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I've got a paddle plant that I recently purchased, the plant is about 6" tall and 7" wide and is in a 4" round pot. It seems happy enough, but the bottom layer of leaves is shriveling up and dying. I was told to pinch new leaves in the center, but this has made the older leaves shrivel faster, or so it appears to me. I give the plant about 2 tablespoons of water every Monday, it has plenty of light and is 6' away from a south facing window in Albuquerque, but doesn't get any direct sunlight that I am aware of, it is in my office so I don't see it at 6 am or anything. Is the dying of the leaves normal? Am I over or under watering? Should I really be pinching the cute tiny little leaves? Thanks.
It appears to be in a coffee cup which probably doesn't have any drainage so it could have too much soggy soil around the roots. I'd move it to a slightly larger pot with drainage and some fresh potting soil. Just clip the dead leaves off the bottom. For now, I'd leave all the live leaves on the plant. Pinching out new leaves in the center will just make it spread out instead of growing upward. I'd let it get a little more size before worrying about that. I don't pinch the heart of any of my plants unless they are beginning to look a little too leggy. BTW, when it does get big enough to clip the top out, you can put it in water and root it.
Thanks. Just so you know...it is in a plastic pot with drainage holes, and the plastic pot is what is in an oversized mug, there is an inch or two of empty space below the plastic pot inside of the mug, so if I'm overwatering the plant is not sitting in it, the water has a place to go. Given that the relative humidity in my office is 22% inside and even lower outside, whatever water drains down in there would be evaporating fairly quickly. Which isn't to say that I'm not overwatering, just that the plant isn't sitting in it.
