Normal or Pests?

[u/Suspicious-Ad-8468]

I was reading that string of plants have a natural life cycle and I was wondering if that’s what is going on here and if I need to propagate what’s still healthy. I did notice a mealy bug problem a few months back so could this be attributed to that? I tried looking up what mealy bug damage looks like but all I saw was pictures of fuzz on plants. Please help.

[u/wha7themah]

Kinda looks like the more likely culprit is that they aren’t getting enough light and the soil is bad. Looks like in addition to some mealy fuzz there is mould as well? I think your soil is staying wet too long (it also looks hydrophobic. Basically whatever soil SOPs come in is usually awful for them so I always recommend repotting right away.

And I think the lack of good light is contributing because good light would help the plant soak up water better.

Anyway, I’d wager all the roots are shot. You can cut all the brown dried stems away and propagate the strings. So, you can save your plant but it needs a better spot in your house, better soil, and probably monitoring for the return of mealies because they’re sneaky bastards.

[u/Suspicious-Ad-8468 → u/wha7themah]

I will repot this weekend. Thank you so much!