Please please help! :)

Waking_wanderer · Sat Oct 15, 2016 9:49 am

I don't know what I am doing wrong with this little succulent. It's near a window where it gets good sunlight. I gave it a pretty good watering three weeks or so ago and haven't watered since. It's in a pot with good drainage and succulent soil. But a few of the leaves are just
getting soggy at the base and falling off. Is this normal or what am I doing wrong? Thank you!

[[UPDATE]]
I took it out of it's container and the soil was completely dry. So I don't think moisture is the issue?
However, one side of the succulent looks brown and weird. I attached a picture below. Does anyone know whats happening?]]

applestar · Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:22 am

Is the pot one of those decorative types with the saucer attached to the bottom?

I have one that was killing a gift succulent, and when I removed the plant and scrubbed out the container, I discovered that only drainage hole it had was a sort of a nail hole -- ONE -- that had been poked into the clay pot before firing. The hole was deformed and ragged and seriously no more than 1/8" in diameter. No way it could have drained sufficiently even if it hadn't been clogged by the peat based potting medium they had used.

I would use it for a non-succulent.cacti but it has a western/dessert theme painted on the outside

I need to get a drill bit that I can use to make more holes.

Waking_wanderer · Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:34 am

I'm not sure how many drainage holes mine has. It does have the saucer attached to the bottom but from what I could tell when I watered it once, it was draining well. So I don't think it's a drainage issue? Is it possible the rocks are preventing the sun from drying out the soil , causing it to retain moisture ?

applestar · Sat Oct 15, 2016 10:48 am

I'm not that knowledgeable about succulents, but personally, I would pop the plant out and see whats going on in the pot.

Run a knife along the inside edge like you are freeing a cake, angling inward deep/at the bottom. Then you can use a spoon or a trowel... or a fork. I like using a fork because then I won't chop off any roots with the edge of the tool. But it makes more mess.

If you want, you could try sticking a wooden chopstick or dowel where you made the knife cut and see if it comes out wet or moist. Maybe it's the soil mix? I do see a lot of dark substance that might be moisture retaining.

Waking_wanderer · Sat Oct 15, 2016 12:10 pm

Hi everyone, I updated my post with more details and a new picture up above.

ButterflyLady29 · Mon Oct 17, 2016 11:32 pm

Are you seeing little black flying insects hanging around the pot? The leaf that is off the plant looks like it might have been eaten by fungus gnat larvae. If you see the gnats flying around you should get some sticky traps and set near the pot. The gnats land on the trap, get stuck, and die.

Succulents can get too dry. Setting in a window in direct sunlight dries a pot out pretty fast. Give it a little water, just enough to moisten the soil a bit and see if it perks up.