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ishuku

Lithops-- Any hope for this 'rescue'?

ishuku
11 years ago

Alright, before you all go and laugh at me let me preface this by saying that I'm not usually the type to buy hopeless plants because I feel bad for them! The story is that I have never, ever seen lithops in stores in my area, but yesterday I found one in Walgreens, of all places. I could already tell that it was in bad shape (it was fairly etiolated and its leaves and stem had burst in cracks in several places) so I passed over it, but I couldn't stop thinking about it all night so I actually went back and bought it today... It was cheaper than a bottle of soda, so I figured why not?

I took it out of its tiny, tiny pot as soon as I got home and immediately saw that 1) it had been potted in damp, normal potting soil and 2) it had NO roots. Not only that, the end of its body where the roots should be had a big chunk missing out of it. The only good news is that there are no soft spots of rot on the body, not even where the roots are missing (the photo makes it look a worse than it actually is in real life-- the dirt around the wound makes it look rotten).

For now I have "planted" it (I'm using the term very loosely) in a terra cotta pot in gravel with no soil at all to keep a good airflow and lower the chances of infection. It's outside with some other succulents in a little covered greenhouse to keep off rain. Is there anything else I can do to maximize my chances of saving it? Naturally, I'm prepared for and expecting the worst!

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