Tarev, I think it looks like it! Perfect time to get a little knife out and take the center out of it - if you want to try the "save the hen experiment" haha it does break up the look but you can get some really interesting results, like Bev got, where there are chicks and blooms on the same stalk!! And your hen looks so perfect for doing this! like a pimple ready to pop eeew sorry!

So Semps rubellum 'Mahogany' and Semp Kalinda, both are still doing great..my feared bolting has not materialized...thankfully!

However my Semp Oddity is on life support..got attacked by a white sticky thingy..which I tried to remove by alcohol...losing leaves fast..and this heat wave is not helping.. Middle of rosette still looks decent, but I feel sad having to pluck out dead rotted outer leaves.

Cool weather is coming Tarev, it should bounce back. Do you have photos of it's condition?
Congratulations on the other two. It will be interesting to see how they do by spring. Please keep us posted. It really helps us to understand the range of growing zones possible for them.

Tarev whenever I've had something like that - where so much of the plant is rotting, or peeling off - I always pull it, and take off all the leaves that look bad, let it dry out for a day or so, then replant. Usually in no time it recovers and is better than before! I've never heard of that sticky stuff @valleylynn have you Lynn??

Lynn we cross posted Cheers

That was why I wanted to see a photo of it. Not sure if it isn't just kind of melting in the heat?
Tarev, do you have it in full sun?

It is under part sun part shade as the city trees cover it in the hottest part of the day.

I would not say it is melting in the heat..but with these leaf removals I am doing, it now has an easily visible stem. I have added some more pumice and smaller rocks around too a few days ago, after I applied alcohol. Had to pull the plant since those sticky stuff is just way too under the leaves.

My Semp Oddity today:

Closer look of that white sticky stuff, it is right at the point where the end of the leaf joins the rest:


During early to mid summer Semp Oddity is doing okay!
13June 2014

July 2014


Our current temps: around 95F expected to go to 99-100F later


Semp Kalinda and Semp Rubellum still enjoying this weather:
Semp Kalinda

Semp Rubellum 'Mahogany'

Keep the Oddity away from the other semps. It really does look like it has some kind of pest.
Maybe mealybug? http://www.planetnatural.com/p...
It will cause the plant leaves to feel sticky.
Sounds like you might let the plant dry out.
Maybe you can look through a magnifying glass, or take a very steady close up photo that you can enlarge to see what is there?

I am betting mealy bugs Tarev! It looks like that to me...I have had some semps get them, just not very often - I would make sure to clean the plant really well, and like Lynn suggested keep away from other plants. Your rubbing alcohol is a good treatment!

Yeah, I was choosing between mealy bugs or powdery mildew..but since it is rock dry here..it maybe mealy bugs..so I gave it the alcohol treatment. Pesky little monsters!

Thanks Lynn and Greg, I will try and isolate this one..and apply another dose of alcohol when temps are cooler..whenever that maybe..

Good luck tarev. I hope it all works out. That is such a fun semp to grow. I actually had one bloom last year.

Tarev if you lose that one, please let me know, I have some of both "oddity" and "grigg's surprise" and I noticed today that both of them are sending up many many offsets!

Oh cool! Thanks Greg! I will keep you informed! Thanks again Lynn!

Ok perfect!

Jumping in here -- I had trouble with mealy bugs that looked just like that. And they did seem to carry around some sort of mold. A friend's suggestion worked for me: Fill a spray bottle with Listerine (brand name only) and spray the plant every day. Since I use that now as a daily prophylactic, I can keep many more plants together indoors without worrying about the bugs, mold etc. that used to plague them. The only thing it hasn't completely gotten rid of are the gnats, but I only have an occasional one -- not the huge hatch-outs I used to have. If I suspect that, I spray the soil surface well.

But I don't know if extreme heat will affect that -- if you want to try it, I'd suggest using it in the evening... MR

Oh thanks MR! I have heard of using Listerine too on some orchids, but have not tried that for succulents...I will look into that too!

I wonder where my friendly lacewings are, I have read they feast on these mealybugs...maybe our very hot weather is keeping them away..

MR do you use the listerine full strength?? I will try that also!

Yes, I do use the Listerine full-strength, Greg. It lasts a surprising while if you use it just one step above a misting spray -- and since it's gotten rid of all of the truly frightening chemicals I was using before, I think it saves money. At least I don't go through my bottles any faster than the sisters who are using it on their teeth...

P.S. and I've never had leaf-burn or any adverse reactions that I can see, even when I spray more on the soil because I saw a gnat or 2 around a pot. I've been using it this way for well over 2 years now. I'm going to see if Arlene's advice to water only from the bottom gets rid of the gnats, too. That would be great!