Story of my suicidal plant

This is a place for members to post on-going topics about their plants and experiences.
Pompom
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by Pompom »

ElieEstephane wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:58 pm Here's my setup. I never gave it any attention. I initially moistened the soil and closed the top to 80-90% and forgot about it. It was just an experiment and gave me many pups. However, my main interest is cacti so i'm not gonna sacrifice cacti seedling space under the lights for echeveria. You can see how tight it's in there in photo 20180113_144457 in this link:
viewtopic.php?f=31&t=39747&start=135
I see what you're talking about. :D Well I moved the babies into tupperware. Two of them had long and stronglooking roots already! I figured the original container was too low anyways so they would have gotten in trouble at some point. I don't have any clear lids, so I put another tupperware on so now the container looks like a homemade greenhouse/plant incubator. Finally I can forget about the babies for a while.
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ElieEstephane
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by ElieEstephane »

Check every now and thenn if the "propagator" to see if it's too dry. How's your aloe doing btw?
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
Pompom
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by Pompom »

ElieEstephane wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:06 pm Check every now and thenn if the "propagator" to see if it's too dry. How's your aloe doing btw?
The aloe is doing fine! Last time I checked there are two roots out. Other is 1cm long, and exactly on the other side of the tubular root about 0.5cm long root. There is also one root almost out, there's a bump on there. The plant itself is a little soft to touch, but that's normal I think, since the roots are not big enough to handle much water. I'm thinking about washing the roots, because the end of the tubular root felt soft to touch and I'm worried about it. I'd like to check is everything fine there.
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ElieEstephane
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by ElieEstephane »

Pompom wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 4:00 pm
ElieEstephane wrote: Tue Jan 16, 2018 3:06 pm Check every now and thenn if the "propagator" to see if it's too dry. How's your aloe doing btw?
The aloe is doing fine! Last time I checked there are two roots out. Other is 1cm long, and exactly on the other side of the tubular root about 0.5cm long root. There is also one root almost out, there's a bump on there. The plant itself is a little soft to touch, but that's normal I think, since the roots are not big enough to handle much water. I'm thinking about washing the roots, because the end of the tubular root felt soft to touch and I'm worried about it. I'd like to check is everything fine there.
It's better to not move it too much. Let it settle in for a couple of months
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
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WayneByerly
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by WayneByerly »

I'm a beginner at this, so take this with a grain of salt.

But it sounds like it is getting way too much water. And I am GREATLY surprised that no one has said anything about it here. Succulents, like cacti like to dry out a good bit between waterings. Being succulents, they like the periodic drying out AND fast draining soil. The BEST way to kill a succulent (or a cactus for that matter) is to give it too much water. I think perhaps THAT is why it was getting soft.

but like I say, I'm a beginner and I sure would like for someone else to comment on your self described watering processes.

BTW, I also have one of these, but it has grown up on its stalk so high that I have to provide it extra supsport.

Side view
The sticks are just BBQ skewers and are only there to provide support for the top heavy head.
20180117_000911.jpg
20180117_000911.jpg (129.82 KiB) Viewed 1495 times
Top view
You would be surprised at how red it's leaf tips would get if exposed to the very bright sun. I believe the structure in the top center of the plant is a flower just forming and provide a closeup in the next pic.
20180117_000923.jpg
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"Flower" closeup
20180117_001200.jpg
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Make the moral choice & always do what's right. Be a good example. Be part of the solution & make a contribution to society, or be part of the problem & end your life with nothing but regrets. Live a life you can be proud of! Zone 7a
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ElieEstephane
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by ElieEstephane »

WayneByerly wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:21 am I'm a beginner at this, so take this with a grain of salt.

But it sounds like it is getting way too much water. And I am GREATLY surprised that no one has said anything about it here. Succulents, like cacti like to dry out a good bit between waterings. Being succulents, they like the periodic drying out AND fast draining soil. The BEST way to kill a succulent (or a cactus for that matter) is to give it too much water. I think perhaps THAT is why it was getting soft.

but like I say, I'm a beginner and I sure would like for someone else to comment on your self described watering processes.

BTW, I also have one of these, but it has grown up on its stalk so high that I have to provide it extra supsport.

Side view
The sticks are just BBQ skewers and are only there to provide support for the top heavy head.
20180117_000911.jpg
Top view
You would be surprised at how red it's leaf tips would get if exposed to the very bright sun. I believe the structure in the top center of the plant is a flower just forming and provide a closeup in the next pic.
20180117_000923.jpg
"Flower" closeup
20180117_001200.jpg
Unless you like this look and want to keep it this way, chop it. Here's what i did with a PVN that became too tall for my taste. Wait for spring when temperatures are high enough for growth and propagation. Give it a good amount of fertilizer, wait a week to 10 days and chop the rosette off either with a couple centimeters of stem or remove some of the lower leaves to have more stem. The rosette will root into a compact plant and the stem will turn into a little echeveria bush. I advised to use fertilizer to have more offsets on the main stem.
Here's mine without the fertilizer (because i forgot). The rosette is doing very well on its own
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There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
Pompom
Posts: 421
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Location: Northern Finland

Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by Pompom »

WayneByerly wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:21 am I'm a beginner at this, so take this with a grain of salt.

