I had this rooted Alocasia Mystic bulb sitting in water to help the roots develop a bit more. I noticed it smelled really bad and it was rotting at the bottom. If I had to guess I'd say it's because the container I had it in was too small. I went to rinse it off but a good chunk of the bottom was really soft and spongy and washed away. Do we think it'll survive? Any tips?
It might depending on the intensity of the rot. It seems like a thick stem so I'd say cutting off the rot to see if it's viable wouldn't hurt. You can't just see the intensity of the rot at the surface level is my only concern 😬
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Cut out the rot completely with a sterile knife until everything left is firm and a healthy white color, then wipe the wound site with isopropyl alcohol, dip in rooting powder if you have it, and leave it to air for at least a day. You can wrap the roots in a damp paper towel or moss and kind of seal them into a baggy to try and keep them if you want to, but the wound site should be out. Once the wound has had some time to heal off, put into a medium where it’ll still get lots of oxygen. I like to fill a glass vase with perlite or leca (or a mix) but you could also do a mix of orchid bark and perlite with very minimal coir. The glass is nice because you can monitor root development. At first, put somewhere more low-to-medium light and ideally high humidity. Keep those conditions for at least a couple weeks, then check for root growth. Once you start getting new roots, you can move somewhere with brighter light. Once you have clearly-visible, more robust roots you can move it over to whatever container or medium you like for alocasia. I know that’s a long process but it’s worked well for me with some pretty serious root/stem rot before. Obviously just use what you have and modify as makes sense for you.
3개 좋아요 Oh, I forgot to specify how to manage watering. If using semi-hydro like perlite or leca, just use plain water and keep the level well below the stem/roots. If using an organic mix, the container should have drainage and the goal should be for it to dry out very quickly so you know the roots are getting oxygen. Ideally it dries out every 2-5 days and you re-water, again with plain tap water. The reason for this is that the plant won’t be taking up much in the way of nutrients until it establishes a root system, so in the beginning any fertilizer you give it will just sit there or feed microbes. Also, you want unfiltered tap rather than bottled water because tap water is treated with low levels of chlorine that can help prevent the rot-causing species from growing back.
3개 좋아요 Would sphagnum moss work in place of perlite/leca/orchid bark?
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