I think its condition is deteriorating. The plant's stem ...
4β pot with drainage
Last watered 1 week ago
13
Best Answer
@DynamoChayote47 no worries! It is very confusing when you're just starting out with plants, there's so much info out there and a lot of it contradicts each other π It's also scary the first time you prune or "chop" your plant, but I promise it won't hurt it and is actually a great way to stimulate new growth! I have a bunch of lavender scallops and I've chopped them up and repotted the cuttings many times. Something else that's cool about them: you can grow new babies from just a leaf! Just pinch off a healthy leaf right at the base where it meets the stem, set it somewhere dry (not on soil, just on a plate or saucer), and in a short time you'll see little babies growing all along the leaf's edges π€© The first pic shows a large dish filled with lavender scallop babies I harvested off leaves.
So, for your plant here's what I'd do. As for supplies, since it's a succulent, I'd suggest getting it a terracotta pot (no bigger than a 3-4" pot). Terracotta is porous, which helps the soil dry out faster. You'll also want to get some cactus/succulent soil and a bag of either perlite or pumice stones. Mix them together 50% soil, 50% perlite or pumice and fill the new pot about half way. Remove the plant from the old pot and remove as much soil as possible from around the roots. Set it into the new pot, making sure the lowest leaves are about 1/2 inch above the pot's rim (if it's too low or too high, remove or add soil until it's at the correct level). Hold the plant with one hand, and with your other hand add more soil around the roots, gently patting it down as you go until the plant is standing on its own. Lightly water and place the pot back in the east-facing window where you had it. That's the ideal spot for a lavender scallops since it only gets direct sun in the AM, which is much gentler than afternoon sun. Although lavender scallops are a type of succulent, their thinner leaves can burn if they get too much intense direct sun.
Once it's settled in its new pot, then you can decide on chopping off the leggy growth at the top. I've marked in red on your photo showing where to make the cut. Since the cutting won't be long enough to repot, I'd suggest trying out the propagation method to grow new babies! Gently twist off the leaves and set them off to the side somewhere. No need to water or do anything else, just leave them be. Not every leaf will grow babies, but with four leaves there's a good chance at least one of them will. Leaves the babies attached to the leaf until they grow little roots of their own, then you can transfer them to soil π€
Please let me know if you have any questions! πͺ΄ππΌ
So, for your plant here's what I'd do. As for supplies, since it's a succulent, I'd suggest getting it a terracotta pot (no bigger than a 3-4" pot). Terracotta is porous, which helps the soil dry out faster. You'll also want to get some cactus/succulent soil and a bag of either perlite or pumice stones. Mix them together 50% soil, 50% perlite or pumice and fill the new pot about half way. Remove the plant from the old pot and remove as much soil as possible from around the roots. Set it into the new pot, making sure the lowest leaves are about 1/2 inch above the pot's rim (if it's too low or too high, remove or add soil until it's at the correct level). Hold the plant with one hand, and with your other hand add more soil around the roots, gently patting it down as you go until the plant is standing on its own. Lightly water and place the pot back in the east-facing window where you had it. That's the ideal spot for a lavender scallops since it only gets direct sun in the AM, which is much gentler than afternoon sun. Although lavender scallops are a type of succulent, their thinner leaves can burn if they get too much intense direct sun.
Once it's settled in its new pot, then you can decide on chopping off the leggy growth at the top. I've marked in red on your photo showing where to make the cut. Since the cutting won't be long enough to repot, I'd suggest trying out the propagation method to grow new babies! Gently twist off the leaves and set them off to the side somewhere. No need to water or do anything else, just leave them be. Not every leaf will grow babies, but with four leaves there's a good chance at least one of them will. Leaves the babies attached to the leaf until they grow little roots of their own, then you can transfer them to soil π€
Please let me know if you have any questions! πͺ΄ππΌ
First thing I noticed is that the soil looks very dense and sandy. Succulents need a well-draining soil with lots of grit, like perlite or pumice rock, mixed in. A cactus or succulent soil with either perlite or pumice added is ideal for these plants. The newest growth also looks very etiolated, which is a sign it hasn't been getting enough sunlight. It causes those large gaps between sets of leaves. Your plant card says it's in an east-facing window getting 6+ hours of light, which *should* be enough for lavender scallops. Did you recently move it from another location? I'd suggest cutting off the leggy, elongated growth so new growth will come in normally.
