Saturday, April 19, 2014

This just in: Argyroderma crateriforme (3 pics)

I've received this Argyroderma crateriforme from ebay today. It looks like a really old one, with all those layers of dry old leaves. In my view it is just beautiful. :)
It has arrived bare root but just unpotted not cleaned. And it is pretty understandable because the roots and the substrate have merged into a solid mass. Maybe I made a mistake and I should have just left it like it is but I wanted to free the roots and let them breathe. Of course to do so I had to brutally wash it, while pulling out imbedded stones and soil and tear out roots themselves (at least they were dry and inactive which should have reduced the harm). At the end I could bare the roots but felt really bad I had to disturb the plant like this. Acclimation is hard even without such drastic procedures. 
Well, after all the washing I first let the plant dry - and it took a while because of all those layers of dry leaves. Then I was thinking of putting it in dry pumice and just hope for the best but I felt so uncomfortable doing that that I decided to construct a paper towel skirt instead. I thought this way I can stimulate and reactivate the roots in a controlled environment (it worked before) and make the towel/root wet without letting the moisture touch the countless layers of dry leaves that could start rotting very quickly and easily. The plan is to wait until new tiny white roots appear and then pot it into pumice substrate. At the moment I'm still afraid I made a big mistake but we'll see how it goes...  

12 comments:

  1. I have a bear paw (cotyledon ladysmithiensis) cutting but I haven't really seen much information online on how to root it. Do you have any tips?

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    1. The crusted leaves look beautiful by the way, good luck with acclimatisation!

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    2. Thanks! I hope it will make it. I have an Argyroderma fissum and it seems to like my conditions. I'll keep you updated.

      I'm sorry, I don't have any experience with cotyledon ladysmithiensis. I imagine putting it into appropriate soil mix will do the trick. So far this was my strategy. If it is a very small cutting that could dry out quickly before the new roots grow you should try to make it humid for it (prevent it from losing too much water). If its leaves are succulent enough then just put it into your soil mix and water from time to time to stimulate root growth. I guess this was your plan anyway, so... I'm really no expert with cotyledon :)

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  2. Hi Rika! Sorry for the off-topic. Do you use pure pumice for your plants or add there some soil or other nutrient substrate? Or you just add fertilizer with water? Thanks!

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    1. Hi Arnau :)

      I use pure pumice, no soil or other substrate is mixed in. Sometimes I use liquid fertilizer with waterings but without a fixed schedule.

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    2. Thank you Rika! I see now. Unfortunately it is hard to find pumice in Russia (((

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  3. So cute! Daumen drück!
    Art

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    1. Danke :)
      I'm not particularly optimistic though.

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  4. More adventures from Rika's Little Plant Hospital. :) Hope the new roots grow fast. If you carefully count all the layers of old leaves you'll have a very good idea the age of the plant. Sort of like tree rings.

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    1. I had this idea, too. :)
      The layers are pressed tightly together, I doubt I can count them properly. Also I'm very much in doubt about the survival chances of this plant anyway. We'll see. ..

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  5. Rika, did it survive? I hope so.

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    1. Yes, it did! It is alive and happy :) I have more recent pics around here somewhere. Just click on the Argyroderma tag :)

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