saving graptoveria iona (and two echeverias)

suomiversio tiivistettynä lopussa!

okay, so when i got my latest shipment of succulents, i noticed the graptoveria was a bit off. i thought it was just upset from being in a container for a week but after a few days, i noticed white fluff between the leaves. thought it was mold, wiped it away and hoped for the best. the leaves also started looking increasingly... not wrinkly but definitely not supple. they felt kind of squishy when i touched them gently. not only that, but the bottom leaves were drying out and pups were trying to squeeze out all over!

so now that i have my most laborous school projects (and the subsequent post-stress migraine) out of the way, i thought i'd try to separate the pups and generally look into the plant's state. 

found out giromagi uses some sort of gravel for their plants, as the soil was maybe 75%  gravel and the rest very sandy soil. notes taken! i have ordered some perlite and seramis, which i hear are good options as the soil should be airy enough for water to dry quickly (the rare instances when succulents are watered).

unfortunately i got sucked into some sort of flow while doing the deed, so i only have photos of the pups and the mother plant in its new pot.

here is a photo of the offending white fluff. a brief search on reddit revealed it might be mealy bugs (disgusting) and that they should wiped off with isopropyl alcohol. well, i do not have that. i have marinol which we have bought for camping purposes (for cooking). diluted it and wiped the fluff off with a q-tip.

damn blogger, the interface is lagging because it keeps autosaving and apparently i can't stop it?

here is the biggest pup (as far as i can tell)! it also had some fluff so i hope it will be fine. they are so small, even this "big one", very cute! here you can also see what i mean by the leaves looking squishy and wrinkly. some of the healthier looking leaves have "blisters" on the tips of the leaves which looks concerning to me... i'll probs research these things throughout the night. 😂

the mother plant! she has suffered some symmetry loss but meh. as long as it survives! i have grown partial to this plant even though it doesn't look super unique. i like that the bottoms of the leaves are reddish, kinda like some purple echeveria (graptoveria is a cross between graptopetalum and echeveria) 😃

i noticed the white fluff had spread (or already existed) in two of my darker echeverias, which i am also partial to! they got the same marinol treatment and the whole squad is now quarantined on my boyfriend's desk. unfortunately, they are far away from the plant light (and the heater) but meh, i don't know if i can afford to lose all my plants and bug infestation. 

my boyfriend is now on a trip and will be back tomorrow, i hope they will be allowed to stay there 😂 luckily he seems very accepting and curious of my new hobby. he is still suspicious about propagating from leaves, he will be very surprised once my "lovely rose" echeveria will be a cute little baby plant. i can already see teeny weeny buds forming at the calloused part! also, one of the "infected" echeveria seems to be making a flower stem 😲

 this took me by surprise! i noticed this growth a while ago but just now realized that it's a starting flower stem 😂 (i did tell i'm a total n00b in the intro)

soooo until spring, this will be my mood:

och samma på finska! oli tarkoitus pitää tätä blogia kahdella kielellä, tai oikeastaan enimmäkseen suomeksi, mutta aivoni ja sormeni päättivät puolestani ja kirjoittivat tämän postauksen englanniksi. elikkäs! giromagista tilaamani graptoveria iona alkoi näyttää tuomiopäivän lähestymisen merkkejä. lehdet tuntuivat nahkeilta, ja bongasin valkoista höttöä vähän siellä sun täällä, enimmäkseen lehtien alla. redditin mehikasviharrastajat tunnistivat heti "mealybugeiksi", eli jonkinlaisiksi madoiksi? oli niin jäätävä kuva tuosta ötökästä wikipediassa, että jätin lukematta ja ryhdyin graptoverian halkomis- ja siirtämishommiin!

kaverin ruukku on ollut saapumisestaan asti aika ruuhkaantunut, poikasia tuli irrotettua jopa 12 kappaletta! poistin emokasvista nahkeimmat lehdet ja ne, joiden alla oli kyseistä höttöä. emo on nyt uudessa ruukussaan ja kärsii epäsymmetriasta, mutta jos tuo selviää niin eiköhän homma korjaannu kun alimmat lehdet kuolevat joskus.

parissa echeveriassa (oisko purpusorum? tai jonkinlainen variaatio) oli myöskin pieniä valkoisia ja höttöisiä pisteitä, joten pyyhkäisin laimennetulla marinolilla ja pistin karanteeniin poikaystävän työpöydälle koko köörin, mukaan lukien graptoverian poikasineen. ovat olleet nyt siinä 14.12. asti ja isompi echeveria ryhtyi puskemaan kukkaa! hauska ylläri :) tänä aamuna  (17.12.) huomasin kukan varren kasvaneen joitakin millimetrejä. aikamoista, taitaa tuo laji tykätä viileämmästä! eräs itämään jätetty lehti on myöskin alkanut puskea poikasta "haavasta" (kohta josta lehti irrotettiin varresta). että taitaa tulla toinen echeveria lovely rose sitten keväälä! yllä oleva kummeli-pätkä kuvaa fiiliksiäni tällä hetkellä.