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alliep_gw

Bought baby toes - is it sick??

Alliep
9 years ago

So, I went and bought 3 new succulent type plants today and one of them were baby toes. There were three of them (all looking somewhat sickly) and I bought one. I have not ONCE seen baby toes in Calgary so I had to buy one!

Anyways, I'm back at my office, I took a closer look at it and it has.. what looks like big bite marks? I also bought a cute echeveria and anacampseros - they both look healthy.

Should I quarantine this baby toe from my other plants?? I will water it today and repot tomorrow so I can get a good look at its roots as well. Meanwhile, help if you've any idea if this is something I should be worried about, thanks!

~Allie

Comments (21)

  • seedmoney
    9 years ago

    Ooh--Lucky you!
    I don't think your plant is a Baby Toes (Fenestraria rhopalophylla). It looks more like Frithia pulchra to me. If it is Frithia, it's a summer grower and will not require water fall thru winter. Frithia blooms are a magenta pink while Fenestraria blooms are either white or yellow.
    As for the damage, it looks like a snail or slug may have taken a nosh at the nursery.

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Ahhh! I believe it's Frithia something - but description also called it baby toes (confused!)

    It won't require water at all?? @_@ Hmm~ I just fed water yesterday.. and realized my bag of granite grit is (somehow) missing so I couldn't make my mix -.- Hopefully I can pick some up this weekend and repot~ Would it do okay in regular cactus mix? I need an excuse to use my useless bag of cactus mix.. I haven't been using any since I've been making my own mix haha~

    Hope I can get it to a better condition. few of them are withering away. Overall condition is -okay- I didn't spot any bugs, haven't checked out roots yet. The other two are faring well. I'm excited to add these to my collection !

  • DavidL.ca
    9 years ago

    Very nice addition! That's indeed a Frithia pulchra and should give you pink/purple flower when in bloom. I have a Fenestraria, they both have the common name of baby toes so you're not mistaken. The plant is not infested by pests so no need to quarantine, but it certainly doesn't require much water at all at this point as it looks pretty plump, and also you can see a few leaves has split already from overwatering (not you). I generally water mine every 10-14 days, when it's thirsty it will let you know, wrinkly leaves and soft to the touch are some instances, very easy to overwater them and cause splitting. So I would suggest hold water until you get them into new soil and wait for the roots to heal, or even simpler, just watch them carefully.

    Love the Anacampseros, I have a A. rufescens, but the 'sunrise' is definitely unique and beautiful!

    I'll try to capture their thirsty look, but here's mine when it was freshly repotted in August.

  • Jaredhello
    9 years ago

    Where'd you buy those??? I love windowed succulents and I've been searching for Frithia's but I can't seem to find them anywhere :

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Ahh!!! Yours look so healthy and beautiful. It's obvious you take good care of them. I will stop watering for a couple of weeks - it's starting to get a bit chilly here. It might not be the best time to repot them but I do not want them to stay in the mix they are in right now.

    My favorite so far out of my collection are my sedums. They were dying from being over watered when I got them, then I added to it I think by wiping some of the leaves - oops! (one on the left middlish corner only had 3 big leaves left before turning around to recover) they all quadrupled in size this summer in 4 months I got these guys at a Calgary store so I don't think it would apply to you unless you are in Calgary as well? Regardless, store is called garden retreat - right by chinook ;) I don't know how to add more than one picture here -.-

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    David, what soil are your baby toes in?

    attached an old picture of my small collection:

  • DavidL.ca
    9 years ago

    Oh yay, another Canadian grower! I think it's okay for repotting as long as you are able to give them some light and keep them indoor. Your sedums are very cute, reminds me of my Pachyphytum, those super succulent leaves are just wonderful.

  • DavidL.ca
    9 years ago

    Whoa! I'm jealous of that huge windowsill... Don't worry, with that space you can build up your collection real quick. Perhaps you should expand mostly when spring comes though. Canadian winter is definitely not going to fair well for all plants.

    I've had at least 3-4 versions of soil for my succulents already since I started growing them this May... At first I went for the easiest fix of 50/50 perlite and succulent soil. I believe my baby toes are in my "grittier mix" 2.0, which has Turface added in and some gravel and coarse sand, besides perlite and soil. My newest mix for my new plants are consisted of Turface, chicken grit, perlite, soil, and pinch of vermiculite.

    You've inspired me to take some new photos of my collection :)

    Most of my first plants are here
    {{gwi:678799}}

    Haworthias
    {{gwi:678801}}

    The ones under lights:
    {{gwi:678803}}

    A few more have been moved to the other window already, yup I need a house before I keep buying!

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Oh wow, I want to steal some of your plants! :(

    So gritty mix is good for baby toes as well? I read somewhere 3 parts soil 1 part sand.. I'm not a big fan of sand so I wanted to get second and third opinion. I'm going to try to make time to pick up more granite grit this weekend or maybe during lunch hour today, haha. I still don't know where my 1/5 a small bag went.

