Leaf Rot (4) {Plant 2}

08/07/07

The rot from the youngest leaf has finally spread to the crown area; light brown translucent marks from the rotting tissues in the youngest leaf have traveled across the leaf joint to reach the petiole. The plant showed no sign of sacrificing the youngest leaf that is already rotting badly, thus it had been manually cut away this morning. However, as the leaf region close to the crown is difficult to reach with the scissors, some rotten tissue still remained on the plant. Physan has been applied to crown.

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09/07/07

The cut has dried well.

11/07/07

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16/07/07

The remaining part of the trimmed leaf has dried up and dropped off, leaving the dried petiole attached to the plant.

Leaf Rot (3) {Plant 2}

21/06/07

A dark (almost black) spot was found in the region of leaf between the cut wedges (see photos below). Unlike the typical wet rot that we usually encounter when water droplets stayed on the leaves for prolonged periods, this spot was almost black in color and did not appear translucent against the light. Furthermore, waterings were done carefully to ensure that the leaf surfaces stay completely dry. Thus, it cannot be concluded whether if this is the usual fungal or bacterial rot. It was also not clear whether the black spot was due to an infection of the cut edges.

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22/06/07

The immediate region of leaf surrounding the dark portion started to turn yellowish.

A suspected rot was also occuring at the cut edge of a nearby wedge. The affected portion seems like a normal wet rot: dirty brown and translucent against the light. However, the speed of spread was very slow. Too slow for wet rot.

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23/06/07

The size of the dark spot has doubled that of yesterday; the rate of spread is very fast. In addition, a translucent region that resembles wet rot can be seen surrounding the dark spot today.

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24/06/07

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25/06/07

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27/06/07

It has been observed the amount of complications from the cut wounds such as rotting from the wounds decreases with increasing age of the leaves. That is, the older the leaves, the lesser the complications arising from the wounds; the younger the leaves, the more the complications. For this plant, the oldest two leaves did not develop any complications from the cut wounds, while the youngest leaf that had yet to harden suffered the most number of complications from these wounds (can be seen from the photos).

I will be using Physan 20 the next time to see if wound infections can be reduced or even totally eliminated. A clean rust-free cutter will also be used for future operations.

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30/06/07

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02/07/07

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05/07/07