Ariocarpus agavoides, rot

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Karsty
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Ariocarpus agavoides, rot

Post by Karsty »

Hi Folks,

It's been a while, life is hectic, but here is a new one.

About 25 years ago I germinated a batch of Ariocarpus agavoides seed. Gradually they have grown up and been given away. They grew very successfully. After all events, I have ended up with 2 mature multi-headed plants to myself. Just yesterday I discovered one of them in my (humid) flat had a big patch of rot on it. This has never happened before. In fact, I have never lost any Arios to death except one scaphirostris which I understand only has a short lifespan.

So I unpotted it and cut away all the rot, and I discovered a cavity beneath the centre head, full of glupy liquid, the colour of diluted milk. I had to wash it out with a water jet to clean it away, and then it left this strange cavity.

I haven't taken any photos yet but I could.

Is this strange, or is it already known that this plant has a fluid filled cavity beneath the centre growth point?
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daniel82
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Re: Ariocarpus agavoides, rot

Post by daniel82 »

The gloop will be the products of the rotting plant. If the rot has gotten to just beneath the growing point then it probably is unable to be saved sadly.
Karsty
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Re: Ariocarpus agavoides, rot

Post by Karsty »

Thanks Daniel.

That's weird, I've never seen that before. I've only really seen products of rot in cacti being dark red / maroon.

At the moment the cleaned-up plant is hanging at my mum's house where the air is much drier. It'll be interesting to see how it turns out...
Terry S.

Re: Ariocarpus agavoides, rot

Post by Terry S. »

A danger point for ariocarpus is at this time of year. Because they are autumn flowering, there is a possibility of fungi infecting the dead flowers before they have had a chance to dry out completely. If the fungus works it way down into the body of the plant it can be fatal. Could this have happened with your ario? The prophylaxis is to remove dead flowers as soon as possible or to move the plants into the house for a few weeks until the flowers have dried.
Karsty
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Re: Ariocarpus agavoides, rot

Post by Karsty »

Thanks Terry, that is a very good point. It is very possible that that is what happened. The humidity in my flat in the winter is about 75% (that's another story!)
Karsty
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Re: Ariocarpus agavoides, rot

Post by Karsty »

Not much to see here. I checked it again today and it was still producing gloop, and it was reddish in colour. I just washed it out and saturated all the wounds with sulphur.

Image
Karsty
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Re: Ariocarpus agavoides, rot

Post by Karsty »

Just went back to it today, and I think I've saved it. There's no evidence that the rot has spread or is still there. This will be interesting though, because there is a cavity below the central crown! I potted it back into bone dry soil mix, and put it back in the conservatory where it had been growing happily for years.
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