Floppy-stemmed succulents

[Low Altitude]

I'm relatively new to succulents, after 'rescuing' a friend's jade houseplant last year that looked dead but delighted us by coming back to life and propagating, against al expectations. We now have baby jades...

Since then, I've got a couple more and am really loving the little things. Apart from anything else, they've amazed me at how their growth accelerated this summer – I live in the temperate NE USA, rather than the more uni-seasonal zones nearer the equator where these guys are naturally indigenous.

However, in the last couple of months, July-Aug, my more 'vertical' ones – a couple of jade plants and a stemmed agave – while they've grown impressively, have developed floppy stems, to the extent that I've had to stake them to keep them 'up'. In the case of the jade plant, I must suspect that the problem is that I've over-watered, BECAUSE the leaves have also yellowed a bit. It might be other things though. My reading suggests these possibilities:

– not enough plant food
– too much plant food
– too much sunlight too soon (I put them on a hot south-facing windowsill, thinking they'd like it)
and again,
– too much water (root rot? Hard to forgive myself)

Any guidance grateful received. First newbie question: watering: is it okay to let succulents' soil dry out completely for a couple of days before each watering? That's what I'm now guessing, but I don't want to kill them that way either – ignorant though I am, if nothing else, I know that succulents aren't cactuses.

 

[zigs]

I'm into Cacti but I do have a few succulents too

I treat them similarly, let them dry out between watering, adding a high potash/low nitrogen feed a few times a month to encourage flowering.

Lay off the watering over winter and keep them in a cooler place.

Hope they pick up

 

[Low Altitude]

Many thanks. I have found what looks like a high potash feed, which I'll give it in a day or two, as it happens, when the soil will have been dry for a few days.

 

[zigs]

My pleasure, hope it helps