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sbrow156

Mould on pruned DR

sbrow156
11 years ago

An update for my larger desert rose i am working on. I pruned it one and a half weeks ago and no new growth yet but the 'wounds' (i suppose you'd call them) where i cut off the branches seem to have grown some small spotty dark grey/black/green sort of mould on them. I forgot to take a picture ...silly me...but it is probably because it has rained and our weather is humid and i guess thats perfect weather for mould to grow. My question is...should i cut again, just alittle lower then before and this time put some wood glue or something on it to seal the cut so moisture cant get in and mould grow again? Or is there a way to get rid of the mould without having to cut again? Whats your advice on this...?

Comments (13)

  • hookilau
    11 years ago

    Hmmm. This is only my first season keeping DR's, so forgive me if I don't have anything useful to offer =) but I'm curious what your current climate temperature-wise is like. Also, is your DR in full sun?

    Antoinette

  • sbrow156
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Ahh yes well it is usually a top of 30 degrees during the day. Thats Celsius of course, and low of 20 at night at the moment though we have just gone into summer here (we only have summer and winter in our state :P ) and it has gone from nice sunny days to rainy in a short period of time so some days he was in sun and some in drizzly rain. He hasnt been rained on very hard and i brought him in under the patio yesterday because i was worried about the mould and him being wet. His wounds seemed to dry out nicely untill he got drizzled on abit. The top of the wound is dry at the moment (i just checked) but feels alittle smooshy around it. I was reading online today about different plants in the same situations n if not got rid of mounld can spread apparently and poison the plant. I hope not...thats why im thinking of recutting again and gluing the wound just in case ... :S

  • Marie Tran
    11 years ago

    Please take some pictures and show us.
    I think it is going to be okay.
    Marie

  • sbrow156
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Unfortunately my camera has now shat itself but here is a pic of just after i pruned it...i cut it right down to stalk coz the 3 branches were so tall and spindly. I was hoping it would rebranch closer to the stalk. The next picture is of mould on an onion but it looks similar to the mould on the wounds at the moment.

  • sbrow156
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    onion mould

  • sbrow156
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    oh god i just realised that pic is really blurry. Hope u get the right idea from it through...

  • sbrow156
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Heres a better picture of what the mould looks like on the wounds...

  • hookilau
    11 years ago

    yup. that's mold all right :/ I've never experienced this before so I'm sorry I can't be of more help. I'm sure someone less green than I will be able to offer something more than what I've got for ya right now. Hand pats while we wait =)

    Antoinette

  • Marie Tran
    11 years ago

    I have so many desert rose and I did hard pruning, but never had that mold like that.
    I hope it heals fast for you.
    Marie

  • sbrow156
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hmmm its probably coz of our horrible weather. Might beat the bullet and cut it off and glue it. Then keep him out of the weather for abit and see if he heals quicker...will keep you all posted...

  • sbrow156
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Ewww...i just cut it off and it was all disgusting and smooshy inside (looked rotten) I have now cut it down below the smoosy rotten part and put some glue on the top and its dried nicely. Looks like i got all the bad part off and only had to take off bout half a cm or less on all 3 stems. Im pretty happy with that. I will update in a week to let you all know if the mould came back or if he is doing well and any new growth yet :)

  • teyo
    11 years ago

    when you prune them take a q tip or a small spoon, dip it into some honey and smear all over the cut. it has antiseptic properties, will protect from fungi and various other pathogens, and as a bonus, the wound will not turn black, making the prune places less obvious :)

  • sbrow156
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    oh cool..good advice...ill do that next time :)

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