What are these brown patches on some of my succulents lea...
What are these brown patches on some of my succulents leaves!?!They are hard and they almost got through the whole leaf.
0ft to light, direct
5” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 month ago
14
@Succulent_Soul this looks like oedema to me. When a plant takes up more water than they can transpire, the cells fill with water until they eventually burst, and can leave pockmarked patches like this. It’s not just too much water that causes this, sometimes its the soil that’s holding on to too much water because it’s not aerated enough, or too much humidity in the air which makes it difficult to transpire. Sometimes it’s also too little water—That can cause roots to die back, and then when you go to water them a ‘normal’ amount the roots that are left get overwhelmed. I’m just going to tag Shannon @SuperbRaspfern to make sure I’ve identified correctly, and I’m not talking out of my butt 😜
@DreamMachine what should I do about it? I watered it today and I only water it when the bottom ish leaves start to become more bendy and foldable.
@Succulent_Soul well, the first thing to do would be to try to figure out what of the above scenarios seems most likely in your situation. Since I see you’re in NM, I’m going to guess you don’t have an overabundance of humidity in the air? (Unless you have a humidifier, that is)
Is your pot 5” and you water roughly every 2 weeks? Do you check the bottom drainage hole for soil moisture too? Do you let the soil dry out mostly? Or do you let it get absolutely bone dry for days? Just questions to think about.
What I am thinking, based off of your pictures alone, is that your soil is holding on to too much moisture. I don’t see a lot of chunky bits in there. Every couple of weeks should be fine for your plant in a 5” terracotta, so I’m thinking it’s not draining properly, and then you water when there is probably still a lot of unseen moisture.
I would recommend repotting into a succulent soil mix that you add at least 50% perlite, pumice, or bark to (or 2 or 3 of those). I’m going to post this and find a pic of my basic succulent soil for you!
Is your pot 5” and you water roughly every 2 weeks? Do you check the bottom drainage hole for soil moisture too? Do you let the soil dry out mostly? Or do you let it get absolutely bone dry for days? Just questions to think about.
What I am thinking, based off of your pictures alone, is that your soil is holding on to too much moisture. I don’t see a lot of chunky bits in there. Every couple of weeks should be fine for your plant in a 5” terracotta, so I’m thinking it’s not draining properly, and then you water when there is probably still a lot of unseen moisture.
I would recommend repotting into a succulent soil mix that you add at least 50% perlite, pumice, or bark to (or 2 or 3 of those). I’m going to post this and find a pic of my basic succulent soil for you!
@Succulent_Soul yes, absolutely! I made my own. I have perlite, pumice, zeolite, and lava rock in there. I like those rocks in particular because they are smooth and flat, they’re more chunky, so it allows for a good amount of air pockets in my soil so my roots can breathe. Roots need oxygen too ☺️
@Succulent_Soul the soil part you see in mine is coco coir. I prefer that to potting mix because fungus gnats almost always find their way into bagged potting soil 🙄
@DreamMachine will it still be effective if I use regular small rocks which won’t help the roots breathe?
@Succulent_Soul hmm, that wouldn’t be nearly as effective, I’m afraid. If, by regular, you mean like smooth tiny pebbles, those wouldn’t help in making all those needed air pockets, and it might even make the soil more compacted and dense because they are non-porous and heavy. Either way, it’s not good for your roots 🤷♀️
If you cannot get hold of perlite or orchid bark just yet, then I would suggest waiting a bit longer between your waterings.
You can also use a bamboo skewer or wooden chopstick to test your soil moisture. If you stick it slowly down in your pot until you hit the bottom, and then bring it back out and it either looks/feels wet or soil is still clinging to it, then it is not time to water yet. Once the skewer comes out clean, then you can water your plant. 🌱
If you cannot get hold of perlite or orchid bark just yet, then I would suggest waiting a bit longer between your waterings.
You can also use a bamboo skewer or wooden chopstick to test your soil moisture. If you stick it slowly down in your pot until you hit the bottom, and then bring it back out and it either looks/feels wet or soil is still clinging to it, then it is not time to water yet. Once the skewer comes out clean, then you can water your plant. 🌱
@Succulent_Soul anytime 🤍🌻