I bought my zebra succulent a few months ago from Home Depot. It was originally potted in a decoration skull pot with no actual dirt around it so after Halloween was over I transferred it to a new pot with cactus dirt. I've only watered it once since repotting but it's been looking healthy. I went to check on it today however and I noticed a yellow growth on its underside. At first I thought it was a bug because it looks kind of like a large maggot but I got some q-tips and tried to pull it out and it was extremely hard and didn't pull out of the plant. Is this a type of bug that I need to treat the plant for or is this what it's form of regrowth looks like? I also noticed little yellow balls in the dirt, they're about the same color as the spot on the plant.

I don't know what the yellow thing is - its not a part of the plant. The balls in the soil might be time release fertilizer (all I see is perlite). Water when the soil is dry (it looks pretty dry) and put it in the sunniest window you can find.

Not sure what the yellow thing is either. The only yellow thing that grew sometimes in some of my containers are mushrooms. But they quickly die off naturally once our hot weather ensues. Easy enough to get these spores, and it only needs a conducive damp environment to encourage its growth. Not really an issue if it were mushrooms, but I would check the soil if it is staying too wet.

If it is right at the base of the plant, it may also be just the older lower leaf naturally dying off first, once it turns brown you can tug and pull gently.

Looking at your soil, it seems a bit dense, needs to be much grittier.

DaisyI said:

I don't know what the yellow thing is - its not a part of the plant. The balls in the soil might be time release fertilizer (all I see is perlite). Water when the soil is dry (it looks pretty dry) and put it in the sunniest window you can find.

Thank you for your response! I was able to get the yellow thing off finally after some pulling and it didn't look like a bug or anything so I have no idea what it was. I was thinking the same thing about the balls after some internet research, I just wasn't sure if those balls could possibly be related to the growth. Do you happen to know how hearty this specific type of plant is to the cold? I've been avoiding putting it directly in my kitchen window because it's snowy and cold now here in Michigan and I don't want it to get too cold, so I have it alongside my sink where it still gets a decent amount of light I think.

tarev said:Not sure what the yellow thing is either. The only yellow thing that grew sometimes in some of my containers are mushrooms. But they quickly die off naturally once our hot weather ensues. Easy enough to get these spores, and it only needs a conducive damp environment to encourage its growth. Not really an issue if it were mushrooms, but I would check the soil if it is staying too wet.

If it is right at the base of the plant, it may also be just the older lower leaf naturally dying off first, once it turns brown you can tug and pull gently.

Looking at your soil, it seems a bit dense, needs to be much grittier.

Thank you for responding! It definitely wasn't a mushroom or leaf, it almost looked kind of like a pimple as gross as that sounds. I was finally able to pull it out (at least I think I got it all). What would you personally recommend to add to my soil to make it grittier? I'm new to taking care of succulents so a lot of this is all new to me!

I often use pumice or you can use perlite if that is what you have available. I also top dress the soil with pumice or chicken grit (insoluble crushed granite), I do that to avoid the leaves and the base of the plant touching wet soil longer than needed. It takes awhile for water to dry off especially in winter. Our winters maybe mild here, but it is also our rainy season, so really got to make the media grittier. In your set-up, since it is indoors, it will be similar since, dry out time takes longer as well indoors. So observe longer watering intervals.

tarev said:I often use pumice or you can use perlite if that is what you have available. I also top dress the soil with pumice or chicken grit (insoluble crushed granite), I do that to avoid the leaves and the base of the plant touching wet soil longer than needed. It takes awhile for water to dry off especially in winter. Our winters maybe mild here, but it is also our rainy season, so really got to make the media grittier. In your set-up, since it is indoors, it will be similar since, dry out time takes longer as well indoors. So observe longer watering intervals.

Thank you, I'll have to do that then! I've been watering once a month unless they look extra dry. I originally was doing every 15 days or so but I noticed my blue echeveria looked like it was being over-watered so I backed off to once a month. Thank you again for all your help!

