my indoor succulents are not doing so well

9 years ago

Hi,

I am growing a few succulents indoors and some of them seem to not be doing so well. I'm guessing the problem is the lack of direct sunlight (I thought they didn't necessarily need direct light). But I'm new at growing plants at home and thought I should ask for advice.
My succulents are all on small window pods (see picture). They do have drainage holes. The window gets southwest light. As you can see on the picture, the plants get lots of indirect light, but never direct light. Because they're kept indoors, I only water them once a week. I use a cactus & succulent soil mix I bought at the nursery. Didn't add sand or perlite to it.
None of them showed any significant growth, but I got them about a month ago and have no idea how fast they grow. I also have some herbs I bought on the same week and they grow like crazy! The burrito tail developed little spots and some leaves are a bit soft (see picture). Any clue of what those spots mean? Not enough light? The elephant food is also getting a bit soft.
The window pods are really tiny so I couldn't fit the whole plants in them. I left part of them in the soil and pots they came in. Both the elephant food and the burrito tail that remained in their original pots seem to be doing fine. They also only get indirect sunlight. Even though I'm concerned about the light, I'm wondering if that is maybe a sign the problem is the soil and not the light?
I read somewhere that if you're keeping outdoor plants indoors, it's a good idea to put them outdoors once a week and let them get some direct sunlight. I am wondering if my succulents can benefit from that or if that will cause leaf burn, considering they're not used to direct sunlight.
Thanks in advance for the help!

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Comments (14)

LilBit7765
9 years ago
What's in the soil? If you're not using a gritty mix I can guarantee you that once a week is way to much water for regular soil for succulents inside. Plus they don't look like they come up high enough out of their containers Some look a little over potted to me. Which will retain more water leaving them at a higher risk for rot. Looking at the containers (which I like the look of them but for the right size plant) to me some look to be setting too deep in them so I wouldn't think they would get enough air flow hence making it harder for the soil to dry out. Can you take a picture of the drain holes? As far as the plant, the areas that are marked up, were they by chance touching the glass of the window?
LilBit7765
9 years ago
Oh almost forgot my succulents that aren't kept outside ALL day, I put out for two hours a day without any problems
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LilBit7765
9 years ago
Also the one that's marked up also looks REAL plump so it could be from over watering and the marks are from it splitting from too much water
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
9 years ago
Some of the marks on the 'plump' one look like a mechanical damage; shrivelling could be over-or underwatering, or simply old age (especially if that's lower leaves).
Yes, the containers look little deep for most succulents (they are nice thou); did you put soil directly into them or is there a pot-in-the-pot? That would be better, I would think. (You said that what you left in pots looks better-probably not so deep). But maybe opening is too small for a pot to fit in?

Don't add sand! Better to add lots of perlite or grit if you can get it. And don't put any rocks on the bottom either (as sometimes recommended by nurseries-for drainage...)

If it was me, I would keep them on the balcony - looks like you get good sun there. But don't just put them outside if they were inside for too long; they should be acclimatized to much more sun.
I can't tell exactly what all of them are, so ID them first to make sure of their light requirements.
Some succulents grow slower, and if your herbs seem to grow much better - maybe they are in more light? See if they actually grow, not just stretch for light. And if you are watering all of the plants at the same time, then I think herbs are getting right amount but succulents too much water.

Rina
deva33 Z8 Atlanta
9 years ago
I think those pods are really neat! I also agree with the advice above - add some grit to that soil and get all the old soil off of the roots. They aren't going to grow as fast as herbs, so dont worry about that part. But definitely get them in some gritty mix, then dont water for a few weeks, I let mine be dry for at least a few days before watering. If you ar short on cash/time and dont want to do the full on gritty mix I suggest you at least have 1:1 perlite:cactus soil. GOOD LUCK!!!
vanessa.rossi
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you so much for the replies!
I'm a newbie at growing plants and am not entirely sure what gritty mix is. I googled it and compared the components to the ones from my packaged soil. It seems they're a bit different. Here's what my packaged soil components are: "this product is regionally formulated from Canadian sphagnum peat, Canadian reed sedge peat or composted bark, horticultural perlite and washed sand." Should I look for gritty mix? What do I do then? Replace the entire soil or mix the gritty mix with the soil the plants are in now? Remember they were all put into those new pots with the new soil only a month ago.
The leaves don't touch the window at all. LilBit7765 pointed out the containers might be too big for the plants. I had never thought about it and at first thought you were right. But then I put the pot the plants came in and the pot they're in now side by side and they're pretty much the same size (see pic). As for them being settling deep in the pots, only the roots are inside the pot, the entire plants come out of them (see pic). Rina asked if there's a pot inside a pot. They're small, there's no way I can put a pot inside a pot like I do with my other plants.
LilBit7765 Asked for a pic of the drainage hole. There it is. The hole is small, but water does come out of it when I water.
As for the growth, my herbs grow really fast, but yes, they're outside and get direct light all day.
a_shau
9 years ago
hi there - so i've been lurking to wait for more info and pics of your plants. actually, they seem to look pretty good, what are the indicators that they're not doing well - the fact that they're not growing quickly?

