch out for that) a lot or even most of those leaves may fall off but keep the faith, if you keep at it it will come back, it's a pretty cool plant, I have one just like it. In the fourth pic you have a very Haworthia that has some crispy leaves on the bottom, in my experience, this often happens when the bottom leaves are in contact with the wet soil for too long, they get kinda rotty and then they dry up. I would pull or cut them off and make sure the leaves are not touching the soil, if they are, you might want to put a layer of gravel over the top of the soil to create a barrier between the moist soil and the leaves. These are all succulents and they all like to dry between waterings, they also like sun but, aside from the kalanchoe, not hot, intense sun all day, a half day would probably be good except for the sans which doesn't need any direct sun but will tolerate some early morning or late afternoon sun. Good luck, you've got a nice collection of plants with some great potential.
leruyle1 thanked Andrea ME z5b
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Tiffany, purpleinopp Z8b Opp, AL
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
The redness is indicative of K. luciae, but doesn't affect care, nearly identical species:
http://www.smgrowers.com/info/kalanchoeluciae.asp

Agree it looks like it could use a bit more elbow room, as could the Sansevierias.

Hopefully the Jade is just thirsty and can recover a normal appearance if you "just add water!" ;) It looks funky. I'm concerned that the roots are not healthy, if still alive at all.

You may also want to ask about these in the cactus/succulent forum. Best luck!
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Lauren (Zone 9a)
7 years ago
Those sans are nice!! These pictures just had me itching to do some serious repotting.

I had visions of an all-day repotting session with a lighthearted audiobook playing gently in the background, and a some new pots and a freshly made batch of bark, perlite, soil mix....and my special mixing spoon....

the joy...
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