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I have a Duvalia corderoyi. I put it in gritty soil mix. It was ok for a while then one day I saw the problem in the first circle in the picture. I wasn't sure if that is rot or chew marks from a rodent. Then about a week later I saw more trouble indicated by the second circle. This doesn't look like typical rot and doesn't look like rodent bite marks. Am I watering the plant too much?

My first guess would be scorching. I wouldn't normally expect it to start at the base, but then I don't grow Duvalia.

Looks like they're being roasted.

The greenhouse has been extra toasty lately. Odd how only one section at a time begins to die from the heat. This summer I lost a Pseudolithos migiurtinus because of excess heat. It became a sickly pale color and after a week it shriveled. Oddly, my other P. migiurtinus that was next to the first one had no problems. I moved my Duvalia corderoyi, Rhytidocaulon mccoyi, and surviving P. migiurtinus to a sunny basement window. The R. mccoyi was looking too skinny. iann and HP22B, thank you for your feedback.

Do you have any shade cloth or anything else to reduce light levels in your greenhouse? Plants can roast in there from a combination of too much sun and heat in a way they don't outside. I have 50% shade cloth covering mine.

Saxicola, I have shade cloth but my cacti and succulents generally grow better if I don't use it.


I thought the first area I circled in the picture wouldn't get any worse. The first and second circled areas started rotting so I cut out the rot and separated the lowest section of the plant in the picture. I couldn't callous the cut on the lowest section so I tried grafting the growing tip on to an Edithcolea grandis. I didn't have another Asclepiad related plant for grafting. The scion grew fungus and the graft failed. Fortunately the original plant in the picture seems OK. I need to remember to keep it cooler than my other cacti and succulents.