generally succulents will be slow growers, especially if they're not getting a lot of sunlight. your herbs are growing quickly because a) herbs (and it seems lots of leafy plants) grow quickly in general and b) they're outside getting a lot of sun.

just reiterating what everyone else has said, but i definitely would not water them at the same rate as the herbs.

Also, the burrito tail, and any succulent that has particularly fat and juicy leaves will need less water than other succulents (elephant snack) because they are retaining a lot more water in those plump leaves.

finally, in general, while the container size might not seem large, I think people are just wondering about the soil ratio - basically, if there is too much soil (due to not enough of a gritty mix, or due to a too-large pot and etc), then water stays in there longer than it takes for the roots to take them in, which then causes root rot.

One thing about the pots (which are super cute btw) is that even though the pots have drainage holes, the way they are constructed (tall with a smaller opening) means less top surface area, which means slower rate of moisture evaporation, and so the soil will stay wetter for longer.

anyway, all this just to say: water them a little less, like maybe just once every 2 weeks, and the watering doesn't have to be a total drench. if water is not coming out of the hole, that's ok!

definitely if you can "let them out" and sit in the sun sometimes, i am sure they'd appreciate that.

see how that goes before you go crazy trying to mix up the soil and disturb your plants. definitely if you figure out how to create your gritty mix then by all means do, but for now, yeah, less water and a some more sun.

also, sorry for being wordy - not trying to be too technical, but i just tend to like understanding reasons for why things work the way they do.
PRO
Vangos Painting
4 years ago
Thanks for the info. I have succulents and Cactus in a basket I keep inside. Didn't realize I needed a gritty mix. I'm also new at indoor plants. Although, I do have a snake plant someone gave me as a gift that wasn't looking good for about a year-and-a-half and now it's growing incrediblincredibly. I did add a potting mix and adjusted the watering. In about three months I have approximately eight new leaves growing and the others are much stronger and greener.

But I like the other plant I think it's just a tougher keep. I feel I may have been over-watering since I heard it should be once a week drenched. Not so sure. They're rotting.
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
4 years ago
Vangos Painting

This is quite old thread, and it is - sometimes - better to start a new one. BUT np, we will try to give some suggestions.

Pls, could you post photos of plants in a basket? Baskets are often lined with plastic - is it? Are there drainage holes in it? Succulents grow best in fast/well draining mix, so replanting into gritty mix would be great. It is important to find out why they are rotting, and how bad it is at this time. You may be able to save some plants or at least start new ones - but we need to see photos first.
PRO
Vangos Painting
4 years ago
Yes, I realize this is an old thread, now. I was directed here from Google. I posted a pic. I may have done something wrong.

See if this works.
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
4 years ago
Photo is still not showing, try again?.
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Vangos Painting
4 years ago
I think I'm going to try and upload a photo into my house profile and access it from there because it seems accessing it from my phone gallery isn't working.
rina_Ontario,Canada 5a
4 years ago
I always upload photos from my phone to files on computer. Old fashioned (hehe, just old!!!) and do not use phone for reading or posting...make sure that file is not huge, and when posted, photo has to turn from grayish to proper colors before hitting submit button. It could take a while - especially if file is too large.
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Vangos Painting
4 years ago
I'm right there with you. I like my desktop better for most stuff

my indoor succulents are not doing so well

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my indoor succulents are not doing so well

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