Is my lipstick echeveria beyond saving?
I’ve recently moved out of my parents’ house and initially I’ve left my plants at home while we get settled and I need to repot a few plants, which I couldn’t do in the new place. So I asked my mum to look after my plants, and she has a few of her own so she’s not a complete novice. However, life has been a bit hectic and when I came home for Christmas she admitted she’d lost track and couldn’t remember when she last watered all the plants, including mine. Most of them seem okay, but a few are looking pretty sad. One of the worst is my lipstick echeveria: the bottom leaves (is that even the right term?) were brown and mushy, and some were mouldy, so I pulled them off. The stalk has what looks like mould on it and I can see a few small silver bugs crawling on it. Since pulling off the leaves, the remaining lower ones are slowly going soft and brown as well. Is there any way to save this or is the plant destined to die? Can I take a cutting from the top and propagate a new plant?
#LipstickEcheveria
#LipstickEcheveria
13ft to light, direct
6” pot with drainage
Last watered 4 months ago
2
first and foremost, I would isolate the plant and see about using something like an insecticidal soap or neem oil to get rid of the bugs so they don’t spread to other plants. Echeverias can be propagated from just one healthy leaf so you absolutely can take cuttings and grow new plants (taking a top cutting works too I’m rather sure) If the plant is mushy and moldy it’s likely that last time (or the last few times) it was watered some of the water got stuck inbetween the leaves and was held there, so I suggest only watering the plant through the bottom of the pot for a while. Do this by getting a dish of water and sitting the plant pot in it and letting it soak up water for 20-30 minutes (this only works if the pot has drainage holes btw!) and make sure that if you do water it normally that all of the water is going directly into the soil. Wishing your plant a speedy recovery! 🪴
