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Looking for some insight. Iā€™ve had this little greenhouse under aā€¦ | Pests, diseases and problems šŸ‡ŗšŸ‡ø | Planta-community

GingeredGarden

Looking for some insight. Iā€™ve had this little greenhouse under a grow light and everything inside has been happy here for months. Now in the last few days everything is looking terrible- the string of pearls has mushy looking pearls, the sedum is getting weird spots and parts are falling off, the Chinese money plant leaves are curling and yellowingā€¦ Iā€™ve changed nothing about this set up since I put it all together. I keep the door open so it isnā€™t too humid inside. I make sure things actually need watered before watering. Any ideas on what is going on?

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17 kommentarer

  1. Greg

    Iā€™d first check for spider mites. They can get on your plants in many ways and can reproduce asexually. They make webs once the infestation gets heavy. Hopefully, you donā€™t have them, but itā€™s possible.

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    • GingeredGarden

      No pests!

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  2. jess amy

    i'd definitely check for pests, try out a new watering schedule if they are pest free, maybe letting them dry out more?

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    • GingeredGarden

      No pests! Iā€™m definitely trying to make sure Iā€™m not over watering anything, but it does seem to take these guys forever to dry out between waterings.

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    • jess amy

      my only guess would be the humidity levels or the light thenšŸ¤·ā€ā™€ļø hope they get sorted soonšŸŖ“šŸ¤ž

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  3. eatyacarbs

    Succulents donā€™t want all that humidity generated in a greenhouseā€” they prefer dry conditions. That plus the plastic pots and open jars, your succs are too wet. Humidity lovers like calathea or little pothos cuttings even would be much better suited to your greenhouse šŸ˜ŠšŸ’š

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    • eatyacarbs

      Even though the lid is open, itā€™s still a small contained space trapping moisture when these plants need to dry out completely

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    • GingeredGarden

      I keep the door wide open so it doesnā€™t really get humid in there. Itā€™s really just a way to keep the cat out. Only the sedum is in a plastic pot, thatā€™s the way it came to me. I will try moving them around so the succulents arenā€™t in the same space as the open jars. Iā€™m struggling with making sure everything is getting adequate light and is not being eaten by my cat who thinks everything green is a buffet for him.

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    • GingeredGarden

      Ok thanks! Iā€™ll move them around. Itā€™s tricky to get all the things in the right place for them. And they have all been in this for like 4 months and been perfectly fine. Ugh!

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  4. JDW

    You could invest in one of the tiny fans people use in their greenhouses about that size!! Would help circulate the air and dry them out better. Definitely sounds like too much moisture. They have tiny fans and then use sticky tiny magnets to attach them!

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    • Succulentā¤ļøMama

      Yes! I was just about to suggest a small fan. Great idea!

