hi, so I've had this succulent for a few months and it just... flopped over. it used to grow super fast and it was healthy, but now it's just flopped over and wont grow. any idea how to keep it alive? I tend to kill every plant I get.
hello! without a photo I can’t say for sure, so if you have a photo of your plant, feel free to send it to me. your plant’s roots and/or stem can no longer support it, and there are a number of reasons why this could be the case.
first, check your stem. if it’s black/brown and squishy, it’s rotted and has died – which has caused your plant to topple. if the stem is firm and green it’s still alive, so take the plant out of its pot and check the roots for rot. another way of telling this is the soil – is it dense and wet? succulents need soil that is fast draining, and having wet feet for too long is the main cause of rot. additionally, if your plant has been growing long and leggy, with a lot of space between leaves, it is etiolated and has too much water for the amount of sun it’s getting. this would contribute to root rot.
alternatively, your plant’s roots could simply have dried out and died, cutting off water supply to the rest of the plant. based on what you’ve told me however about how quickly it was growing, it seems like root/stem rot is the culprit. now to fix it – if the roots/stem are dead, using a clean blade cut the stem so that only the healthy green parts of the plant remain. let it callous over for a few days, then plant it in well draining soil (I use a 1:1 mix of perlite and cactus soil) and only water when the soil dries out or the leaves feel squishy. good luck!
