What to do when succulent leaves turn to water? Learn how to prevent black rot and waterlogging
Although succulents are beautiful, their lives can sometimes be very delicate, and they can develop all kinds of problems. One of these is turning to water, and there are cases where a flower lover's succulents inexplicably have leaves turn to water. Normally the succulents are kept on the balcony, and the ventilation is decent. One day the succulents were found to have turned to water. These past few days the maximum temperature was only around 25°C, there was no rain, no high temperatures, no watering, so why did problems suddenly appear?
Generally speaking, succulents that turn to water usually start with the leaves. The leaves begin to become transparent, and that is a sign that the leaves are about to turn to water. If the whole succulent gradually takes on a transparent appearance, then that means the whole plant has turned to water. If you want to know how to save a succulent that has turned to water, you need to know the cause. Turning to water, as the name suggests, means the succulent has too much water. Most succulents are plants that grow in deserts, where there is a year-round shortage of water, so as long as there is water, succulents will desperately absorb it. Once succulents are cultivated by humans, the environment is not so harsh, water is too abundant, and the succulent may absorb too much water, resulting in turning to water.
Poorly breathable potting soil or poor ventilation can cause succulent leaves to turn to water. When the roots are suffocated and watering is excessive, the roots cannot carry out aerobic respiration, and this easily leads to turning to water. Too great a change in the environment, such as a sudden change in temperature or too long a period of water restriction in winter followed by a sudden thorough watering in spring, can also cause succulents to turn to water because they cannot adapt in time.
Plants in the Crassulaceae family have a type of metabolism in which they close their stomata during the day to reduce water transpiration. At this time, if too much water is absorbed, under high temperatures it will expand with heat and contract with cold, bursting the cell walls, so we see the leaves turn to water. Leaves that turn to water are generally rather plump and already contain a lot of water themselves, so if they absorb more water, the possibility of turning to water is even greater.
If a succulent has turned to water, what we need to do is assess the extent of the waterlogging. There are mainly three levels. The first is when only a few leaves at the bottom are transparent. The second is when the leaf core of the succulent has already become transparent and shows symptoms of turning to water. The third is when the roots and stem of the whole plant have already taken on transparent symptoms. If only a few leaves have turned to water, first place the succulent in a ventilated spot with scattered light. If many leaves have turned to water, remove the affected leaves, improve ventilation, and give more sunlight. If the stem has already turned to water and black rot has set in, quickly behead it and re-root it. During routine care, also pay attention to supplementing nutrients for the succulent; only with a strong body can it have strong resistance.
When succulent leaves turn to water, black rot easily follows. If black rot occurs, immediately remove the black rot area, as it will spread. For succulents it is a terminal disease. So when you see black waterlogged leaves, without hesitation, remove them, then disinfect with carbendazim. Before early summer, when high temperatures have not yet arrived, you should add a little phosphorus and potassium fertilizer to the succulents to improve their own resistance, mix an appropriate amount of fungicide into the water to purify the internal soil environment, and increase appropriate and necessary light and bottom ventilation to speed up internal metabolism and nutrient exchange.
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