But it sounds like it is getting way too much water. And I am GREATLY surprised that no one has said anything about it here. Succulents, like cacti like to dry out a good bit between waterings. Being succulents, they like the periodic drying out AND fast draining soil. The BEST way to kill a succulent (or a cactus for that matter) is to give it too much water. I think perhaps THAT is why it was getting soft.

but like I say, I'm a beginner and I sure would like for someone else to comment on your self described watering processes.

BTW, I also have one of these, but it has grown up on its stalk so high that I have to provide it extra supsport.
What a beautiful plant you have!!
I'm not sure which plant you meant. If you meant the echeveria, I'm pretty sure it just couldn't get enough water by the time when all of its roots were on top of the soil. Thats when the echeveria was getting softer and softer. Then, when I planted it better and covered the roots, it recovered and grew alot and now it's doing great.
If you meant the aloe which Elieestephanie was asking, it's getting softer because it doesn't have any roots. I asked in other topic how to save it, it had a bad situation going on. I'm not going to water it for a while, I'm waiting it to get a little stronger roots. If I watered it now, I'm sure it would just kill it.

I think It's never worthless to remind anyone how important it is to keep the waterings low when it comes to succulents and cacti. All my plants should have a proper soil, cacti and cactus mix with pumice. Opuntia has less pumice and thanksgiving cactus has some normal potting soil mixed in. But I'm a beginner too, and have troubles to not take care of my plants, so thanks for the reminding! :D
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ElieEstephane
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by ElieEstephane »

Pompom wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:32 pm I'm not going to water it for a while, I'm waiting it to get a little stronger roots. If I watered it now, I'm sure it would just kill it.
If it's in a warm enough locaction, maybe just give it a tiny little sip of water to help it stay strong. Or maybe sit the pot on a thin film of water for a few minutes and then remove it. This way the soil will have a little moisture in it so that the roots search harder for water but not enough to rot it. Do this once or twice on the course of a month (only if warm enough!)
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
Pompom
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by Pompom »

ElieEstephane wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:24 pm
Pompom wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 3:32 pm I'm not going to water it for a while, I'm waiting it to get a little stronger roots. If I watered it now, I'm sure it would just kill it.
If it's in a warm enough locaction, maybe just give it a tiny little sip of water to help it stay strong. Or maybe sit the pot on a thin film of water for a few minutes and then remove it. This way the soil will have a little moisture in it so that the roots search harder for water but not enough to rot it. Do this once or twice on the course of a month (only if warm enough!)
Thanks for the great advice! There is about 21-24 celcius warm where the plant is, it depends on how cold it is outside and how fast temperature changes (the heater doesn't always keep up with fast temperature changes). You think that's warm enough to safely water little?
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ElieEstephane
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by ElieEstephane »

Yes of course. But only just a tiny bit at first and gradually increase watering
There are more cacti in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
One of the few cactus lovers in Lebanon (zone 11a) :mrgreen:
Pompom
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Location: Northern Finland

Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by Pompom »

ElieEstephane wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 4:50 pm Yes of course. But only just a tiny bit at first and gradually increase watering
Okay, thanks! Fortunately I actually measured the pots weight when I potted the aloe and taped the weight on the side of the pot. In know it's going to be hard times for the plant so the weight will help me to water it reasonably and only when perfectly dry. 8)
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Nopaltzin
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by Nopaltzin »

ElieEstephane wrote: Wed Dec 13, 2017 9:59 pm That was a very pleasant post to read! Echeverias are hard little plants. I would not be surprised if it pulled through.
As for the hanging rootball, it's probably aerial roots and not underground roots that were pulled up. Aerial roots start where old dead leaves were and it is very normal. It happens with 2 of my echeverias, with sempervivums, with aeoniums, with sedums and much more.
I think you should call it kurt (after kurt cobain who committed suicide).
Good luck!
A very appropriate name Elie , I'm considering naming my cacti too now :)
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WayneByerly
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by WayneByerly »

Nopaltzin wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:55 pmA very appropriate name Elie , I'm considering naming my cacti too now :)
I'd have to buy a book-of-names... I've some 98 separate pots... and I have a small collection compared to some of this forums members.
Make the moral choice & always do what's right. Be a good example. Be part of the solution & make a contribution to society, or be part of the problem & end your life with nothing but regrets. Live a life you can be proud of! Zone 7a
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Nopaltzin
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by Nopaltzin »

WayneByerly wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:16 pm
Nopaltzin wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 5:55 pmA very appropriate name Elie , I'm considering naming my cacti too now :)
I'd have to buy a book-of-names... I've some 98 separate pots... and I have a small collection compared to some of this forums members.
Hahaha :lol: , you might possibly have to begin naming them in different languages , how long did it take you to collect so many cacti ?
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WayneByerly
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Re: Story of my suicidal plant

Post by WayneByerly »

Nopaltzin wrote: Wed Jan 17, 2018 6:28 pm..,) how long did it take you to collect so many cacti ?
I planted my first seed in 2009, and i have cacti, euphorbia, pachypodium, haworthia, echeveria, sedum, gastrolea, aloe, agave, crassula, lihops, sempervivum, mesembryanthemum, and a couple more. It may be 98 containers, but its only about 85 species


The greenhouse
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Two views of my kitchen window
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Make the moral choice & always do what's right. Be a good example. Be part of the solution & make a contribution to society, or be part of the problem & end your life with nothing but regrets. Live a life you can be proud of! Zone 7a
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