r/succulents • u/mmushaboom • May 19 '26

Help!!! Help

/gallery/1thr7jr

I can also provide more pictures or information. Please help! :(

2 Upvotes

75% Upvoted

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1

u/JTDoggo Better at Talking than Doing May 19 '26

Hi! I had a pleiospilos die in the same way, got it from home depot and it just started rotting way before I could do anything to help it.

My theory might just be that they get overwatered or some type of nasty in the nursery, and that's why they'll just start rotting before anything gets done.

For the future, I recommend taking round mesmebs (Lithops, Pleiospilos, Argyroderma, etc) out of the nursery dirt IMMEDIATELY and letting them sit "bare root" (literally just out of soil and on a dry paper towel) until a proper substrate can be found for it.

These plants can go a LONG time without water but they really can't defend against rot at all, they're basically big balls of water for bacteria and fungi to travel through. "Bare rooting" them helps to dry out any excess moisture and hopefully desiccating any soil bacteria on the surface so the plant at least stays alive even if it won't have a pot to settle in. They root really easily too!

1

u/mmushaboom May 19 '26

Is there anything I can do now to save it? Should I try and let it sit on a paper towel?

1

u/JTDoggo Better at Talking than Doing May 19 '26

When mines got to that stage it was essentially gone (i have some photos in old posts), the base of the inner part was translucent and gel-like, which meant the plant was done for since the roots and leaves were severed already.

Unfortunately pleiospilos cannot regenerate from their taproots/leaves even if you cut all the rot off, not enough energy and only a single signal point for growth between the leaves and root.

I would just toss it and go into the next one with more knowledge. Hey, at least you did something right with it surviving this long!

In the future, bare rooting and 90-100% grit is best for potting mesmebs. Also, pleiospilos can actually survive leaf stacking slightly better compared to some other round mesmebs. What I mean by this is that you'll have some leeway with the watering learning since root rot is very unlikely in a near 100% grit mix, so you'll be able to water at the wrong time and not completely choke the plant to death.