Monadenium / Euphorbia renneyi : Plant care advice?

[rtb1980]

Hello,

I have a Monadenium renneyi, which I guess is now called Euphorbia renneyi?

I bought this at a plant show last summer and it did great over the summer on my deck. I now have it in my bedroom, on a stand with about 60 other cacti. Almost all of my plants are doing great with a few exceptions, including this one.

It was leaning a bit and I thought it was growing towards the sun so I moved it and it seemed to straighten up a bit. (I also watered it a bit so this might have helped too).

It is about 8 inches tall and the leaves have all wrinkled up and are drying out and beginning to fall. I know this is normal as a couple other Euphorbia that I have did the same however they are not leaning at all. I have been watering very minimally, using a spray bottle once every few weeks on it.. just getting the soil wet, which probably dries out in a few days.

Today I found it completing on it's side, the plant stem is bent to almost, not quite, a 90 degree angle. It's not looking very happy and I'm not quite sure what it is.

Lack of water?
Too cold in the room? (We keep our heat about about 68F but at night time it may get as cool as 60F, maybe a bit lower.)

Please help as I really don't want to loose this plant and I can't find any plant care advice online for this specific species.

Thank You!!!
-Rich

[esp_imaging]

Is it healthy apart from the lean? No pests or rot? I assume the stem if fairly rigid, so a 90 deg bend in it sounds serious.
This may not be the problem, but how bright is the lighting? A minimumof 60 deg F is very warm for most dormant cacti and succulents, even for tropical plants you are more in the growing rather than resting range with your temps. So I'm guessing it's too dry, and maybe wanting more light, aside from any other possible problem.

[Aiko]

Is the stem soft, soggy?

[rtb1980]

Thanks for the replies. The stem is fairly rigid, I can't really tell how soft the bend point is since it's narrow and has thorns. I did slowly bend it back up somewhat, after giving it water, hoping that would help but it hasn't returned to normal yet.

I'm not sure what to do. I hope watering it doesn't cause it to rot, I soaked the pot. I might cover it in paper towels to draw some of the water out.

Attached are some pics.



Thanx again for any advice.

[rtb1980]

Ugh, apparently my photo for sizes are too large.. gonna have to figure out how to reduce them on my phone..

[rtb1980]

Okay, I changed my camera settings to as low as possible..

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IMG_20170125_205320.jpg (430.64 KiB) Viewed 2730 times

[esp_imaging]

I think it may have got a bit top heavy, perhaps from growing strongly when there hasn't been enough light. The recent growth looks quite leggy (a long way between each leaf node ) compared to the older growth, which seems very compact. Maybe use a stake or other support, and keep it either much brighter, and / or rather cooler, over the winter so it doesn't put on etiolated growth.

[rtb1980]

Thanks for the reply. It actually hasn't grown a whole lot since bringing into the house, but maybe more than I realize. I've had it indoors for about 4 months now.

It still hasn't straightened itself out yet... I was thinking it would since it was bent over, at less of and angle once before but it picked itself back up within a couple days.

Btw, I've now closed off the room they are in and blocked off the heater vent, so it's been much colder in the now, hopefully that will help. I also am going to add a stake today and gently tie it up, that should help too.

I never thought about how far the distance between the leaf nodes is until you pointed that out. I've attached some pics from when I first got it for comparison but it's hard to tell since the focus of the pics was not on that specific plant.



Thanks again.. I hope this little guy hangs on for just a few more months. I'm in Missouri.

[rtb1980]

This pic is from when I first got it.

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And this pic is from fall, when I first moved it indoors.

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[rtb1980]

Well, the plant still hasn't straightened out and I don't think it will. Something is happening at the base of the stem, right were it meets the soil, it is starting to shrink. It's almost half the size now as when I posted the first pictures. I'm not sure what would be causing this but I need to know what I can do to save this one.

Should I replant it and bury the shrunken part deeper? (I'm guessing this is a big NO but thought about asking.)

Should I cut it, let it callous and then add rooting hormone and replant it that way?

Suggestions are greatly appreciated.. I'll post some new pic's later on tonight.

Thanks in advance for any help offered!
-Rich

[rtb1980]

Here are a couple pics I just took.

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IMG_20170203_183045.jpg (105.42 KiB) Viewed 2666 times

[esp_imaging]

Take it out of the pot, check the roots and stem below soil level. There seems to be a problem you can't see above ground.