Not everyone travels well, and there are all sorts of maladies associated with not having your feet on solid ground. So when my new Dischidia ovata cutting arrived looking a little peaked, I wasn’t too concerned. I once spent thirty-six hours with Air India flying home from Mumbai, so I have some idea about what seventy-two hours in a box with the USPS could do to you.
He was carefully packaged, but a little dehydrated. The fledgling roots looked good, so I got him settled into nice, fresh bark with a little sphagnum and gave him a bit of moisture regularly to help him get his color back.
He got color, it just wasn’t the right one. The leaves grew pale until they were almost yellow. They puckered. This was not good. Make or break decision, stick it out or chop and prop?
Chop and prop. I cut as far down on the stem as seemed viable and got him into leca and water with some nutrients. The decline stopped. After a week he started getting green, and the next week I could see new roots. I think it’s a comeback.
I’ll keep you posted.