@stephongreg first of all, thank you very much for responding! I'm very new to this so all the things about soil are very confusing, about wether I moved the plant or not, I didn't, it's been here since day one , I just suck at directions and got confused when I wrote my card, so should I put the plant in front of a new window or just edit my plant card? And would changing the soil and cutting the new growth (that sounds so risky, ngl π) be the only things that I need to do? As in would any other things be needed?
@stephongreg so a new pot and succulent soil and perlite or pumice , repot then cut off new growth right? I think I get it, but what if I can't get all of them immediately? Which thing is the most important? Because I think it's probably the soil but I could be wrong, and is there something I should do immediately? Like, something that needs to be done and it can't wait until I get the supplies? (Ex. Taking the plant out of the pot letting the soil out in the sun , checking for rotten roots) , and thank you for answering my questions so far .
@DynamoChayote47 I'm not seeing anything that screams emergency. Just hold off on watering until the leaves start to look wilted. These are resilient plants and fairly drought tolerant. So unless the soil seems very soggy or the stems at the bottom feel soft or squishy, it's fine to wait until you can get the right supplies. The soil is definitely the most important, if you have to choose between that or a new pot. You can reuse the pot it's in now, just make sure to thoroughly wash it with hot soapy water before putting the plant back in it. Really it will be fine in any pot as long as it has drainage holes βΊοΈ
@stephoniclethe the soil is definitely soggy but thankfully the stems are fine (tho the leaves are a bit droopy which frankly is making me a bit panicked) so I should probably dry the current soil, and thank you so much for the help I will get my hands on appropriate kind of soil as soon as I can, and save up to get the pot and perlite or pumice rock too.
About the cutting, I think it could be too low because the line you put is under leafs that were there before I got the plant (Wich was about 2 months ago), not objecting just wanted you to know in case it makes any thing different
About the cutting, I think it could be too low because the line you put is under leafs that were there before I got the plant (Wich was about 2 months ago), not objecting just wanted you to know in case it makes any thing different
@stephongreg hello again, these are the roots, I don't know what to do exactly, id kind smells bad and the bottom of the plant is kinda brown , should I cut some roots? Cuz I heard I should but also that I shouldn't so I don't know, sorry if I'm asking too much
@DynamoChayote47 no need to apologize, ask as many questions as you want! That's what the community is here for βΊοΈ
It's difficult to tell if any roots are rotten because there's soil stuck to them. You can rinse them off really well to remove any traces of soil and then take a look. Healthy roots will be firm and white/tan. Rotten roots will be darker, mushy, and easily fall apart in clumps when you pull on them. Don't cut any off until confirming they're unhealthy.
As for where to cut the top, the spot I indicated was directly above the last set of leaves that don't appear to be etiolated/stretched from insufficient light. Those leaves are closer to the normal width of a lavender scallops leaf, but the next set up are much more stretched and green. When you have an etiolated succulent, you want to cut back to where growth was normal. That way, when the plant starts getting more light, new growth and old growth will look similar, instead of having a weird stretched out portion in the middle π
The brown area on the stem just looks like more sun stress, same as the lower leaves. Nothing to worry about π
It's difficult to tell if any roots are rotten because there's soil stuck to them. You can rinse them off really well to remove any traces of soil and then take a look. Healthy roots will be firm and white/tan. Rotten roots will be darker, mushy, and easily fall apart in clumps when you pull on them. Don't cut any off until confirming they're unhealthy.
As for where to cut the top, the spot I indicated was directly above the last set of leaves that don't appear to be etiolated/stretched from insufficient light. Those leaves are closer to the normal width of a lavender scallops leaf, but the next set up are much more stretched and green. When you have an etiolated succulent, you want to cut back to where growth was normal. That way, when the plant starts getting more light, new growth and old growth will look similar, instead of having a weird stretched out portion in the middle π
The brown area on the stem just looks like more sun stress, same as the lower leaves. Nothing to worry about π
@stephongreg I'm seriously thankfull to you and will follow your tips and update as soon as something happens
