I noticed yesterday my Haworthia is starting to brown at the stem. It is only soft at the very end of the stem. Is this pot to big? How about coloration of all Haworthia? I live in Northwest Arkansas and our weather has been cooler than normal. I keep them outside on our front porch. I dusted them with Diatomaceous Earth. Our front porch faces north. We get sun only in the morning, but they do not get direct sun. Please advise me on any thing I can do to comfort them more. I use only rainwater when I water. I have a moisture meter to check levels of moisture in the soil. I am using a Terra cotta pot with a drainage hole. I have put small rocks in the bottom before I used soil. Is the pot to big? I hope you can see these pictures good enough to advise me. The 4 show are the only plants that have gone soft on me. Should I repot all of them to make sure the soil is not contaminated? The soil I use has a lot of course sand in it. Below is a picture of the soil. Then a picture of the location of my plants at 8:38 am. Please help me. I will do anything I need to do.

Once leaf loss is underway, it's not unusual for the symptom to get worse, even while the cause of the symptom becomes less limiting as you're get watering under control. The reason is, once the shedding process reaches a critical point, it can't be reversed, so any leaves that already have/had abscission layers forming where the leaf is attached to the stem are destined to be shed. That sort of makes your job out to be getting the plant through the winter and into a state of vitality that will allow the plant to be repotted and subsequently pruned back. Once you do that and get the plant into a soil you can water correctly, you'll have a much different scenario. I various ways, I often point out that when using a water-retentive soil, you end up battling the medium for control of the plant's vitality. That's frustrating and no where near as rewarding as growing CAN be. Keep in mind that the 6-7 months you should wait to do the work is little more than a blink of an eye to a tree. This might sound corny or new agey, but if you settle yourself into the same rhythm the plants go through in their annual growth cycle so you can take advantage of their strengths and allow for their weaker times, you'll feel a much greater sense of unity with your plants. More knowledge, a better understanding of how plants work, and the confidence that comes from knowing you are acting with the best interest of the plant in mind (which can only increase your own gratification), all act to elevate the plane on which you interact with your plants. If you pare the reason you're here down to its bare bones, isn't it because you want more from the growing experience? Al

No, I removed some of the dirt (it had a nice well-draining mix already with lots of large particles and pine bark) and massaged the roots until they were disentangled (no root pruning but I'm sure some small roots broke in the process, though I was really gentle). I reused some of the old soil and mixed it with the new in the bottom half of the pot and then finished off the top half with the new potting soil. The potting soil was an organic mix from FoxFarm and contained no moisture control additives in it. Sadly I found this forum only after I had repotted it and am starting to worry the new soil will retain too much water. And then of course my fertilizing it five days later. :/ Do you think the plant will be damaged from the fertilizing too soon?

Thank you so much for responding (and for talking me off the ledge!) Sorry I wasn't being clear...I have not yet repotted and was waiting until June to do so. I haven't examined the soil closely, but once when I was lifting/transporting the tree to water it, the pot just fell off the plant onto to the ground. it did make some mess but the potting medium pretty much held together in the shape of the pot. So, I'd say at least "old" if not "bad" soil? Should I look at the roots more closely and if so, what am I looking for? (And what would I do if I found it?) If this guy does survive, I will summon up the courage to repot hopefully in Al's 5:1:1 in June if I can manage to find all the right ingredients (been working on that for some time.) Very nervous to repot something this size. I did spray all the other bigger plants in the house and will now do the rest of them (and this one) once a week...thank you! I knew they traveled from plant to plant....but, hitch a ride on me? I might never sleep again knowing that...lol. Also, I haven't fertilized at all--I know I've read somewhere on this Forum that it's good to do a weaker Foliage Pro all year(?) but I wasn't sure if I should just initiate that at this time of year--even at a weaker strength, much less when the plant is stressed? I'm thinking I should wait for new growth to start fertilizing? Thank you, thank you for taking the time to help!!!!