Yes, succulents grown indoors during the cold season, at times once a month watering is quite enough. The plants ably store moisture in their leaves and stems. Just got to water well, see the excess water drain out, but continue providing as much warmth and bright light you can give. Especially in your area, it is much colder there. Just don't let the leaves touch your cold windows.

Typically, they can handle temps down to 30F to 32F, but got to be kept very dry at these temps. Indoors, we pretty much stay at comfortable warm temperature levels, but light levels are much shorter, so it is important to position them by your brightest, ideally south facing window if you can.

Wow I didn't realize they could handle temps that low! That makes taking care of them up here in Michigan a lot easier. Thankfully the window I have them in currently is a south facing window (its one of the only ones my cats don't get in so they'll leave them alone). I also just put a thermometer in the window next to them so I can monitor how warm/cold it gets there. Thank you for helping me out so much, like I said most of this is all new to me! I've helped my grandparents with their veggie and flower gardens my whole life but indoor succulent growing is a whole new ballgame for me.

I wouldn't worry about putting plants in your window unless ice forms on the inside of the glass. I have orchids in my kitchen windows.

Can I take a stab at it? New roots start to form underneath the oldest leaves. You can often remove an old leaf and under it is a nub of a new root. The nub is that colour. So, yes it would look like some odd pimple like growth.

Hmmm, never seen mine display new growth that way.

@Daisyl you have never noticed that when you completely remove an old leaf at the very bottom of agave, aloe, haworthia, yucca, gasteria,...there is a little bump or nub. It's easiest to see when you are repotting a plant and cleaning off the old leaves. It helps even more when it it bare root. Everytime I have killed the roots off of one of those plants the new roots start from one of those nubs.

No, I haven't noticed that.

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone knows what this "growth" is growing near my zebra. I've had her for over 3yrs now, in the same environment, she's delighted with her home and has had two blooms this year. However, just today, I noticed this interesting yellow growth popping out and yellow spots growing around the outer parts of the soil. See below/attached pictures.

Should I be worried or invite this yellow thing in?

Zeebruh said:Hello,

I was wondering if anyone knows what this "growth" is growing near my zebra. I've had her for over 3yrs now, in the same environment, she's delighted with her home and has had two blooms this year. However, just today, I noticed this interesting yellow growth popping out and yellow spots growing around the outer parts of the soil. See below/attached pictures.

Should I be worried or invite this yellow thing in?

That looks like some kind of Fuligo septica. It's a slime mold. One of its more colorful common names is 'Dog Vomit Slime Mold'. Sometimes I've heard it called simply 'Vomit Mold or Fungus'. Another common name is 'Witches Butter', because it tends to start out some shade of yellow and it spread out covering the surfaces of things near it. I don't think it will actually hurt the plant, but it's an indication things have gotten too wet in the organic material below what looks like a layer of Perlite. At least wet enough for the spores to grow. It grows here when conditions have been rainy, particularly in hardwood mulch. It can spread rapidly and cover a rather large area. After the initial growth it really does turn slimy. The most unpleasant aspect are the spores. The least disturbance will cause a black cloud. The spores are really hard to control. I used to try standing back and hose them down, but even with a lot of water the cloud just grows and spreads. Because it does turn slimy and even more because the old body of the mold will emit the cloud of spores, I try to take shovel or hoe or something and flip it over when it is still fresh - maybe even stir it around, which seems to interrupt both the slime and spore cycle

That's my thought on seeing the photo. Others here may disagree and know more. That container looks like a fish bowl. Does it have drain holes in the bottom? I'm surprised to not see any algae growth through the clear sides since it's been planted for three years.

Nice plant. I like seeing unconventional setups. My mother has one of these growing in a weird setup of orchid bark, in a pot without drainage. She had a bunch of random morning glory seeds fall into it and germinate last year; I think they actually survived to bloom, too. Sounds completely 'wrong' but it's been thriving for years. So who am I to judge.

Your plant is clearly thriving; hopefully that yellow thing is not bad news for your setup. I, too, am interested in whatever it is. You see something new every day, here.