You did good Kyla, you are officially a loving semp mom. The offsets will be fine, as I already know you handled them gently.

So, I made another mistake, looks like. I transplanted Legolas a little while ago -- well, I had to because it had gotten its container knocked over by a cat and it was all dumped out on the ground. (For the second time!) I relocated the container this time.

But I have not given it enough room! Two of the rosettes are making offsets:


Darn it. I hate to disturb it yet again but I think I have to. Hope I can find good places for them as I am running out of appropriate containers.

In the future I will know to provide a lot more room around these guys.

@TerriStanley -- Also, a note here for Terri if you're reading this: I know you'd asked for some Legolas and I would be more than happy to share, BUT! I have a real challenge getting to the post office in any kind of timely fashion. I have to rely on my housemate/cousin for rides and her schedule is not easy to squeeze into except when she has an open slot, and they are never predictable. So I fear I would package it up, and then have it sit around too long. Which is why I didn't offer.

Kyla, in my experience transplanting them doesn't hurt them, it maybe slows down growth but I'm not even sure of that... Although maybe Lynn's plants are so much larger than mine because I move mine whenever it seems necessary

I had already transplanted a Legolas rosette that didn't have room for its offsets! So I'll do the same here.

I think you will be fine moving them Kyla. They are actively growing this time of year. I just moved some of mine yesterday, into new beds.

Oh, darn. What's wrong with Green Wheel? Is it telling me the drainage in that huge pot isn't good enough? We did get rain and I did water yesterday, but the other Green Wheel is fine, all the other semps are fine..... Should I try to remove this damaged rosette? Or leave it be?

Could it be a hen that's pooped from pushing out a good number of those offsets? For whatever reason it is pooping out and if it bothers you looking at it, you could remove it if it comes away easy with a tug. Be prepared for a hole there but the other offsets should fill it in gradually. If not pulled out easily, then leave it and it should dry out eventually.

Kyla, from my (limited) experiences that's what first happens when a semp gets too much water in soil that doesn't drain well enough and perhaps too much sun. I always see it first in a larger hen. In your pic, you can also see it starting to affect surrounding chicks if you look very closely.
I am trying much more sharply draining soil this year to see what happens. I also only water late after the sun has started to set and temps have cooled. I have noticed fewer losses since.

Anyone with more experience and knowledge, please feel free to correct or contradict me if I'm wrong.

I am leaning towards J.C.'s explanation. I also see damage spreading to some of the surrounding offsets.
Is it in full sun? If so, move it to bright shade.
I also agree about making sure your potting mix is very fast draining. If it has rained you would not need to water them.
If the discolored rosettes are feeling like they are beginning to rot I would remove them. Also check the soil and see if it wet.

Thanks. Well, it rained AFTER I watered, of course. Weird that no other semps are bothered in the same row. I think I will try to change that soil mixture; I may have planted that at a different time and not lightened the potting soil quite enough.

Well, I scurried outside and lifted up that Green Wheel and removed the rotting rosettes (there was a second one too!) and repotted the entire clump in an entirely different pot with a much sharper and sandier potting mix. Ran out of everything including my pea gravel, but I can mulch it later on. I then put it under cover so it doesn't get rained on! I hope it recovers.

Two healthy ones broke off during this process so I stuck them in Little Rock where they should be fine. (The other Green Wheel is there and is doing great.)



Glad I did that right away as it did rain right afterward. Fiddle.

Great work Kyla. They should return to health and be beautiful. Keep us posted.

Good to hear, Kyla.
Something I will say as well (since I learned the hard way last year and we are both in 6b) is, be sure the sand you use is quite coarse or perhaps use it fairly sparingly.
I don't know how wet your winters are there, but last winter here was wetter than expected. I learned that the sand I used retained more moisture than expected and the losses over winter were many. For my soil mix this year I'm going lighter on sand (since for some reason I can't get really coarse sand here), and much heavier on pea gravel. I'll probably have to water more in the summer but hopefully I'll have fewer losses after winter.

JC, what I actually use mostly is perlite. The only sand I have is the stuff that collects around the pea gravel in the bag. Unfortunately that is quite fine! but in this particular container there is now a lot of the actual gravel as well as perlite so it ought to work okay.

I hope!

Cool, it should be fine.
It sounds like you are doing what I wish I did last year.

What, use perlite?

Nah, I used (and still use) perlite. I just meant altered my soil ratios to much more pea gravel. Oh well, live and learn.

Oh I see! Well, yes and I will for sure do that more now I've had this experience. I just got sloppy with that one I expect, and mixed too fast.

Looks like I got sloppy with Lone Star too. Not the big group in the basket but the rosette I moved and potted in clay. Looked over there today and my eyes got big cause it was like seeing a zombie semp! NOOOOO!

but it's too late for that one! and it happened in a flash too, it was FINE yesterday and I have not watered since then. So..... feh. Too discouraged even to take a picture! And it is odd because some of the noids I have have been in much wetter circumstances, it seems, and not shown any damage at all. (I'm thinking of last fall and winter, really.)

so I dunno.

I did buy a new one today, one of those with the webbing and lots of little either flowers or offsets..... thought it had a tag but it doesn't, still, distinctive enough I might be able to ID it. Now I am not sure I know what to do with it! I'll do something tomorrow. Take a picture of the new one at least, and pot it up in pure pea gravel and perlite.