Mature Euphorbia UPDATED not looking good plz advise

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mishmash
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Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2016 10:55 pm

Mature Euphorbia UPDATED not looking good plz advise

Post by mishmash »

Hello! I recently have become interested in cacti and succulents and have a small collection going. I recently saw a couple of large, mature (40yo+) euphorbias (trigona I assume but correct me if I'm wrong) that needed a new home on Craigslist so I decided to take them. There wasn't a good picture so they came to me a lot less healthy than described but I'm up to the challenge of getting them back to health. I've been researching on my own and I have a general plan but I would really appreciate any advice, information or corrections you can offer me.

Here's the background on them I was able to get (I don't know the previous owners, they just dropped them off with me)

-They're about 40 or more years old, same owner that whole time.
-They were kept on either side of a fireplace and electric heater, next to but not in front of a window. Not sure what direction the windows faced. They were quite dusty so I've cleaned them with a dry brush as best I can
-They were watered once a month, I don't know how much or if they decreased watering over winter
-They were watered last week but the soil is dry to at least 5" depth in either pots so it couldn't have been much
-Both appear to have good root systems more or less filling the pots based on the "wiggle test"
-Both are in 12" diameter plastic pots with some kind of non removable drainage trays built in.
-The soil appears dark and sandy with small organic bits, not much perlite or gravel and no coir or peat. I don't think they've been repotted or had the soil changed in many years. I was told they were fertilized occasionally but not with what.

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The larger plant (photos above) is about 5 feet and is rather magnificent. It's got many arms and is crowded, I wasn't able to get to the inner surfaces to get the dust off. It seems stable but there's a pole stuck in the pot for support. The whole plant seems sightly pale and one side has some yellowing. The main trunk is very firm and darker in colour than most of the arms. The top 12" or so of every arm has a slightly wrinkled, marshmallow-like texture, some were bent in transport as you can see in the photos. They're not soft or mushy, rather spongy and "light" feeling, like they have no water in them. There is some brown scarring throughout, it looks mechanical to my untrained eye.

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The smaller plant (photos above) is about 3 feet (it came to me with a completely dead, much larger main stem in with it but I cut it off before I brought it inside) it appears to be the healthier plant. It has no yellowing, some scars on the stem and the uppermost arms have that "marshmallow" texture but all the main stems are firm. I tested to see if I could yank up the old dead stem but it appears to be well connected to the live part.

Some background on their new home:
-South coastal British Columbia. We get more sunshine and mixed cloudy-sunny days than say Vancouver and our recent summers have been slightly droughted and very sunny.
-The window where they'll live faces west and slightly south.
-It's mid March and very Spring-y outside, we've got cherry blossoms and all kinds of buds, flowers, and new growth on everything. It's been about 11/52 degrees during the day and about 7-9/44-48 degrees at night (outside)
-Inside tends to be about 20/68 degrees and about 50% humidity, more if it's been raining a lot
-We're still in the cloudier part of the year but the window will get much brighter pretty soon as the sun comes around. At present on clear days the window is bright in the morning and gets direct sun in the afternoon and is bright all day when overcast.

My basic plan of action will be to repot them into clay pots with all new mix (I'll make it myself), prune the bigger one and plant the cuttings if I can (I'm aware of the latex and will take precautions), give both plants a good wash with water (I'll cover the soil with plastic or do it when I've uprooted them for repotting) and water them deeply at some point. I'm also going to attempt to separate the dead wood and roots from the smaller plant when I repot.

My questions are:
-What is causing the "marshmallow" texture and/or yellowing? I assume they're very thirsty but could it be sunburned as well?
-If it is sunburned somehow, is the natural spring transition between overcast and sunny days enough to acclimate it to it's new spot right in front of the window or should I move it further away?
-When I repot, should I stick with the same size? Bigger for the big guy? Put the smaller one in a size smaller pot?
-I understand they should stand dry for a time after repotting. If they're very dehydrated as I suspect, in what order should I rehydrate, prune, and repot?
-If this summer is like the last, I could also eventually move them outside on my deck in a covered area first and then in a spot that gets more or less direct sun all day. Since they aren't in 100% health will this help them or should I give them a year inside to heal up and reassess next spring?

Really I'm just not sure how to proceed. As you can see I'm very detail oriented so feel free to give me advice as specific as you can manage. They're very handsome plants and old enough to be my parents! I'd be thrilled to watch over them for them a few more decades, see if we can reach a full 2m height :) Let me know if there's any other information I can provide. Any help would be deeply appreciated!

Thanks very much!
Mish
Last edited by mishmash on Sun Apr 17, 2016 7:56 pm, edited 2 times in total.
mishmash
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2016 10:55 pm

Re: How can I help this very mature Euphorbia

Post by mishmash »

Nobody? Did I come on too strong?

I couldn't shake the feeling that the big plant was really dehydrated so I gave it about 1L of water a few days ago. The soil sucks so I watered slowly and stirred it around some and made sure the water got to root level. It's drying out nicely and I swear I could see and feel the plant perking up within an hour of watering. It seems firmer and more robust now, I was afraid it was too fragile to repot. The smaller one seemed like it'd be fine to go another few weeks so I left it dry.

