From: "Marek Argent" <abri1973 at wp.pl> on 2010.04.28 at 22:39:20(20977)
Dear Friends,
The Hell has come :(
My Alocasia infernalis I got a few days ago is dying.
Photo 0: When I got the plant it was in a pot with peat.
I didn't repot it, everything seemed to be fine.
The peat was very dry, so I watered it as I normally do with all aroids
and put it into
Photo 1: into my small greenhouse which once was an aquarium.
All my aroids grow very well there.
The humidity is high there, the temperature is optimal for all plants.
Many aroids which grew poorly in normal room conditions,
in this tank grow as they should. There never was any infections.
Photo 3: One day I noticed that the Alocasia's leaves
were hanging down, but still stiff.
First I thought it was receiving too much light
but when I took it out I saw that the remnant of an old petiole sheath was rotting
The stem was rotten through
Photo 4 & 5: The stem was rotting.
Photo 6: A part that remained in the pot was partially healthy, but most of roots were also rotten.
Photo 7: In the soil I found a few healthy tubercles (offsets), some of them with healthy roots
There were also small (about 1mm long) black fly-like insects in the soil
Photo 8, 9, 10 - I cleaned the dead matter to the healthy tissue
and treated with a fungicide and rooting accelerator (?) - some kind of powder, 2 in 1
Photo 11 - I put all parts into new soil without watering,
in one pot the small tubers, in other the bottom of the plant and in other the top,
and I put all back to the tank.
Now questions:
Is there any chance for the plant parts to recover in such conditions (no watering, high air humidity)?
Could the larvae of those small "flies" living in the soil eat roots?
May I water the tubercles? They are all healthy, I don't know how long it takes to start growing, but I remember when repotting Alocasia wentii there were many offsets in the soil every year, but only one of them produced a leaf after a long time.
If you know any other infernal spells to rescue the plant, everything is welcome.
Please help
Marek Argent
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