I have a succulent dish containing the variegated golden toothed aloe, the rainbow elephant bush, and jelly bean plant. Smaller sprigs of the elephant bush are shirveling up at the bottom of the plant. In the center of the Aloe is a little yellow/discolored, but the jelly bean looks fine?
I have had this dish for maybe a month? I have watered it twice, the first week I had it there was an unexpected thunder shower and I ran out and got it tokeep
It from getting wet. All the succulents have been getting bright light, and coming in before it got cold. However, a day or two ago they went out kind of early. Is it the cold wearher? Too much/not enough water? Too much or too little light?
Sick aloe, and rainbow elephant bush?
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Re: Sick aloe, and rainbow elephant bush?
The questions you ask are good, but it's hard to give an answer!LaughAwkwardly wrote: All the succulents have been getting bright light, and coming in before it got cold. However, a day or two ago they went out kind of early. Is it the cold wearher? Too much/not enough water? Too much or too little light?
Many problems with succulents are down to overwatering.
So, to help you answer your questions, here are a few more:
Is the compost damp or wet, even several days after watering? If so, this is likely to be a problem.
Does the bowl have a drainage hole to let excess water out?
Do you water with a tiny bit of water or thoroughly soak the pot?
How warm / sunny is the place where they are normally kept, so do they dry out quickly?
Since we have no idea where you live, we can't comment on your cold weather, but many succulents are quite tolerant of cold down to ~ 5 deg C / 40 deg f, and often a lot lower if they are kept very dry. Desert and semi-desert conditions where such plants often originate often have warm sunny days and cool or cold nights.
In the UK I still have a few succulents outside (day and night), I will bring them inside before the first hard frost is forecast.
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Re: Sick aloe, and rainbow elephant bush?
Oh sorry, I wasn't more specific! No the compost is not wet, it is dry. When I say watering I mean spritzing at the bottom of the plant with a spray bottle every seven or so days. The bowl does have a hole, but with the light spritz I've seen the pot change color as the water moves through but never comes out. I am in America. I am in North Georgia. I am in a zone 7, I think. I spritzed the bowl after making the post and the aloe has started looking a lot healthier, but the elephant bush has gotten a whole lot worse.
Also I have made a discovery since my last post. There are lots and lots of webs in the bottom of the bowl. So it is probably spider mites. At first I read on another site the spider mites are white, and live underneath leaves. I also read that plants can fight them off and there is no need to treat if you don't actually see them. It instructed to check under leaves and if you didn't see the white bugs your plant was fighting them off. So I just periodically checked the bottom of the leaves. I began to feel uneasy when I went back to the store I bought it from and I noticed a lot of the plants had webs all over them. The elephant bush was getting worse and worse. So I read the entry on red spider mites here, after actually seeing a dark creepy crawly on the web of the plants. I feel completely helpless, and what is worse is I bought another succulent from a much more reputable nursery. While it has not shown signs of spider mites yet, it was close to the contaminated plant, and I fear all my succulents are probably doomed. My other succulent from the other nursery is unidentified. At first the girl in the nursery told me it was an Echeveria because that is what I asked for. Then when I went back another time she said is was a Sempervivum. Honestly I've looked at pictures of both and it could be either.
Thank you for your reply and help. I'm sorry I was not more specific. If anyone knows how I can save my plants from these pest it would be much appreciated.
Also I have made a discovery since my last post. There are lots and lots of webs in the bottom of the bowl. So it is probably spider mites. At first I read on another site the spider mites are white, and live underneath leaves. I also read that plants can fight them off and there is no need to treat if you don't actually see them. It instructed to check under leaves and if you didn't see the white bugs your plant was fighting them off. So I just periodically checked the bottom of the leaves. I began to feel uneasy when I went back to the store I bought it from and I noticed a lot of the plants had webs all over them. The elephant bush was getting worse and worse. So I read the entry on red spider mites here, after actually seeing a dark creepy crawly on the web of the plants. I feel completely helpless, and what is worse is I bought another succulent from a much more reputable nursery. While it has not shown signs of spider mites yet, it was close to the contaminated plant, and I fear all my succulents are probably doomed. My other succulent from the other nursery is unidentified. At first the girl in the nursery told me it was an Echeveria because that is what I asked for. Then when I went back another time she said is was a Sempervivum. Honestly I've looked at pictures of both and it could be either.
Thank you for your reply and help. I'm sorry I was not more specific. If anyone knows how I can save my plants from these pest it would be much appreciated.
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Re: Sick aloe, and rainbow elephant bush?
So, it sounds like they need a good watering.LaughAwkwardly wrote:No the compost is not wet, it is dry. When I say watering I mean spritzing at the bottom of the plant with a spray bottle every seven or so days. The bowl does have a hole, but with the light spritz I've seen the pot change color as the water moves through but never comes out.
You have 3 different plants competing for the water, if you are only watering the surface quite lightly, there's a good chance that the plants with the smallest root system won't get enough.
Water thoroughly, so water comes out of the base, make sure any excess is poured away, so the bowl isn't standing in a pool of water. Then wait until the compost is completely dry before thinking about watering again.
Depending on how warm these are kept during the winter, you may need to water perhaps every week or 2 if very warm, or maybe only once or twice more all winter during warmer spells if very cool.
The plants won't like being cold and wet, if they are quite warm and in bright light they may grow healthily.
If it's warm but too dark they will put on weak, spindly growth.
If cool, they will be happily dormant and not try to grow.