Lauri,
Squishy where it is wrinkled? Or elsewhere? When you checked for rot, did you just check the bottom? My experience with cuttings that seem to start rooting, then stop, is that they are rotting somewhere. I have had some rot near the soil line even though the bottom looked OK. Some also have had a good looking bottom, but when I squeezed the cutting at the bottom, there was rot under the surface and the exterior tissues just slid away.

I would start cutting at the bottom of the wrinkled portion and see if it is still OK. If not, then work your way toward the tip until good wood.

Good Luck
Mike

Well the whole staulk seems very soft. And it is also wrinkle over the whole thing. It's not "mushy" like rotted ones tend to be, or does it have that discoloration of a rotted cutting. I cut the bottom part of it off and there is no rot, just white. Wrinkled and not any solidness to it. Thanks, Lauri

I have a cutting now that was in the same shape. It just didn't want to root. I removed it from the soil and cut the bottom to check for rot, none seen. I soaked it overnight in water with some B1 and ST and allowed it to dry for a week before repotting. It's alive and I think the claws are getting bigger but that could be my imagination. lol It's certainly plumped up a bit but is still somewhat wrinkled. I'll give it another month or so before completely giving up on it.
Karyn

hello, Lauri and Karyn, the cutting i have been trying to root since march is pretty much in the same condition as yours: no roots, wrinkled and soft but not mushy with the same tiny claws for the past 2 months. i repotted it about 2 weeks ago after checking for rot and roots: gave it ST -- no progress. I am puzzled and try not to think about it - hopefully my "indifferance" will spur it on eventually.

Sue

Lauri,

I'm trying an experiment as we speak. I had two cuttings that were misplaced and shriveled way worse than the one you have pictured. I put both in water and forgot about them for quite some time (weeks). Both of the bottoms swelled and looked like normal healthy cuttings, but no roots and the rest looked like the ugliest raisins you have ever seen. I now have them almost completely immersed in water and they seem to be rehydrating. When that is done I don't know if they will root or not but at least they will look better at their funeral, LOL!!! Good luck with yours :)

Thank you for your posts and your experiences. I am not alone! I think I will try the B1 and ST thing and see how it goes. I'd love to know what happened to my little shriveled up staulk and what I did to make it that way. And it sounds like others would like that info too.
Lauri

Have 4 "stalks" with the same symptoms. Wrinkles and soft. I pulled them up, they had roots. I cut one of them at the rootline and sure enough it was milky and good looking (on the inside). So I decided not to sacrifice the others since the roots all seem viable. I repotted, watered once and now I'm determined to keep my hands off them. Have a feeling I was taking the No Water Without Leaves too seriously, and these poor guys were "drying' up!! (Our temps have been 90's-100's and very dry) One of them has a small set of leaves and the others have green, unwrinkled tips with claws, but all are still wrinkled and soft, tho not mushy. Is this another lesson to learn about Plummies? Maybe my best lesson is to trust the plant and not interfere and meddle!! Any thoughts? Gloria

Gloria don't you hate when that happens. I've had sticks that I thought for sure must be rotting and have removed them from their pots or cut to check for rot only to see that roots were growing and stems were healthy. I now don't do anything unless I see obvious rot or no growth for about 4 months. I'm still a believer in no water but I recently stuck a couple cuttings outside because I just wanted them out of the house and I really didn't care what happened to them at that point. Those cuttings were getting soaked daily and low and behold they started putting out leaves like crazy. It makes no sense because they should have rotted. Maybe the high heat (around 100 for the past month), even though they were constantly wet did the trick, not sure.
Karyn

Karyn: I felt so bad about cutting that one stalk. I tried sticking a pin in them, but they were soft, dry and not liquid. But when I cut the one root off, the stem was great. That's why I decided to just repot them all, give them one drink of water with Vit. B1 and ST and just to leave them alone!!! Hope the one I cut will root again. I have a big thick plummie plant that I bought from one of the people on this forum. It had been badly hit with our CAL frost. It is thick, hard, brown ... no mushiness but not a bud or leaf. Any suggestions on what to do for this one? It gets a little water once in a while, but is doing absolutely nothing! Gloria

Is it alive? Have you scratched off the outer skin to see if there's viable tissue underneath? Even with frost damage I'd think it would have put out new growth a while ago.
Karyn

hey all,

about a month and a half ago when i was staying in florida, my aunt got about 15 cuttings from one of her friends. when i got home i potted all of them and almost all of them got squishy in the middle.i checked all of the bottoms for rot and there was none. but i took one and i cut it in the middle of the stick where it was squishy and it was rotting from the middle.

you might want to cut where it is squishy to see. those things are little tricksters.

btw i only had 1 root out of all of them that i got. i think it is because the guy left the cuttings out for likw 2 weeks.

but good luck with it=]

I've had cuttings rot from different areas along the stem but it's usually at one of the ends. Leaving cuttings out for a couple weeks shouldn't matter unless they were left in extreme conditions. Cuttings can be successfully stored for months. I use a pin to check for rot in the middle. It's not always reliable but I hate to cut a stem only to find that it was viable.
Karyn

The wrinkled and soft cuttings that I promised to leave alone seem to be hanging on. I admit that I check them every day, and literally have to put my hands behind my back so I don't keep turning, shaking, and fussing with them :-) Two of them have a few good sized leaves, so I've given them just a wee bit of water, but the other two I've left (they seem to be wanting to make some claws, but nothing too exciting, yet). They are all still wrinkled and soft... meaning resiliant to the touch, so I guess I have to learn to distinguish between "soft" and "mushy". In addition to Patience, it seems the Plumies also teach Vocabulary!! lol .. Got to luv these plants (and I do!) Thanks, everyone for the advice and encouragement. Gloria