Miracle berry, Synsepalum dulcificum nursery stock

Lou T

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Found this miracle berry a few months ago at the nursery in town. Hard pruned it when I bought it and now it finally decided to throw shoots. The horn, or knee, feature creeping around the adjacent spire caught my eye. Thought it was pretty cool.

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Wires_Guy_wires

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One of the most difficult plants I've ever worked with. I wish you all the best with it!
 

Lou T

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One of the most difficult plants I've ever worked with. I wish you all the best with it!
Thank you for the wishes and warnings sir. Have you been able to coax yours into something appreciable?
 

Wires_Guy_wires

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No not at all. They were notoriously slow growers and I have never found out what the ideal soil, ideal watering schedule or even nutrient requirements were.
Cuttings and air layers are easy with them, they can be dead for a year (literally dry sticks) and suddenly perk up. They shoot from bare wood sometimes.

I had them in my terrarium in winter and outdoors in summer. After 5 years of trying and 3 years of neglect, I left them outside to die in winter. This just wasn't a plant for me. Since it doesn't communicate like other plants; it shows no signs at all other than limb death or fresh shoots, or both. In most plants I can find out what causes what, with these things I haven't been able to do so in roughly 8 years.


But now that I know a little more about soil dynamics, I might want to give it another try next year. I think using bark and pumice, and aiming for a low pH are the most valueable advice I can give you, since that's all I've been able to find out.
 

Lou T

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Thank you for the guidance. It is definitely a weird plant, I agree. When I hard pruned it, it sat there for 3 months through spring and didn’t do a thing. The only reason I knew it was still alive was via scratch test. I kind of wish I repotted during that time. I’ll continue to update as it pushes growth.
 
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