Succulent help?

Any gardeners? I picked up some succulents, not really knowing too much about them. By the time I got home I realized they weren't exactly perfect specimens, so I need a little advice before I make any changes.

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...succulents.jpg

Photos of them all.

First off, the gardener at the store didn't really know what they were. He gave me names, but when I looked them up later, they were completely different plants. So if they look familiar I would love to know what specific plants they are!

The whiteish blue one is lumpy underneath the leaves. I can't tell if this is normal or a problem. It doesn't feel mushy or anything, just bumpy. The tips are withered a bit too. Barely noticable in the light, but you can see them when it's shady.

The spiky green one has these big white spots and has lost a few leaves. The white spots have a surrounding brown ring, and look like when you burn a hole through paper. Not fuzzy, they are more like holes than bumps. Also looks..crowded? Should I separate them? It looks like there are two main plants, with little plants growing out of them.

Don't know anything about the bulby green one. It looks healthy, but I took pictures in case I'm wrong.

I took them home and tried to care for them for a while like I have read to, but these things aren't going away, so I want to figure out what they are before I mess up.

any advice would help!

I can take more pictures or post a larger version of an individual image of any of these in that collection, I just had them bunched in one photo as I had originally asked this question in a garden forum that only allowed one picture per thread(and got no response on that one either..)

The top two kind of look like a type of sedum. But I'm not sure because I can't tell how big they are. Anacampseros rufescens??
Left bottom a type of Haworthia?
Bottom right I believe is Mexican Echeveria.

They are all very small. I guess for size reference each pot could hold a coke can with barely any room on the edges. Thanks for the help, that narrows it down!

Here are the areas I'm worried about a little bit closer

This one--the little bits of withered looking plant, the splotchy areas, the wrinkled under leaves. What happened to the plant that made it do this and what can I do to correct it? Is the underside normal, or is it a sign of over/under watering?
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...n/CRW_9482.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...n/CRW_9491.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...n/CRW_9488.jpg


This one--The white 'holes' with the brown ring, the fact that it's losing leaves, and the amount of plants packed into a single pot. I know they do good in tight spaces, how tight is too tight? Should I separate these plants? Again, what's causing the little yucky parts turning brown and losing leaves?
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...n/CRW_9484.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...n/CRW_9485.jpg
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k2...n/CRW_9487.jpg

They don't look BAD, but I don't want them to get worse. Should I just continue like normal and see if they get better with regular care(maybe recently recovering from under/over watering from the shop?), should I intervene and repot them? Should they get more or less sunlight? Are these just normal plant things or signs of bad care or an infection/parasite? Those are my basic questions. I'm new to plants in general, and I don't want to mess up here! :)

I'm no expert, but it looks like the silver blue one may be dehydrated? They don't like being overwatered, but they still need some water. Currently I'm rehabilitating my friend's Easter Cactus. That's what it's dehydrated segments look like.

As for the second one, I'm not sure. Maybe it's just scarring possibly from a bug chewing on it, or someone poked a hole in it. Could be a number of things...

Edit: Dry tips on the ends of the green one kind of look like a sunburn. How much sunlight does it get? Plus plants sometimes lose their older leaves. That happens with my violets and marantas. I'm new to succulents, and only have 1 at the moment. A type of Haworthia. I know they like very sparce watering.

Again, these are an amateur's opinion. I do however keep other plants, mainly African origin, if you have some questions! Haha


Edit2: I'm almost positive the first plant is a type of ground cover that grows over the rocks in my lawn. They turn red, and get white flowers. The only way to kill them is drown them. They crisp up in the summer and grow back over the winter. They're amazing things.

Also I wouldn't worry about repotting them, unless you want more of them or want to put them in cactus soil. They don't look overcrowded.

I figured it might be dehydrated, I just wanted to hear some other people say so before I did anything! I wasn't sure, I know they most often die from like, over watering! I didn't know what overwatering looked like, and I know some people get overwatering confused with underwatering! Didn't want to make that mistake! :O Thanks!

The plants are new, they looked like this when I got them. The guy at the garden store mentioned having to move them out of direct sun(we've been having a terrible summer heat wave/drought here in texas), so the sunburn makes a lot of sense, and possibly even the dehydration!

I agree with all the IDs above. Each succulent group has different care requirements. Not sure what soil you have them in but it doesn't look good. Looks like mulch?? If it is just on the top, remove it. If it is all through, replant them. If you keep these types too mosit they will rot.

Care:

Sedum-good draining soil with organics mixed in. Grows well in full sun. Likes it a little drier. Water a little less than others.

Haworthia- similar to aloe. WELL (not fast) draining soil with some organics mixed in. Water until water runs out the pot when dry. Wait until dry to water again. Best in filtered sunlight or part shade. Too much sun causes sunburn.

Echeveria- this one likes it a little more wet. Not soaking though. Good draining soil with organics. Full sun to part shade.

Soil: I prefer to make my own soil. None of these are attractive so a top dressing of gravel makes things look nice.

FAST draining soil: I grow split rocks and they require fast drianing soil with little to no organics. This means water just runs out. It is a mix of corse sand, fine sand, vermiculite, perilite and some potting soil.

WELL draining soil: Mix 2 parts sand to one part soil.

GOOD draining soil: equal parts soil and sand.

Also water the soil and not the plants. Watering the plants can cause rot.

