I noticed my windowsill succulents changing color - and in these bleak snowy times I have the luxury of over-analyzing the smallest change in my house plants. So let's take a closer look at these color changes and try to figure out what's going on.
First up, my Echeveria pulidonis (a popular blog post topic these days) is not only getting bigger, but the parent leaf is starting to turn yellow. Presumably, the nutrients in this mommy leaf are about used up, and the new baby succulent has developed underground roots of its own. It really seems to be speeding up in growth these past couple weeks. My only question is why the other leaves aren't turning yellow yet since they were all plucked around the same time.
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| The mommy leaf is yellowing and shrinking, and the growth of the baby succulent has sped up |
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| Echeveria pulidonis parent leaf turning yellow |
Next, check out what is happening to my Cryptanthus bivittatus on the windowsill. The leaves are turning pink in some spots. While I have seen varieties of Cryptanthus bivittatus that are pink intentionally, I think this might be attributed to over-watering and possibly triggered by the fact that more direct sunlight is coming in. If you look closely, the only spots that are pink are the ones that are getting direct sun - so maybe that's the answer. I'm going to hold off watering for a week and see if there's a change.
Check out the before and after, notice the pink on the leaves. But also, see below, the pink seems to be in the exact spots that get direct sunbeams in the morning.
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| Cryptanthus bivittatus turning pink in the sun, possibly aggravated by overwatering |
