exploding root

[melbee]

Hi all
I noticed the other day the leaves on my mandragora caulecense had drooped it had been looking unwell for some time .So I yanked it out of the pot and washed all the compost off the roots to reveal a large split at the top of the root .Also the pot had a great many of little green seedlike balls mixed in with the compost .When I squashed some there is a whitish paste inside more like a egg than a seed .
Soooooooooooooo my question is what do you think has made the root split like that and what are the little green balls and do you think they have anything to do with the root slitting .
There should be some pictures attached of the offending articles
many thanks
Mel

[Maggi Young]

Melbee.... the photos are very small... could you post them at a larger size,; say 700 pixels wide so we can see better?

[melbee]

Hummmmmmmmmmmm
I  seemed to have compressed them and now I can't uncompress them .I will have a root around and find the originals

[melbee]

Ok
I have resized and am ready for viewing

[Panu]

Those balls are fertilizer.

[David Lyttle]

The little round balls are pellets of the fertiliser that is added to your potting mix. The fertiliser is coated in this way to allow it to release slowly over time so the plants get a continuous supply of nutrients rather than a spike that would be quickly washed away if the pure chemicals were added. There are various proprietory formulations: Osmacote and Nutricote being the ones I am familiar with.

I could comment on the exploding root but I would be guessing so I will leave it to some one else.

[Lesley Cox]

Melbee, if you feel a little silly about the fertilizer balls, you are not the first. When I first met Osmacote in a compost, I carefully removed every one and trod on it on a concrete floor, in order to kill the offending "eggs." They too were filled with white paste, obviously about to hatch into something horrid. A visiting nurseryman asked me why I was treading on them and couldn't believe that someone who'd been gardening for 25 years, at that time, could be so stupid. (He's not one of my best friends now. )

[melbee]

thanks for that Lesley .Well yes stupid would describe it ,especially when I thought I had defeated the dastardly plans of a fiendish green egg laying insect that had designs on eating my prized root. But we live and learn .
There are still no ideas on why the root has split like that. Too much fertilizer in the soil perhaps?

[David Lyttle]

When I first met Osmacote in a compost, I carefully removed every one and trod on it on a concrete floor, in order to kill the offending "eggs."  )

I knew I had heard the story before but could not remember the identity of the gardener involved;D

[Lesley Cox]

When I first met Osmacote in a compost, I carefully removed every one and trod on it on a concrete floor, in order to kill the offending "eggs."  )

I knew I had heard the story before but could not remember the identity of the gardener involved;D

Well knowing me quite well David, you could have made a good guess.

[Rodger Whitlock]

There are still no ideas on why the root has split like that. Too much fertilizer in the soil perhaps?

My gut feeling is that it's a cultural problem. It reminds me of tomatoes splitting, which turns out to have a number of known causes: uneven watering, uneven rate of growth, too much fertilizer, growth too fast.

The question now is how to save your Mandragora caulescens, because in its current state it looks like it may be very prone to fungal or bacterial attack and consequent rot. I suggest that you allow the root to dry out for a while, so that the raw flesh has a chance to callus. You may then want to pack the wound with sulfur, an excellent fungicide with the great virtue (as Paul Christian puts it) that it stays where you put it.

Finally, repot it in soil that is barely damp and keep your fingers crossed.

[melbee]

Thanks for that Roger I am inclined to agree with you .I'm off down the garden centre to get some sulfur to do exactly what you have suggested

[melbee]

Hi all
just thought I would give an update on the Mandragora caulescens .The plant has fully recovered and has pushed out a vigorous top growth .
Many thanks for your sage advice

[gote]

Melbee, if you feel a little silly about the fertilizer balls, you are not the first. When I first met Osmacote in a compost, I carefully removed every one and trod on it on a concrete floor, in order to kill the offending "eggs." They too were filled with white paste, obviously about to hatch into something horrid. A visiting nurseryman asked me why I was treading on them and couldn't believe that someone who'd been gardening for 25 years, at that time, could be so stupid. (He's not one of my best friends now. )

Mee too Lesley   
Göte

[Neil]

Guilty as well