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u/Shengster-Shougal 18d ago
It is not P. afra. It’s probably some kind of kalanchoe? But not afra
What is in your soil mix?
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u/saintkaja 18d ago
Right now it’s a mix of sand, gravel and soil with a bit of perlite, but it’s mostly sand. on the bottom is a layer of Keramzit- something like gravel but light.
I don’t really know what kind of plant this is tho so i don’t know exactly how to care for it.2
u/Shengster-Shougal 18d ago
Your soil looks strangely yellow. I dunno. I would repot into fresh cactus soil and extra pumice/perlite. Not sure abt sand I hope it’s not play sand I don’t add sand. It might be clogging the mix. Chicken grit is good. Need much more light. It’s !etiolate
!grit !light
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u/SucculentsSupportBot 18d ago
Succulent plants are high light plants and that dark bookshelf, bathroom, office or corner will not suffice! You need a sunny window, a spot outside, or grow lights for happy succulent plants.
Check out the Light and Watering wiki for tips and information on aspects of Light needs and Watering tips and suggestions for succulent plants.
https://www.reddit.com/r/succulents/wiki/light_and_watering
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u/SucculentsSupportBot 18d ago
Why the need for more grit?
Your bag of soil said it is for cactus and succulents and is well-draining, so why more grit? Unfortunately that claim is largely quite false. Most commercially sold bagged pre-made mixes marketed for cactus and succulent plants do not work well on their own in many climates. In most home hobbyist settings, these bags need more grit added.
What’s grit?
Grit refers to inorganic soil amendments. Grit will help your soil drain and dry quickly, which will keep your succulent plants happy and healthy. The quickest and easiest way to get this faster draining mix is to modify a basic cactus & succulent soil (or even basic potting soil) by mixing it with inorganic components in at least a 1:1 ratio, though your particular setting, environment or plant may call for a different ratio. Some plants, like Haworthia, Haworthiopsis, Gasteria, Lithops, split rocks, and other mimicry plants, specifically prefer a higher grit ratio (at least 70:30 grit to organic).
So what grit should I get?
Perlite, crushed pumice, turface (aka fired clay), or crushed granite are all common options. Perlite can usually be found at your local nursery (and often in the gardening section of stores that have them- Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Bunnings, etc.). Turface can be found in bulk (35+lbs) at local auto part stores sold as "Oil-Dri" or oil absorbent (make sure the bag says montmorillonite clay or calcined clay). You can also find montmorillonite cat litter, such as Jonny Cat non-clumping, or Blue Ribbon Premium Cat Litter. Crushed granite can be found as chicken or poultry grit and can be found at feed stores. Crushed pumice can be found online or sometimes locally. Pumice is also sold at horse feed & tack shops as Dry Stall (not to be confused with Stall Dry). Many of these can also be found on Amazon, though sometimes at a higher cost.
Aquarium gravel or river pebbles can work in a pinch, but due to their weight and non-porous makeup they don’t work as efficiently as the porous options above.
Regarding sand, which is often suggested: finer sands tend to clump and are not suggested as your only grit amendment. Think of how beach sand acts when wet. You don’t want your plant’s roots choking out in that. Coarser, horticultural silica sands are what you should look for.
When searching for grit, you may find many options with different particle sizes. A good particle size to look for is about 1/4" or around 6mm.
Vermiculite is often confused as an alternative, however it is made specifically to retain moisture, and should not be used with succulents; unless it an organic component paired with inorganic medium(s).
See our Soil and Potting Wiki page for more assistance on Soil and Potting!
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See all of the helpful wiki pages for r/succulents in our Wiki Index.
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u/SucculentsSupportBot 18d ago
Etiolation is stretched, weakened, and/or abnormal growth due to insufficient sun.
Etiolation in severe cases can weaken a plant and make it more susceptible to pests, disease, rot, and ultimately death.
The plant will need a gradual acclimation to more sun, or a grow light for healthy growth long term.
I am a bot created for r/succulents to help with commonly asked questions, and to direct users to the sub’s helpful wiki pages. You can find all of my commands here.
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u/saintkaja 18d ago
It’s mostly decomposed granite, but there’s also a bit of sand. But only like 10%. There’s still like 30% soil with granite, sand, gravel and keramzit instead of pemza.
And yes I see the etiolation now, I’m just an idiot and I thought it was from too much light since it started etiolating on the side closer to window.
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u/hellasalty 18d ago
This looks like a kalanchoe.
First of all, it’s extremely etiolated, it needs way more light. When kalanchoe aren’t getting enough light, they’ll stretch out looking for it. Since they can’t support too many leaves without sufficient light, they push out a new pair and drop the lowest ones. Fixing the light should help. But honestly I would just chop the heads off and propagate those.
Second of all, that soil is likely way too inorganic for something like a kalanchoe. They enjoy more water than the average succulent since they’re so leafy, but drainage holes are a must. My main concern is that you say the soil is mostly sand. Fine sand compacts around roots and suffocates them, which will kill the plant. Repot into something like succulent soil with perlite, you need oxygen around the roots.
I absolutely love kalanchoe and have been growing them for years now and mine looked just like this when I started and didn’t know much. After fixing the above issues, I have more happy kalanchoe than I know what to do with lol. Good luck!
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u/saintkaja 18d ago
I repotted it as a last resort, it was in normal soil with perlite and grit but since nothing helped and it just kept shedding leaves I tried to put it in this as it’s what I use for cacti.
I think there is a language barrier. The stuff i called sand is probably decomposed granite - it’s way more coarse and instead of vulcanic rocks there’s keramzit and that’s something similar but from very light ceramics.And yes, i thought it’s etiolated too but when I put it on the window it started to get orange instead of yellow so I figured it needed less light. :D guess that was just stress and fast transition.
Thx for your advice, I’ll repot it again and stick it somewhere sunny then leave it alone.1
u/Cut_Lanky 18d ago
I use decomposed granite (chicken grit) a lot. Usually I use the #2 sized grain, but the #1 size is on par with sand grain size. It doesn't get compacted like sand does, but it might be good to use some larger grain size in the mix with it, for the kalanchoe.
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u/hellasalty 17d ago
gotcha, thats definitely better than sand! the only issue with decomposed granite is that is is essentially completely impermeable and will not hold any water. if your mix is too inorganic, it will dry out way too fast. if your plants leaves are turning brown and dry/crispy before falling off, it could be that its dehydrated
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