Except for some reason the top is very stunted, so that the question becomes did you actually throw away 50 dollars on a damaged tree that is not going to look good for some time? Or maybe even go on to get worse?

Another aspect of "sad plants" is that they may be infested or diseased, serve as a means of introducing a new problem to a garden site when brought home.

Many times, bargain or clearance plants are simply those that were overlooked at some point in time and perhaps allowed to dry out excessively or were in a crowded location. There is often nothing more wrong with them than having an unsalesworthy appearance :-) And Koto No Ito and other strappy lobed, linearlobum forms are particularly sensitive about missing a proper watering!

I would not necessarily go looking for trouble where none appears to exist. $50 bucks IS a bargain for a JM that size as I have paid that and more for a 1G specimen (although in better sales condition :-))

btw, I see no stunting...just a lack of foliage, often a result of insufficient watering. Buds look firm and healthy

That's exactly what the salesman said, Gardengal. He said first it was hit by the freeze that we had late this spring. Then during the drought in June, they couldn't keep up with watering and this one suffered. He said once it started to look "puny", nobody was interested in it.

I trimmed off all dead twiggy material today and there are viable buds everywhere on the top and elsewhere! Embo, the top looks stunted but it's just where the first flush of leaves were wacked by the weather. It looks green and good.

I'm sure the roots will be a treat in that box - lol - but I'll just see when I get it unpacked. ;)

Getting better with some cleanup. ;)