Good luck!!

Thanks for the tips on the different types of soil, I had never gotten a really detailed description on how to make it. Only read "Soil and sand", never really a good recipe!

On my other forum I frequent I was also told they would do better in a well breathing terra cotta pot, so when I move them to that I will work on fixing the soil. The pieces of bark are just sitting on the top, almost just looks like decoration, I thought it was weird. I avoided them when I watered the plants, but I'll take them out now. I gave the echeveria a nice drink yesterday and it already looks better! Today I'm going to water the other two. I'll keep in mind that I need to water the Sedium less often. That's probably why it's doing the best, I guess the garden shop was caring for them all the same way and was underwatering!

I have heard not to water the plants themselves, I will be especially careful to avoid touching the leaves with water!

I do orchids and succulents (many are both). Most succulents are going to be highbred. Your not going to stumble onto a species plant unless specifically sold as a species. Most that you will find seem to come from Australia originally there are a few from the Peru area too.

There are two very different kinds of plants that are both labeled succulents. On is the thick lush leafed plants that we often see in garden centers the other is very slow growing plants from the dessert. They often look similar to fat rooted/based bonsai.

The succulents that you have are succulent for water retention. They need a bit more water to retain their shape (the whiter looking one is needing more water). They need quite a bit of a drink. The other kind don't get much water so store it.

Plants in pots are hard to maintain. You either over or under water them. They do well in direct sunlight. Just be careful to not burn them with water drops (water sitting on the leaf in hot sunlight). I plant mine out side and water in the evening. I have rock walls for my more established plants and wooden barrels with potting soil for my new plants.

When I get new ones I plop them right into the potting soil and place them in a spot that gets the most sun all day long. I'm in WA so the sun is not quit as intense as where you are. You could try partial sun. I water them every other day. When the plant looks like its grown in size or has new growth then I move it to my rock walls or display barrels. They do well in green houses too but not everyone can whip one of those from their back pocket. They don't do very well in houses unless you have a good sun room.

When you are first learning you will lose plants. You will find that some will love you and flourish and others will hate you. Just stick with it and you will get a good feel for it. When you get them established I would love to trade starts with you. I have some plants that my family has cultivated and packed around for more than 50 years. I love sharing plants. I find them very rewarding.

The desert based ones are hard to set up but easy to maintain. I know a man who travels the world to collect them. He has permission from all the countries to take plants from the wild and has discover dozens of species. If you get into those kind I can get you his contact information.

Good luck! :gj:

My family is in the process of moving, so I don't think I can plant them in the ground just yet. I don't want to have to dig them back up! Is there anything else I can do to make my time a little easier? I guess I just gotta get used to plants hmm? :)

I had a spider plant for a while in college, and it was doing okay but my roommates started to over water it and smash up the roots. They bought one of those water bulb things and everytime they filled it up they ended up digging it into the roots and snapping them off. Only took about a week for the whole thing to die. :O That was very sad! I do have catnip that is doing okay right now, but I didn't groom it well so it's nasty and stringy looking. I'm scared to cut it back, I've never done that so i don't know how much is too much or where to cut!

Thanks so much for the advice everyone. I posted this question on an active garden forum and still got 0 replies! Glad to have people here willing to help a noob out!

I have a question about the "Hawthoria"/Aloe looking one. It looks like there are 6 plants in there, two big ones and what appears to be smaller ones coming out of it. Is this sort of how they reproduce and I have two plants, or is it actually 6 separate plants all in one pot? I'm kind of interested in trying out growing new ones from leaves/cuttings and stuff, so I was just curious. Also, the smaller ones barely get any sun because they are underneath the big ones so i wondered if they should be separated.

They are starts off of the mother plant. They can be separated and grown from the divisions. Or you can leave them and they can fill out and have a large full 'clump.' The easiest way to kill a plant is over care. For watering yours I would fill the sink. Dunk them under the water, let them drain, place them back and not water again until you see the potting medium is dry. With my orchid succulents (dendrobium rigidum and the like) they are in Sphagnum moss, I soak them and let the moss get bone dry.

That's really cool! I might let them grow in and maybe later take one of the starts and see if I can grow it myself :)

Thanks for the tip on watering, I'll have to try that! I'd never have thought of that!

From looking through the soil already in there it looks like the white one actually has the MOST draining soil which just adds to why it's so dehydrated. That will be fixed ASAP!


One more question. I keep reading about fertilizer. I know nothing about fertilizer! I see some people say they use it often, some use it less often, and some don't even mention it. What is the rule of thumb with that stuff? When should it be used.. Not just with these guys, I guess with plants in general. I don't know how to use it I guess

I don't use any. My mom will when things need a pic-me-up, and I know a few people that fertilize once a year annually. I'm not sure what kind they need but I will ask my mom what she uses later tonight when she's off work. I'll message it to you. I know that you should avoid the generic ones that are in stores. Especially the ones that are to be used often.

Ahh, yes I've heard bad things about the store ones. I remember someone telling me about certain fertilizers that may fertilize the plants, but also kill the soil so it needs more fertilizer in the future! Sneaky!

i reccomend you look up each plant individually. there is not one method with succulents. the methods above sound like a great way to rot city!! while it will work with more of the hydrophilic succulents, it doesn't work for all!

I'll definitely keep trying to learn how to care for them. Today is cooler but nice and sunny so they are all outside right now