My Flapjack isn’t happy

by Abby
(Northeast US)


Hello,
I am from the northeast and have recently have really gotten into place the past couple months.

I bought a good looking flapjack succulent with one baby back in early June.

I have them in a bay window facing north with a bunch of my other plants. I water the plant every two weeks but it’s it starting to get very droopy, the leaves are mushy and is leaning over.

Do I have a water issue, a sun issue or both? I would move it to my 3 seasons mud room that gets light pretty much all day, but it is not insulated and I feel the it would not like the cold nights. What can I do to help it? I hate seeing my plants struggling.

Comments for My Flapjack isn’t happy

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Aug 07, 2021
 Contrary to Popular Belief
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

These plants can get huge. Like towering over you huge. The fact that it's only the lower leaves that are affected tells you something.

If they're grown in perfect conditions (ie: in a bright, warm greenhouse) they adapt to that condition. Then, they are sold to a garden center, or the corner store, where they no longer have optimum conditions. They may not show the stress of moving into less than ideal conditions at first. So they still look good, then you buy them, and they have to adapt to yet another different set of conditions. This is the result - falling leaves.

The leaves that are drooping will never go back to looking like they did. They're in the process of dying. However, the top of the plant looks good, and this is where you need to concentrate.

In time, maybe late in the summer, you could cut the top of the plant off, re-root it, and have a nice plant, but in the meantime, I would cut off the drooping leaves (see if they will root too!) and pay attention to the pups that will emerge from the base.

This is a big plant for that size of pot, so maybe you can get a bigger pot, with the correct soil (which may be different to what it's in now) and repot it.

In addition, you say it's in a north window. This is not going to be enough light. I think you should move it into your mud room for the rest of the summer, as long as it stays above freezing. Then, for the winter, get a grow light.

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