I tracked down some coir and perlite today so I'm going to mix up a batch of cactus soil. I still need to get them some new pots, I suppose a 12" will be fine for the big one and probably an 8" or 10" for the smaller one? I feel like it's in too much dirt at present. I guess I should probably have a look at the root balls before I buy anything though. I have no idea how I'm going to do it by myself, they're heavy awkward plants. I hope I can wrangle someone into helping out.

The plan is to give the big one a few more days to soak up the water and when the soil is drier I'll make my move. I guess I can uproot them, give the whole plants and roots a good wash and figure out what size pots to get and then go buy them while they dry? I hope the big one will be okay laid on its side for a couple hours, I imagine trying to prop it upright would damage the roots. Then I'll let them sit dry for a few weeks and give another good soak. When should I prune, though? I don't want to stress it out too much all at once, any thoughts?

Now that I think of it, it's supposed to be rainy and somewhat chilly (about 10C) for the next week or so, should I wait for a dry spell before attempting to repot? Is that too cold for them to be outside for a couple of hours?

Am I going in the right direction here folks? I'd really appreciate any feedback, I've been reading a lot but lack any experience to guide me. Thanks!
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greenknight
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Location: SW Washington State zone 8b

Re: How can I help this very mature Euphorbia

Post by greenknight »

Those may be self-watering planters, not a great idea for succulents. In any case, if there's no way to pour off the drainage water mineral salts have been building up in the soil for years, so it's no wonder they're unhealthy.

Your plan sounds like a good one. I would go ahead and re-pot, as long as you don't water them right after. You can prune right away, too, it doesn't stress the part that isn't cut off. :) In fact, you could prune first to make the plants easier to handle.
Spence :mrgreen:
mishmash
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Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2016 10:55 pm

Re: How can I help this very mature Euphorbia

Post by mishmash »

Thank you @greenknight ! I think I will prune first, it'll make it a lot easier to handle the repotting and I'm glad to hear it won't impact them negatively. I'm definitely going to put them in regular clay planters with saucers, too. I've been reading that some (all?) succulents prefer being watered from underneath, does that mean just filling the saucer with water and checking to see if it's been sucked up? I usually put a layer of gravel in the bottom of my pots to keep the dirt from falling out, would that hinder that process?

It's not raining today and warm-ish so I think I'll try to repot the smaller plant today. I think I can manage it without help, fingers crossed! As for the larger I'll let it continue to dry out and get some pruning done. I'm so excited to try rooting the cuttings! I'll have to give some away if they all take, I only have so much window space!

UPDATE:

I uprooted and cleaned the smaller plant. It wasn't attached to the stump of the dead stem at all and has very tiny roots. I was surprised to see how little it had for looking so healthy, is that typical for euphies? Here it is next to the stump and a close up of the roots:

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It's about 6" from roots to where the green starts so I'm thinking an 8" pot, and I might bury it slightly more shallowly to give it a bit more room at the bottom. The dirt it was in was very sandy and quite compacted near the bottom, no wonder the roots are so small! I've got my rich potting soil sitting out to dry in the sun, the coir shredded and the plant laying in the shade. I'm going to go get a pot and I'll post a pic when I've got it all planted!

EVEN MORE OF AN UPDATE:
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I went to a couple places to find pots and the choice was between 6" or 10" so remembering the tiny roots I decided to err on the side of less dirt. Not like it'll get rootbound anytime soon, right? :lol: It did need to be a bit shallower than it had been in the huge pot but it's stable enough. I don't imagine it would be a big deal to move it to an 8" pot if I ever find one. I'm so pleased to get it out of that ugly plastic planter!

I mixed up my soil, 1 part each compost and coir and two parts perlite and I put a handful of larger gravel around the stem to help support it. The plant has a bit of a lean to it so if I find that it's not stable enough I will either move it to a bigger pot or but some bigger rocks around it, but I think it'll be fine as long as I'm careful.
mishmash
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat Mar 12, 2016 10:55 pm

Re: How can I help this very mature Euphorbia UPDATED

Post by mishmash »

So I repotted the big one on April 1st and haven't watered it yet. It and the small both got very sunburned :c I thought it would be okay to have them right in the window since it had been cloudy but it was too much too soon I guess.

I moved the smaller one about 10 ft back from the window and have been pulling the shades in the afternoon to keep the sun off of the larger one, should I move it across the room as well?

Some of the main branches look pretty rotten, some at the base and some at the tips. Should I remove them entirely?

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I'm really sad. They look way worse than when I got them. Is there any hope of them bouncing back?
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greenknight
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Re: Mature Euphorbia UPDATED not looking good plz advise

Post by greenknight »

Anything that's mushy should be removed, no rush about removing parts that are shrivelling up.

Getting them sunburned was a setback, but where there's life there's hope.
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esp_imaging
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Re: Mature Euphorbia UPDATED not looking good plz advise

Post by esp_imaging »

I'd not get hung up about the plant being 40 years old, these grow quickly if treated well.
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