    I haven't taken updated photo of my "window sill" yet but I'm sorry to say what you saw was only half of it.. Here's an old photo (Beginning/middle of summer this year) of the entire window..... ;) You can see a bag of turface on the left and my dying aloe plant on the right side (ignore that). Believe it or not, my window sill is... completely FULL now... I brought in small stands and what not to put more plants in the back without depriving it of much needed sunlight. Maybe I will take an update photo tonight as well when I get back home from work!

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    You are in Canada as well? Don't let me know where you live, because you will find yourself the next day with only a few plants left at your windowsill - only because I couldn't fit them all in my car, haha.

    I'm living at my parent's. It's good because the entire first floor is mine - financially sound decision for a somewhat newly graduated student from uni. They live on the third floor so they don't bother me at all xD It's perfect!

    I try to keep them outside while I can.. but now it's getting cold and my dog, plants, and I all have to brace for our harsh winter...

  • DavidL.ca
    9 years ago

    Haha it would be hard for you to steal them, since I live in an apartment on the 12th floor! Probably still easier than me trying to take your windowsill home though.... That being said, it's also the reason I wish I live in a house, because there's no "outdoor" option for me at all :(

    That's great that you can get your hands on both Turface and granite grit. I have trouble finding both of those in Ontario. I was able to get small bags of Turface finally recently, but for my chicken grit I had to import it from US and it was ridiculously expensive...

    Hm I don't know where you read about the 3 part soil 1 part sand recipe, because I believe most people here would tell you it's not ideal. Baby toes are part of the mesemb family, and they need really free-draining soil to thrive, otherwise really prone to rot or again, leaf explosion problems. Since you can get Turface and grit easily, I would look into something like that instead :)

    Here is a link that might be useful: Rest of my plants :)

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Getting turface wasn't all that easy. I had to explore the industrial east part of town to get my hands on a 50lb bag (no option for smaller bag). As for granite grit, I went through about 4-5 garden centres to find them as well. It was well worth it because now I know where to go if I run out. As for you, you might need to explore outer skirts of town at feed stores (granite grit) & landscape stores (turface - john deere, etc)

    Yeah that's what I thought. I'm going to plant them in gritty mix. 1-1-1.

    I really hope mine will fare well through winter and look as clean as yours do next year :( Will its scars from slug bites go away eventually?

  • DavidL.ca
    9 years ago

    Yeah, I had to drive quite a bit for the Turface. Hopefully one day I can find granite grit :)
    I think they will be fine! Yeah scars on the old leaves will go away once the leaves wither and replaced by new growths. Even with my minimal watering some of my leaves still split. This is also the time of the year that they flower, I think mine is sending a stalk VERY slowly.

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hmm, another question - when should I be fertilizing my succulents till? It's getting cold but I haven't fertilized them for 1.5 - 2 months ish so I want to give a last feeding. I guess Ontario doesn't get as cold as Calgary but let me know~ I've definitely noticed slow down on growth. Is there a type of fertilizer you prefer?

    I'm going to be re-potting my new babies today~ post a picture when yours flower? :)

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Re-potted them! Couldn't find pots a size smaller for baby toes and sunrise. Covered top lightly with turface for aesthetics. :)

  • DavidL.ca
    9 years ago

    I'm going to do one final fertilizing too in a week or two before I start to really water most plants much less. I use Schultz cactus liquid plant food. I dilute it a bit more than instructed, and it's been working quite well with most of my plants. Mesembs in general don't really need/like fertilizers, so maybe just do it less often than your other plants.

    Awesome! Looking great :D They'll grow to the size of the pot sooner than later. My Anacampseros certainly grew rather fast. Will update here for sure if I get a flower from the toes :)

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Oh I have the same fertilizer! I will give everyone their final feeding next week. Need to downsize some how...

    I'm also experimenting with growing lemon tree from seed & lettuce seeds indoors as well. Lots of projects - not that I have a lot of spare time but it keeps me sane.

  • DavidL.ca
    9 years ago

    Sounds nice! Due to limited space I can only have succulents and tillandsia air plants for now :@

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Just wanted to update - photo taken today. I believe its recovering well :) Very firm and no squishy parts. It's still not what you'd call a pretty sight but it's only been one month since I rescued it from over watered conditions.

  • DavidL.ca
    9 years ago

    Looking good! Well done :)
    Mine is still refusing to flower.. I see the buds at the base of the plant but it's not sending it up, guess the lights condition is not allowing it to do so :(

  • Alliep
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    haha maybe it's shy ;) my anacampseros I got at the same time (that I thought potted in too big of a pot) is growing very nicely too. I'm now glad I planted it in that size.

    Echeveria didn't grow as much but its flower stem grew about three times taller. I think I will give it nutrients still in my next watering.

    Since I don't know how to post multiple photos... http://loveforapples.tumblr.com/
    Been lazy at updating but will get there, all in good time.