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[sapla]

Hi
my sceletium is weak and does not recover. its stem is pinched and shrunk. I think the foot dries up and leaves mold. do you have a solution for it to regain its vigor? (before he dies)

[RatsboggleBiological]

Your Sceletium looks okay. The leaves do not like to get water on them, or they shrivel and turn to slime. I suggest you get some medium or rough/coarse gravel to use as a top mulching layer, and try to water it away from the leaves. That way the top will stay dry where the leaves rest, but it can still absorb water. You may benefit from more perlite in your soil, or more drainage somehow from another soil addition.

They are strange succulents but they are somewhat hardy as long as you don't overwater.

[valec]

Mine actually are extremely hardy. During the summer they were outside with a lot of rain. The soil was almost always quite wet (despite having a good drainage layer below). I was a bit worried but they grew really well. Now during the winter I took them inside, a sunny window in the warm kitchen, almost no water (a little bit every few weeks) and they still grow and grow. I'd say, you can leave them pretty much unattended. Sometimes a few leaves become yellow and dry, but not very frequently.

However, I haven't had any success with rooting cuttings. Those were just rotting away from below.

[sapla]

For the moment the stem is dry and I'm afraid that this will block the flow of sap to the leaves.
The plant is very soft and the stems have no resistance.
I will post pictures tomorrow.

[jbz711]

That's totally normal, I think it's actually the reason for the generic name, because of its skeleton-like appearance when older.  I have one in my greenhouse I took from my mother in the ground under an unheated cloche in 8b, both plants are thriving.  They go dormant in the summer but you should see a lot of growth right now if you're in the northern hemisphere.

[sapla]

The stem dries very quickly.
Maybe it lacks light and warmth...
It no grows and the stem continues to dry ...

[Greenmystery]

The way it's rotting level with soil leads me to believe that a poor draining soil mix with overwatering may be your problem

[sapla]

Is it still possible to dry it quickly to try to save it.I'm afraid of damaging it more.
Is there a solution to dry roots it without digging it up?

[jbz711]

Again, unless it is suggested, there is nothing wrong with that plant. If it's not broke don't try to fix it.  If you do decide to do something drastic and chop it up or something, you'll find the cuttings root fine.  That is absolutely how older plants look, just look on Google and you'll see a few examples, including the Wikipedia article.  If the sceletium starts to rot the whole affected area turns to true mush quickly, it's how the plant is fermented in fact, but this drying as you call it is normal. Wluld you be concerned if a small tree started to "dry" and then hard when it's getting larger and becoming lignified? It can gets its "sap" too.

Tl;Dr, don't fix what isn't broken. If I'm wrong and it dies I'll send you another one if in the states

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[sapla]

Ok I would like to be optimistic,but I think the plant is weakening very seriously

[RatsboggleBiological]

My Sceletium are suffering similarly. I am about to repot them and see if they do any better in a fabric pot. I think my soil is not very good.

[valec]

So my sceletium looks similar, but I agree with those who say it's normal. Although, while mine is showing this drying-up behavior, it is also growing like mad. I'm not doing anything special. It's planted in some recycled soil (contains some perlite from earlier soil mixes and was sterilized in the microwave for 3min at 900W). Last summer it's been raining a lot so the soil was always wet. Didn't harm the plant. Now it's inside by a sunny window and kept very dry during the winter. Doesn't do any harm either, it's growing very fast still.

I tried making cuttings using some rooting hormone. One of the cuttings didn't root at all, the other maybe did but isn't growing. Maybe my method of rooting cuttings is bad, but I'd say, probably you'll loose the plants if you turn them into cuttings. I would just hope they start growing again.

I have the impression that they like sun and they don't care much about the soil or the watering. As usual they should not be constantly very wet, but certainly no need to keep them dry like a cactus.

[sapla]

Nice photo. for my part I can’t be optimistic

[RatsboggleBiological]

I was worried mine would die for a while before and after a transplant but they seem to like the fabric pot.

They had a lot die back and turn brown but some still looks good... i am struggling lots with watering it properly for some reason. Might plant some more just in case

[RatsboggleBiological]

Maybe it just needs a transplant to soil that gets more air in the root zone?