u/thatredditorontea

Alright, I don't know what I'm doing with this one.

>TLDR; they're not rooting fast enough, the bigger leaves look off, it's flowering still. Should I remove those leaves so it can root from there or are they being used to produce roots somewhere else?

I received this kalanchoe a few months ago while it was in full bloom. I immediately repotted, the roots looked fine enough. I noticed the main stem looked brown-ish, but it was firm, so I assumed it was corking. I noticed one of the smallest branches was detaching, but I assumed it had only held flowers and was seeing itself out. In short, there were signs, but I didn't see them.

Fast forward weeks later, it was still isolated from my other plants (~1m away) because something kept looking off. I take a closer look, and the "corking" – brown, dry, thinning stem – had moved up most branches and wider leaves. Clearly something was wrong. I cut all that I could save and threw away the base and roots.

I let everything callous, put it in water to root. It rotted instead, clearly it wasn't calloused enough, or maybe I cut it in the wrong place and couldn't really root from there. I'm not sure, since I pretty much cut where there was no damage rather than at a specific place for propagation. Also I sort of went on autopilot as if it was another type of succulent, but I have to admit I'm no kalanchoe expert.

So, I cut the rot, let it callous for real this time, left it suspended over water without touching it. The tiniest smallest roots are forming in the bigger cuts. All this while, the plant kept blooming, the poor thing, and idk if it's a good sign or she's just desperate. The bigger leaves keep shrinking and becoming brown, and I don't know if that means they're being used as sustenance to produce roots, or if whatever issue the plant had originally is still here. Yesterday I read on here that removing lower leaves gives the plant a spot to produce roots from instead. Is it a viable option in my case?

Thanks!!

[edit: Can anybody help me identify the first one?]

Yesterday I found these two beauties for €2 each! Some of the cacti there had literally been simply thrown over a pot of organic soil, with their roots bound in the shape of the previous smaller pot (see the last picture)! But hey, at least they weren't overwatered. I just repotted them both, now they'll be quarantined on the other side of the room just to be sure, but they look rather good.

The first one is very likely a Mammillaria, but I'm not sure which one. Albinata perhaps? I know it should look whiter, but it's the only one that matches the pattern of 2 to 4 straight white spines with black tips and little to no browning at the top. Any thoughts? She certainly put up a fight when I was reporting, despite the gloves, and the fact that it got suddenly windy didn't help. But we made it! To my surprise the roots were already expanding to the newer soil, so some got traumatised in the reporting – I'll wait a week before watering.

The second one should be a Golden Barrel cactus. It pierced me all the way through the skin, but I would've reacted the same way if a giant was throwing me around a plastic table, so we're good. I may have put in too much soil, I'll wait until it's dry then eventually remove some... And pluck what's stuck between the spines of both of them!

I've had these plants for six or seven years, I rescued them from root rot, they only had one to four leaves at first, then grew steadily, flowered three times, I was incredibly proud. A little less than a year ago, it started to produce flowers for the second time in six months, but suddenly stopped (you can still see a few dry ones hanging). I thought it was due to stress, since I had to move for half a year and I left them in the care of my mom (same spot, perhaps a little less light because she wouldn't *always* open the blinds, I'd videocall to check for signs of thirst before allowing her to water them (she is the one I rescued them too, so one is never too careful 😂)), although they had already flowered once in these conditions.

Fast forward to a few months ago, I start to notice a lot of aerial roots, way more than usual (see second picture). Since I'd already had to increase the watering schedule as the plants were getting thirsty quickly (at first I thought it was just the season getting warmer...), I finally decided to check the roots. At this point, they were in a pot a little less than a span high, which had never been a problem in the last three years, the roots almost got to the bottom.

When I took them out, I was left with a root ball little less than 2 inches wide. Which was strange, as I could swear I'd seen them almost peek out of the drainage holes. In any case, I figure it was better to repot them in a shallower pot (the one in the picture). As I went to throw out the soil left in the old pot, I noticed it was full of... roots. Apparently the plants had dropped them, but I could see no reason for it: no rot, no pests, just old white-ish roots, not even that shrivelled.

In any case, they have been in the new pot for a while now, and while some seem to have recovered, one keeps producing aereal roots and is never fully plump even after watering. It also got what I believe is sun discoloration (picture 2, purple leaves), which has never happened before as they hardly if ever get direct sunlight.

Today I noticed a sort of white patina over part of the soil (picture 3), I don't know what it is or if it could have anything to do with the rest.

I've given as much information has came to mind, but let me know if I should add more. Does anyone have any idea of what has happened / is happening to my plant(s)?