Plant Shipment Gone Wrong

[AmberMc]

I posted this in the wrong forum the first time. Sorry to be a pain.

Hello! I recently ordered a plant called 'Micra Umbrosum' from ebay. When I received it in the mail, it looked like this-

Most of the stems are rotten - and the rest are dull green/brown. I've already received a refund from the seller, she believes the weather may have been too hot to send it to my area. However, I was wondering if any of you have any idea of how I might save some of it? I hate to throw it away. As you can see right now I just have it in a glass bowl with water, because I'm not putting it in my aquariums looking like that! I have some FloraPride on hand, and I don't know if it would do more harm than good. Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Dave Spencer]

It looks very much like Micranthemum umbrosum.

I have some of this and it is very easy to grow in my planted tanks. Your best bet would be to remove as much of the dead matter as possible and plant it in your tank. The fish waste should provide it with nutrients along with the Forapride that you have (I`m not sure what is in it). Provided you have adequate lighting and it is not too far gone, it should pick up.

Dave.

 

[nry]

I'm with Dave, I have rescued far worse looking plants than that

 

[AmberMc]

Thanks for the replies! My next concern I guess, is that there doesn't seem to be any root base? I'm not sure if that's what rotted. Most sites about the plant say that the stem cuttings can be planted and will grow - should I just try planting the healthier looking stems?

 

[ICEEGRL]

It was probably cuttings (no roots yet) Plant the stems. They will grow roots after they are planted if the conditions are right.

 

[afroturf]

I have to disagree with what people have said on what plant it is, to me it looks like a plant called lindernia but I’ll probably be wrong, I received some lindernia from a online seller instead of some rotala I ordered, it wasn’t in the best condition either and it was difficult to get it to recover, I eventually gave up on it and replaced it with the rotala I wanted.

Do you have a link to the ebay add?

 

[Dave Spencer]

Thanks for the replies! My next concern I guess, is that there doesn't seem to be any root base? I'm not sure if that's what rotted. Most sites about the plant say that the stem cuttings can be planted and will grow - should I just try planting the healthier looking stems?

M. umbrosum is a strange stem plant. I received some from Tropica a while back and was surprised when I took it out of the rock wool. The stem appears to be a U shape. If you were to plant one end of the stem, half the leaves would be the right way up and the other half would be upside down. Plant the stem at the point where the leaves are growing the opposite way around to eachother (approx. the mid point of the stem, where there should be some roots), and either side of the stem will float up with the leaves on both legs of the U being the right way up.

Hope this makes sense.

Dave.

 

[AmberMc]

Thanks for the help everyone. I have planted a few of the healthier stems - hopefully they'll grow!