Viewing post #257169 by chefmike92

jojoe said:Here are some pictures of my plant that will help a lot i think.

As far as water,it has leaves & is growing new leaves.This was a rescue plant it looked like a very tall dead stick in a pot.It was not soft at that time.This all started while i was gone for 3 days with my daughter having her baby and the hubby left it out in a 3 day thunder storm.

I replaced the potting medium with a faster draining mix of bark, horticultural charcoal and i think the little pebbles are called arcilite with a little loam added.I didn't water it for a couple days and the leaves started dropping so i watered and the leaves grew back.I water very little enough to keep the leaves healthy.

I did pull it out of the pot yesterday and the roots aren't soft yet but it seems that the softness has started in the cauldex & is making it's way down not up!

A picture is suppose to be worth a thousand words,hopefully mine will be


To get a close up i had to take 2 pictures of the plant.



The thickest parts are soft the smaller roots aren't (yet)






Have a wonderful day & thanks for your time and advice!!!!!

This is complicated but i dont see to many roots. I am guessing that first had to much water or potting mix was holding to much. Now I think Melissa it right on with the plant spending so much energy the caudex is starting to dehydrate. I think you might have fixed the problem with the new potting mix and now its not getting enough water for good solid caudex and stem/leaf production. If you have very little or nothing to retain some water you need to water much more often. and your mix sounds like a little loam might be a bit skimpy. Its not bad. assuming that pot has good draining holes drench it good so i pours out for a few min. then everyday push your finger down in to you potting mix and see if you feel moisture? if you do Wait count # of days till it dries 2 in down. that tells you if it is holding any water and rot is coming or if it is just starving for water and food. I have 4 i have to water every-other day and the rest of mine are good for 3 days in cooler weather 80-85 if it is windy and it hits in the 90's im watering everyday. the plant looks overall good but i would consider an trim for nest year to promote more branching. thats just me!

hope makes sense and helps

mike