Is there any chance of saving/rooting this Pachypodium Lamerei?

[Keys6505]

I got this guy last year and repotted him right away in a mix that clearly stayed too wet.  I moved him out of the rain a month or 2 ago but still in 50% sun but I guess it was too late.  The top portion looks rot-free but I have zero experience with any type of cactus or cactus-like plants.  Is there any chance at rooting this top section?  If so please let me know how!  It's air drying right now.  Thanks 

[Silas_Sancona]

12 minutes ago, Keys6505 said:

I got this guy last year and repotted him right away in a mix that clearly stayed too wet.  I moved him out of the rain a month or 2 ago but still in 50% sun but I guess it was too late.  The top portion looks rot-free but I have zero experience with any type of cactus or cactus-like plants.  Is there any chance at rooting this top section?  If so please let me know how!  It's air drying right now.  Thanks 

You can try, but have never had luck rooting pieces that small.. Because the rot was well established in the plant beforehand, the tip is likely already infected, but not showing the obvious signs yet ( this has happened to me w/ these, Plumeria, and various cacti i was trying to save at various times < tip i was attempting to root looks great, at first ..then keeps on rotting > ). Bummer to loose it, but i myself would look for a replacement vs. trying to save it.

Next time, avoid soil w/ any organics in it ( aside from a few pinches of Coir / Cocopeat ) Bagged " stuff " is garbage, mixing your own soil mixes is better if you can. 

 

[Keys6505]

1 hour ago, Silas_Sancona said:

You can try, but have never had luck rooting pieces that small.. Because the rot was well established in the plant beforehand, the tip is likely already infected, but not showing the obvious signs yet ( this has happened to me w/ these, Plumeria, and various cacti i was trying to save at various times < tip i was attempting to root looks great, at first ..then keeps on rotting > ). Bummer to loose it, but i myself would look for a replacement vs. trying to save it.

Next time, avoid soil w/ any organics in it ( aside from a few pinches of Coir / Cocopeat ) Bagged " stuff " is garbage, mixing your own soil mixes is better if you can. 

 

Gotcha.  Yeah, I used my regular 1:1:1 palm mix of perlite/turface/bagged garden soil figuring I would just never hand water it and it would stay dry enough but then it rained for about 2 months straight so that went out the window.  Got any recommendations for a good homemade cactus mix for my future reference?  Thanks for the help.

[Silas_Sancona]

6 minutes ago, Keys6505 said:

Gotcha.  Yeah, I used my regular 1:1:1 palm mix of perlite/turface/bagged garden soil figuring I would just never hand water it and it would stay dry enough but then it rained for about 2 months straight so that went out the window.  Got any recommendations for a good homemade cactus mix for my future reference?  Thanks for the help.

I use stuff Turface, small Lava Rock, Pumice,  ..a little Coir / Cocopeat, and Grit i collect from a couple washes here for most cacti / other arid habitat things..  Trichocereus / Echinopsis are about the only " common " cacti where i'll allow a little more organics in the mix. Even so, organic content is less than 10% of the overall soil mix.  Where you can't easily access grit from a wash, you can use something like Chicken Grit you'd find at any feed store.. In FL. also had access to a Limestone- derived " Paver Base " from the bb stores. The grit i'll sometimes sift to get out most of the dusty fine content unless i decide to use the finer sized stuff  for starting certain seed.  Some people use small Orchid- type bark and/ or LECA in such a " loose " mix but stay away from it myself. 

Every Cactus, Plumeria, ..or Pachypodium, etc  i bought where i'd left it in the mix the nursery started them in rather than transfering into something more ideal always ended up rotting. Such issues are amplified here due to our bone dry heat ( can the cooks root in the pots ( even when kept in mostly shade ), which can lead to root rot when the plants are watered ) 

Organics like Peat have a tendency to break down pretty quickly when constantly wet which then ends up compacting in the soil mix and depriving roots of Oxygen ( experienced this numerous times )  If there is anything Limestone related in a soil mix containing Peat, the soil will quickly turn to muck ..some weird effect of mixing the two things together.  Stopped using Perlite because of it's tendency of rising up out of the soil mix.

Even in a mix like what i use, 2 months straight of rain might be a bit much for certain things - though i'd think this Pachypodium species wouldn't mind as long as the soil drains very quickly.  Would see big specimens growing in several yards when i lived in Bradenton. Unexpected find was a really nice specimen growing outside some condo complex on Longboat Key as well. Figured being close enough to the beach / potential for constant exposure to salt spray might injure it. Looked better than many others i've seen in person, even in California.