Squishy trunk

[DarcyBlue]

So it's my first rodeo with a desert rose bonsai. Everything seemed to be going ok, I repotted him 3 months ago, and I water him every 8-9 days when the soil is bone dry. I noticed the bottom leaves started getting a little yellow at the tips and thought maybe I was overwatering? So I cut back a little more on watering and now a few leaves have fallen off, the yellow/brown has spread to other leaves and the bulgy base of the trunk is squishy. Is it rot? Over or under watering? Should I pull him out and look at the roots and dry him out?

I'm really not good with plants, but I've been trying really hard with this one and it's so dissappointing to see him sick. Thank you for any suggestions/help you can give me.

 

[Arizona bonsai]

It doesn’t sound like you over watered but a soft trunk sounds like root rot.

 

[penumbra]

Squishy is bad.

 

[DarcyBlue]

It doesn’t sound like you over watered but a soft trunk sounds like root rot.

 

[DarcyBlue]

Thank you. So I pulled it and looked at the roots. The trunk from the soil line down was yellow but the roots and the trunk didn’t have black spots. The roots felt ok to me, but I didn’t see anything to cut away. So I hit the roots with cinnamon and left him out to dry for a few weeks in hopes of bringing him back to health. Do you have any suggestions of what else I can do?

ps- sorry for the first ‘reply’ with nothing in the reply section I’m still getting used to the forum.

 

[LittleDingus]

Squishy can be rot. But on succulents, squishy can also be underwatered and loss of turgidity. This is actually how I determine when to water in the dormant season...I water when the plant starts loosing turgidity. If the leaves and trunk are solid...it's fine. If the are soft...the plant gets water.

If you're not seeing signs of rot...the plant may be using too much of its stored water. Your picture looks burnt to me. Overwatering usually causes the entire leaf to yellow and rarely does it turn crispy until its about ready to fall off...if even then.

If you decide too little water...it's still important not to swing the other way too far! Never puddles. Let dry between watering, but maybe a little less dry...or fewer dry days.

 

[DarcyBlue]

Squishy can be rot. But on succulents, squishy can also be underwatered and loss of turgidity. This is actually how I determine when to water in the dormant season...I water when the plant starts loosing turgidity. If the leaves and trunk are solid...it's fine. If the are soft...the plant gets water.

If you're not seeing signs of rot...the plant may be using too much of its stored water. Your picture looks burnt to me. Overwatering usually causes the entire leaf to yellow and rarely does it turn crispy until its about ready to fall off...if even then.

If you decide too little water...it's still important not to swing the other way too far! Never puddles. Let dry between watering, but maybe a little less dry...or fewer dry days.

Thank you. When I looked at the trunk and roots they're yellow until the soil line where it turns into normal trunk color, and I read somewhere that yellow can be fungus? This question may be foolish but by 'burnt leaves' do you mean it's getting too much sun?

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Can you show us some photos of the squishy part?

 

[DarcyBlue]

The roots have cinnamon on them but are the same yellow color as the bottom of the trunk and the roots feel firm to me ...

 

[LittleDingus]

Thank you. When I looked at the trunk and roots they're yellow until the soil line where it turns into normal trunk color, and I read somewhere that yellow can be fungus? This question may be foolish but by 'burnt leaves' do you mean it's getting too much sun?

My honest first thought on seeing your picture is that the plant is going dormant. I've been encouraging mine to head towards dormancy so I can set them on a shelf and forget about them for the winter

Here is my grafted obeseum:



And my from seed this past spring arabicum:



I don't know if you're keeping yours outside or in the house. It's likely to try and go dormant either way. But if outside, it looks like you guys might be getting nights in the low 50Fs? If so, the leaves may very well be throwing in the towel for the winter nap.

I just went back out to pull my bigger plant because, why not? I'm not watering it again this year anyway Cinnamon aside ...your roots look better than mine!



Which part of your picture is "squishy"? If it's the entire trunk, I'd lean towards under watered. If it's just the yellow parts only, you may have caught an early problem.

It's really hard to tell, but the pictures don't look that bad to me. It looks like a soil line. Is your soil organic? My experience with succulents, rot won't usually stop at the soil line...it keeps going. Succulents are not the same vascular system as trees. Once that soft tissue starts to rot...not much can stop it Usually if you have rot, "squshing" the suspected rotted part results in your thumb poking through and grossness leaking out. Rot that's progressed tends to look a bit like an overripe apple...go figure! If it were rot, I'd expect to be able to pull those roots off with a gentle tug.

It IS possible, by the way, that the tuber is rotted and the roots aren't. At the rates you water, however, I'd not expect rot of the tuber before the roots. I'd really only expect rot if the roots were in a puddle. But I can't feel the plant to be sure

If it _is_ rot, that cinnamon won't do anything now. Cinnamon can help prevent rot from entering a wound but it can't kill rot inside the plant...it doesn't act like a medicine...and it's topical. If it _is_ rot, the best hope would be to cut the tuber well above the soft tissue. Put cinnamon on the cut end...topical and preventative work well here But let dry for a week or two (it's basically a cactus...it won't mind) before even trying to put in a pot. Set it on a shelf, it really won't mind. It will lose the rest of its leaves, though. Don't water much until spring. I would ONLY consider doing this if it is only the yellow part that were squishy and I saw lesions or goo or other positive signs of rot.

 

[DarcyBlue]

Wow, thank you for such a detailed reply with pics! The soil is organic. No, the entire bulby part of the trunk (caudex?) is soft, not just the yellow parts. But it's not overripe apple soft and there's no goo. So ... replant it and hope for the best? I had read that you don't really water them a lot in the winter because they go dormant. I was concerned, too, because of the leaves as I thought since he's an indoor plant (lives in a garden window) that he would keep them all year. The last two weeks the temp has dropped into the 40s and 50s so maybe it's inspired him to drop leaves?

I guess I can keep squeezing to see if it gets disgusting and then reroot it if that happens.

Plants are stressful ! This is the first one I've managed to keep alive for over 6 months and I really hope I haven't screwed up.

Thank you again for your help! It's a steep learning curve over here in the desert rose bonsai corner!

 

[MrWunderful]

Never heard of cinnamon on roots before.

 

[penumbra]

Never heard of cinnamon on roots before.

It is a natural fungicide.