Need advice:trim suspicious area off?

12 years ago

I was checking on several bulbs that I have growing under lights, and the one pictured had turned a different color from the others, and then I saw the start of rot at the base of the leaves. This one is mandonii, and I'd hate to lose it. Fortunately it's produced at least two rooted offsets. I only noticed this as I was running out the door to an appointment but the plan is to peel off the bad part and treat it with physan as soon as I return in a couple of hours.

Assuming/hoping that any rot doesn't extend into the core, how deeply can I peel into the top of the bulb without killing it? If the rot does go deep, is it best to try to extract healthy parts of the basal plate and see if offsets can be coaxed from it, a basic sphag-and-bag?

Any first-hand experience with this would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

--Rick in CT (pic #2 in next posting.)

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Comments (4)

rredbbeard
Original Author
12 years ago
pic #2:
oleg9grower
12 years ago
In my opinion with the basal plate okay, good roots. Just maybe the bulb is dipped into the soil or too much moisture when watering? I would have handled the bulb dry powder Benlate and planted so that the whole of the bulb above the soil was.
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jstropic (10a)
12 years ago
The bulb doesn't look bad to me, although it looks wet. It doesn't do well outside for me as I am in a high humidity area like Maria. According to prior posts, it seems to do well in dry climates (i.e. Arizona), so maybe you want it in a mix that has a high grit content for really fast draining. That might allow you to water the same as your other plants while giving it the conditions it wants. Just a thought, - J
rredbbeard
Original Author
12 years ago
When I explored it cautiously, the black areas turned out to be just a dried out part of the outermost layer, which the bulb was shedding. It had been in a combination of equal parts scoria, cocoa husk and cactus soil, and now it's in 50/50 cactus/scoria. My regret is that I removed one of the offsets which was a bit premature although it has one little root. A second offset was a little more developed with more roots, and was pretty well detached already, and I'm watching them both carefully. I started using scoria last year for a lot of epiphytic/semi-epiphytic plants, and its great stuff!

This particular bulb is bukasovii, and seems to offset early and often, a good thing!

Thanks for the insights.

--Rick in CT