When you have a succulent turning white, it’s a sign that something is going on with your plant, especially if the usual color of your succulent doesn’t even have any white coloration to start with.
This is a common problem that most gardeners deal with eventually if you own enough plants or succulent or have been growing for some time.
So if you have a succulent that has turned white, here are the usual suspects and what you can do to fix your plant’s color.
Sunburn
If you didn’t know already, succulents can get sunburn like a lot of other types of plants, especially if they are left out in full sun for too long, during a heat wave or if they are just not acclimated to direct light.
This of course also depends on your specific type of succulent as some do better in full sunlight rather than partial shade.
Either way, if you have noticed your succulent turning white it could just be sunburn.
Thankfully this is just the beginning stage of sunburn as your succulent will turn white at first before it will get brown or develop brown tips.
This means you are in luck since you have caught it early, you don’t really have to worry about damage being done to your succulent.
With that said, it’s still a good idea to bring your succulent indoors once you have noticed this, the sooner the better before it really starts getting scorched.
If you can’t bring your succulent indoors for whatever reason, you can just move your plant to a more shaded location or use some shade cloth to reduce the direct light your succulent receives.
Unfortunately, at least most of the time, the leaves won’t return to their original color once this has happened and there is nothing you can really do about it except wait for new growth to take over.
Don’t worry though, as long as you take the necessary steps to reduce the intense light, your succulent will survive and be just fine.
Powdery mildew
As for another reason why your succulent is turning white, it could be a case of powdery mildew which is a sort of fungus that can latch onto your succulent when the conditions are set up for it.
Don’t confuse powdery mildew for farina on your succulent as they can look similar but farina actually is a powdery coating that plants make to protect them from sunburn.
I get it, it can be hard to decipher which is which so keep that in mind and check to see if your specific succulent usually has farina involved first.
With that said if you notice white splotches on the leaves or stems of your succulent then odds are it could be a powdery mildew situation.
You may even notice white patches on the underside of your succulent leaves as this is where it can start out a lot of the time.
Thankfully powdery mildew won’t kill your succulents most of the time but it can cause damage to the plant and cause nutrient loss, leaves to drop, etc.
So it’s best to deal with this problem as soon as you can.
Solution: Use some good quality neem oil and spray your succulent at least once a week since neem oil can work quite well as a fungicide. Just be sure to only spray at night to prevent the oil from burning your plant which can happen in direct sunlight if the oil is still fresh.
Once the powdery mildew is gone for good, your succulent will no longer have a white appearance.
Pests turn succulents white
If you notice your succulent is white and fuzzy then you may certainly be dealing with a mealy bug problem as this is a leading appearance indicator.
If you notice white dots or white spots on your plant then you could also be dealing with a scale bug infestation.
White webs on your succulent can also indicate spider mites.
In all of these cases, these pests can steal nutrients from your succulent causing all sorts of problems such as dehydrated leaves, black sooty mold, damaged leaves and they will turn your succulent white at the very least.
Not only all of that but pests like these can travel from one succulent to another and damage those plants as well.
Pest problems need to be dealt with immediately to prevent further damage and spreading of these annoying bugs.
Solution: Once again, high quality neem oil spray can do wonders for eliminating pests from your succulents as neem oil is not only a good fungicide but it also works quite well as an insecticide. Just be sure to only use the neem oil at night or in shade to prevent other problems mentioned before.
If you don’t feel like using neem oil then you can also use a cotton swab and some rubbing alcohol to remove these pests one by one by hand.
Also be sure to keep your succulent away from other plants until this process is complete to prevent the pests from latching onto your other plants.