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  5. Succulentā¤ļøMama

    Another thing to think about is how you are determining when they need more water. I know you said that you make sure they actually need water when you are watering them, but what do you specifically mean by that? A lot of people water succulents when the dirt gets dry all the way through. But thatā€™s not actually how you water succulents unless you have them in an area that is really hot and bakes the dirt dry within a couple hours. Succulents actually prefer to live in dry dirt. So if the dirt is not drying out within a day, then the greenhouse is trapping too much moisture in the dirt, or blocking too much airflow to help the dirt dry out, or you might need a more well draining soil. Once the dirt dries out, you wait until the succulent shows you it actually needs water. So that means when the leaf closest to the dirt starts feeling less plump. Not soft or mushy like theyā€™re doing now, but just less firm and more pliable. A lot of people struggle with getting succulents that are indoors to dry out within a day just on an open windowsill. So having them in that terrarium is probably keeping the dirt way too wet. If theyā€™re sitting in moist dirt all the time, then thatā€™s where the problem is coming from. The best way to help succulents that are kept indoors dry out quick enough, is to have them in a terra-cotta pot, and have them where either a fan or the air air conditioner blows their direction. thereā€™s nothing inherently wrong with the plastic pot, but the reason we suggest terra-cotta is because it allows air into the pot to dry out the dirt faster and it allows the water to wick out of the pot because the clay is porous, so that assists in drying the dirt out faster. Also, you would be surprised how much just an open jar of water can raise the humidity. I have been running an experiment for the last month in my bathroom. I have a humidity sensor on my window above the bathtub. So Iā€™m able to compare the difference in the humidity when the shower is running, when someoneā€™s in that bathtub, or when no one is taking a shower in a day and the vent has been running all day to pull out moisture. But even just misting the house plants that are in here, raises the humidity quite a bit. Iā€™ll take a picture of my current set up for reference. I only have two succulents in here, because these two in particular are needing extra moisture at the moment because I am rehabbing them. Any other succulents in here would be struggling because they really need to stay dried out. I mist the leaves on these plants in the morning and night and every time I do, the humidity level raises to about 65%. After a shower, it goes to 75%. When none of that has been going on for a few hours and the vent has been running then it stays about 45% humidity. Even just watering these plants in the bathtub for a few minutes, raises the humidity to about 60%. So those succulents sitting in that terrarium even with the lid open, with that jar of water in there, and even just with the moisture in their own dirt, are probably sitting in way too high humidity. Also the dirt, like you said is taking forever to dry out, and that is probably causing the problem.

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    • Succulentā¤ļøMama

      With 4 cats, I understand the conundrum. If you need to keep them in there, consider taking out the jar of water and adding a fan. Also, donā€™t water until the plant shows it needs water. The sedum looks very concerning. I would definitely pull that one out to check its roots and stem. It could have root rot. Can you sit that one somewhere else with more airflow until it dries out? Maybe on a porch outside? Or in a room your cat doesnā€™t go in that has a fan? It needs light, but it needs to dry out more so moving it away from the light until it dries out shouldnā€™t hurt it.

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    • GingeredGarden

      This is so much good information, thank you for taking the time to type this all out! I will repot the sedum into terracotta and move both to a different spot. You are right, itā€™s taking a long time for the dirt to dry out and even longer for them to get very, very dry.

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    • Succulentā¤ļøMama

      You are so welcomešŸ˜Š Iā€™m glad it helped. Just be sure you do water the dirt thourouly when itā€™s time to water so the roots donā€™t die off from being too dry. A lot of people get confused and swing from overwatering to underwatering. Overwatering is about watering too often and the dirt staying wet too long, not about how much you water at once. You want all the dirt to get wet when you water so the roots all get wet too. I suggest watering until the water comes out of the drainage hole and then letting it sit for a couple minutes, then doing it a couple more times in a row to make sure everything got wet. Or you can sit it in a bowl of water until the top of the soil is wet. When the dirt stays dry for a while, it can get hydrophobic and not really absorb water, thatā€™s why Iā€™m suggesting you spend a little extra time making sure it actually gets thoroughly wet when you do water. But that doesnā€™t apply now because even the ones you are repotting shouldnā€™t be watered yet because the leaves donā€™t need more water. I forgot to add earlier to think of it like this. Succulents store water in their leaves and stem so they donā€™t need to store water in the dirt. You only water once the plant needs to replenish the water itā€™s used from its leaves.šŸ˜Š

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  6. Jess3311

    Your pots look too big . Definitely too deep for the pearls .

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    • Succulentā¤ļøMama

      Very good point! Gingered garden, when you go to move them, dump them all out of their pots to check the roots, they need pots that their roots can almost reach the bottom and sides of so they can absorb all the water. Sheā€™s right, your pots are probably too big which is adding to everything we already discussed. For reference, my string of pearls was in a saucer at one point because the roots were so short even though I bought it in a 2ā€ pot. The dirt wouldnā€™t dry out so I dumped it out to check the roots. Sure enough they were only 1/2ā€ - 1ā€ long. After a month or 2 in the saucer, I could move it to a 1 1/2ā€ terracotta pot which is where it lives now. Itā€™s much harder to go too small with succulents than go too big.

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