Andi, you are a very determined gardener!
I would c-mail JT and get some plants from him. He sent me my two plants still in their pots, and very well packed for the trip through the mail. They just hiccoughed, and kept on growing. Other plants ordered from other places came through the trip in various stages of misery.
I am wrestling with leafy, rootless seedlings that had a terrible trip here from a nursery only a hundred miles away. They were sent in full leaf, but ripped out of tiny cell packs. I thought bare root, but recieved rootless. Have you ever potted up 100 plants? A lot of time! They might have been OK, but my boss watered them Tuesday, and here came the rot! Wheeee. I could tell he watered them because he wandered around with a 'guilty puppy' expression every time he saw me. They were quite soaking wet.
The little plants are in an odd condition. The leaves seemed to be OK. After a week being in individual pots, the leaves were turning toward the Sun. But with no roots, and soggy potting mix, the rootlets, the few, were rotting. The bit above the caudex, what I would call the main stem, is strong and firm. The caudex is shrivveled and rubbery, emaciated by the leaves still growing and taking moisture and nutrients from the caudex.
SO!! I dumped all of them out of their pots(4 inch) and put them in community trays, with barely damp mix. Dusted their bottoms with a copper fungicide. I then set them under the misting tables, no wet for them with plastic laid over their heads, and full shade. Should be 100# humidity under there. OH, I trimmed off most of the leaves.
What would you have done????????
If they haven't started roots in another week, I guess I'll rip them out of the trays, slather on rooting hormone, and put them back in trays with dampish medium, 30% perlite, 70% Promix.
OK, two photos, JT's white that he sent, and the 100 babies that I'm torturing----
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.One year old. The caudex only just uncovered. After this, I covered all my younger plant's caudexi's with medium, so they could get bigger bottoms. The blooms are mostly white, sunlight burns the older blooms pink, a very nice electric pink.
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Unhappy babies!
