by Andrew S.
(West Henrietta, NY)
A person that I know was going to get rid of this plant, but I figured it is worth saving. I was thinking about breaking some 2-3 segment pieces off and sticking them in some soil (same way I’ve done with my Christmas Cactus).
She was going to get rid of it because of these weird marks on it. Any clue as to what it is? some kind of disease or something? maybe just too much light?
Thanks for the help as always!
Hi Andrew – long time no hear from!
I’m assuming that your concern is about the corky, dried out looking parts?
I don’t see anything about this plant that is indicating that it’s in trouble; without knowing more about its history, I would suggest that it was either dropped at some time in the past, which caused some mechanical damage, and now it’s drying out.
Too much light, as in brilliant blazing sunlight could cause this kind of damage too, as these are generally grown indoors, or in the dappled shade of a tree during the summer.
As these plants age, they do tend to get some quite woody growth around the base of the plant on the oldest branches, that’s just a normal part of aging.
One thing that I’ve had success with is to just take cuttings off a rescued plant; using this method, you can pretty much discard the older parts, which are where things like scale and other creepie crawlies tend to gather.
I would urge you to make sure that you follow good sanitary practices, and as always, quarantine the plant (whether the whole thing, or cuttings) and keep them separate from your collection until you’re absolutely certain there are no hitch hikers.
Hope that helps with your rescue!
Jacki
