What's wrong with this Jordaaniella cuprea?

[N.D.]

This Jordaaniella cuprea has been doing very well for 5 years, and then suddenly in the past week it started going downhill very quickly. I still water it about every two weeks, and keep it at around +25C during day time, and +5C at night under lights. Any ideas what's wrong?

[Aiko]

It looks like rot. And watering is a likely key to this. Why watering it every two weeks? Don't watch the clock for the watering needs only. Use common sense, try to feel when watering is appropriate. Has it been very warm and sunny, or where there quite some dull days and cold nights too? And when you don't know, just don't water to be on the safe side. This bit is always good advice. When in doubt, just don't water.

Is there just one dying plant, or are both photographs showing the same pot from different sides and showing different plants?

The other plants still look fine. I would take out the death one, just in case any rot spreads. I have learned the hard way with (especially) mesembs, when one plant goes the others might well follow real fast...

[N.D.]

Thanks Aiko. This is the same pot. This plant has been very robust before. When lithops and Conos were struggling, this plant did not care a bit. The plants are under lights, so light level is the same every day, but the last few weeks there have been greater variations in temperature than the previous 6 months, but only for very shorts periods of time (a few hours): down to +3C at night, and up to +30C on a few very hot days.

[topsy]

Hi N.D.

Your plant was probably suffering before two seeks ago but just wasn't that obvious. These are coastal, creeping plants - the local name is beach mesemb.

I agree with Aiko in that fortnightly watering is too much. I don't know what type of compost you are growing this in but a high mineral content would seem to be the order of the day as it is a coastal mesemb.

Your action now is to take as many cuttings from the unhappy plant as you can, clean all the old leaves and rotten or dried up stems away and leave the cut surfaces to callous over before planting in sandy compost.

Good luck, Suzanne

[Eric Williams]

Aiko has it right. "If in doubt" "have a drought" lol. Cheers