Graptosedum bronze central leaves eaten?

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aloedanielo
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Graptosedum bronze central leaves eaten?

Post by aloedanielo »

I checked all my plants yesterday in my conservatory and cleaned the floor with disinfectant (standard weekly routine). They were all fine.

Glanced over my plants this morning and one of the rosettes on my graptosedum bronze looks like it's been eaten. The inside handful of leaves around the growing tip were black and crinkly and fell off as I went to inspect. The outside leaves were still red, hard and juicy looking. The leaves that fell off weren't squishy or smelly they were just dry on the inside point and not even attached to the stem.

The plant was repotted into a new completely dry mix in November as were all my plants and has a grit topdressing. It hasn't been watered since mid October.

I did inspect the other leaves and couldn't see signs of any bugs. My next plan of action would be to take it out of its pot but before I do, any ideas what this could be?

I honestly didn't expect to have any issues in January of all months when there's no flies/bugs around.
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juster
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Re: Graptosedum bronze central leaves eaten?

Post by juster »

I am wondering if this is vine weevil damage. The adults lay eggs in the bottom of pots and the larvae eat their way up through the succulent stems, the first you know about it is when the centre of a rosette falls out, I speak from considerable experience! Can you see if the stem under the leaves is healthy? If so, then it's not vine weevil. If you're not sure, then spread out newspaper and take the plant out of its pot, the larvae are easy to see, horrid white grubs - squash them! You may then be able to re-start some undamaged heads. But there may be another explanation. Good luck!
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aloedanielo
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Re: Graptosedum bronze central leaves eaten?

Post by aloedanielo »

Thanks I’ve added some pics. I gave it a firm tug and its definitely got roots! :(
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juster
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Re: Graptosedum bronze central leaves eaten?

Post by juster »

It's difficult to be sure from a photo, but this does look exactly like vine weevil damage. Whatever the cause, the growing point on that head is damaged and will not recover. If it were my plant I would take it out of the pot and have a look, otherwise you might lose the smaller heads as well. As I said, work over newspaper or a tray to contain any grubs, you won't want them to get about. Check the stems of the small heads also to make sure there is no damage, you should be able to save some of your plant.
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Re: Graptosedum bronze central leaves eaten?

Post by esp »

I think tortrix moth caterpillars are the culprit for similar damage to my sedums and patio echeverias.

The major damage is to the centres of the rosettes, unlike the vine weevil which mostly eats stems from the inside.
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aloedanielo
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Re: Graptosedum bronze central leaves eaten?

Post by aloedanielo »

Took the plant out of its pot and - nothing! No bugs or anything. Bone dry loose soil, a healthy set of roots... so now I’m at a total loss :(

How quickly would a caterpillar much through a collection? I have lots of grapto things and echeverias all together so I’m suprised that its only this one plant thats been affected.
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Re: Graptosedum bronze central leaves eaten?

Post by juster »

Well it doesn't seem that vine weevil is responsible, so that's good news. Thankfully I have no experience of tortrix moth caterpillar, so I can't help there. Possibly just a drip of water has caused the centre to rot, maybe you will never know for sure.
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