Hello,
I have several different types of succulents in a pot and they are slowly dying. (Except one is thriving) I bought Safer Insect killing soap and have been spraying it on the plant but it doesn't seem to be helping (I'm almost all out. ) So I'm hoping these pictures help identify what the problem(s) are. I've had the plants for a year and they started getting damaged/dying for the past 3 months... Appreciate any advice! Love my plants so it's torture seeing them slowly die
Attachments
Echeveria-damage.jpg (139.26 KiB) Viewed 490 times
Damage-Succulent5.jpg (179.37 KiB) Viewed 490 times
Damage-Succulent4.jpg (123 KiB) Viewed 490 times
Damage-Succulent3.jpg (101.43 KiB) Viewed 490 times
Damage-Succulent1.jpg (101.21 KiB) Viewed 490 times
I admit, I also do not know what is causing the problems with your succulents. Looking at the images, I too would have guessed, that some kind of insect is responsible for the damage. However, you most likely would be able to see them feed - at least when using a hand lens with about 10x magnification. Image 2 to me only shows some die back, this could be due to a root rot or perhaps something feeding on the roots.
For the last image I draw a complete blank, because the leaves are not shown large enough. Do the lesions look like those on image 1?
With a hand lens you can go ahead and examine the dead or dying areas, in order to find out, if perhaps there is an indication of a fungus infection. In general, fungi produce mycelial growth, which oftentimes is visible as a fuzzy covering. However, keep in mind, that spider mites also produce fine webbing. If that is the case, you will be able to spot these serious pests by brushing them off onto a white sheet of paper and then examine this - if possible with a good hand lens - for movement by these arachnids. As for fungi, in some cases you can also see very small grayish, mostly round specks embedded in the upper leaf layer or they may be slit-like projections with yellow or orange colored pockets extruded from them.
Those would be indicative of a common fungus. Of course, with bacterial and viral infections you will not be able to see anything, because those organisms are too small.
Most likely, my posting will not help you very much, but I just wanted to let you know, what you might be faced with.
