Sick Epi

[hayu]

I bought an Epi off Ebay in Febuary. It was one that offered 5 different cuttings. One was dead when it came. So I put the cuttings in a cool dark closet.

A couple months later all but one. I emailed the seller and was told to recut the leaf. When I cut it I noticed that main vein was black. I kept cutting and finally two inchs from the top I found some normal main vein.

I put it back in the closet. When I went in to check it a couple days later the cutting was totaly black.
Does anyone know what caused this? Is there any way to prevent this or cure it once it has it?

[TimN]

My *guess* is that perhaps the cutting utensil had some foreign substance on it or was contaminiated with whatever was making the cutting sick.

When cutting a diseased plant, be sure to wipe the blade frequently with your favorite disinfectant. It's probably not a bad idea to clean the blade very carefully before making the final cut.

Tim

[hayu]

Thanks! I was afraid that was the reason after I read the grafting section. I had used it earlier in day to cut an euphorbia.

I had rinsed off the white sap but did not use alcohol. I wasn't sure you could use alcohol on a cutting.

[daiv]

You can pot Epi cuttings immediately after being cut with little worry. But a couple days in a warm area would be fine. Cool is not necessary, just not direct sunlight. The surface area on an Epi cut is quite small and doesn't take long to heal at all...