u/hrngr1m

Does anyone experience this? I offered some duplicate items for exchange yesterday. After the event reset, I didn't see anything in my mail and the offered items just vanished from the salvage pile. Isn't it supposed to be that offered items for trade which doesn't result in a successful trade shouldn't go back into the salvage pile?

So several days ago I got some konjac plants from an enthusiast who wants to give away some of the new places from her old collections. The young plants were grown in a large pot outdoors, which the old owner then simply unearthed before giving it to me.

After clearing the whole thing, I got: (sorry about the measurement in metric unit lol)

- 6 plants with corms about the size of a pea (about 1-1,5 cm), each with their own mature greens

- 4 plants with corms about double the size of above, also each with their own greens

- a single plant with corms about 5 cm and 2 side shoots together with the mature huge single leaf

- 1 large corm (about 8 cm), very well-rooted with a central shoot

My questions are:

1. Can the small corms be buried deep or prefer more shallow placement?

2. Do konjac plants prefer to be slightly root bound or not? In this context, can I pot several places with smaller corns together?

3. How deep of a pot should I use? For example, rn I'm using a pot of about 12 cm wide and about 15 cm deep for the largest corms.

Thanks in advance.

Learning from past mistakes where 95% of my first lithops collected rotted from wrong care, I got the last batch of lithops about 2 months ago. Bare rooted arrived, somewhat dry roots but didn't think much of it since all arrived plumpy and healthy without blemishes. All not in their splitting phase. Carefully placed then in a 90:10 inorganic-organic mix (inorganic consists of terracota flakes, pumice, and perlite). Tried my best not to jam the soft tissues into the rocky mix to avoid any damage. Haven't watered them at all afterward.

Within a week two of the largest ones already rotted (both in the same container, the last one in the that contained immediately unearthed and put in a new pot alone with new material, attributed so far). Afterward I got paranoid. I checked all the lithops religiously, at least every 2-3 days. So far nothing. Still decided not to do anything and no watering.

Last week got so ill I didn't really check any. Today when I thought it had been long enough a dry spell and was about to spray the top soil carefully, I found yet another 2 rotting completely and a third one already showing soft spots on the side. In a pot with 8 other lithops, which are all healthy so far. Still have to repot them in the morning (right now it's 1 am where i am) since I don't want to risk spreading the rot and wasting money for naught again.

Ridiculously enough, the longest survivors are 3 bet small lithops (each the size of the pinky finger nail) which survived the first failed batch.

What is wrong? They're all in containers previously not used for any other plants. The soil like being said is brand new, not even the same composition or brand as the previous one. And like being said, they haven't received a single drop of water at all since I potted them. The ones so far surviving are all still plumply and firm (if not slightly soft from the lack of water). Full sun blast (including afternoon sun) at least 12 hours a day in front of a south facing window.

I'm running out of analysis. Contaminated cactus mix from the store? Microwound from the potting process? The lithops cooked under the sun in the soil then rot? Too deeply buried? (I bury until the top surface of the leaves are the same level as the soil to replicate their habit in the wild) Should I just spray all the lithops I purchase in the future with hydrogen peroxide or dust them with sulphur before putting?

I recently started taking care of these cuties (roughly 6 months journey). So far quite successful, aside from the aforementioned problem.

Somehow my stapelias keep dying from rot very quickly.

Which is ironic since at the same time all my other Hernia and Orbea plants have been thriving well. And all receive (or received) the exact same care. I'm talking about the same soil mixture/properties, same watering schedule and amount, same amount of light etc.

All are (or were) planted in a mixture of 30% organic 70% inorganic mix. After the first batch of stapelias all devastated by rot, I even move to 10% organic 90% inorganic.

All are (or were) only watered TWICE so far (first watering immediately after potting as I got them bare-rooted, the second in May).

Are receive unfiltered bright sun the entire day (south window directly on the bank no curtain, on a sunny day 6-8 hours sun, like the sunlight directly hits the plants).

All are planted in plastic pots just deep and wide enough for the root crowns.

I just obtained some stapelias again 2 weeks ago. Planted like said above, watered carefully 2 days after potting (just until water drips out of the pot). This morning I noticed my whole Stapelia grandiflora already rots partially. Haven't had time to check the rest of the Stapelias due to having to run to work.

And I though the severe heat wave would prevent rot.

The Huernias and Orbeas? Thriving further.

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

So first, I'm from Chinese descendant. My mother used to (and actually is) fry finely chopped garlic (I'm taking like to the size of dried rough bulgurs) until they're golden and crispy then store it submerged in oil on room temperature for months. A long tedious work (like frying them 10-12 minutes carefully to make sure the garlic pieces are crispy and the water completely evaporates without burning them). And I'm talking about huge batch (like 0.5-1 kg at one time, which requires long time to fry). We always have them in soups or noodles.

Lately she's been making scallion oil the same way, only with snapped batch despite the same prolonged frying (since scallions have way higher water content).

I always want to make some but then I learn about the danger of botulism for vegetables kept in oil - especially garlic.

The thing is: most of what people warn against concern about raw garlic or garlic confit, which definitely still have some moisture in them. No source out there really discuss about this kind of situation.

I know about the behaviour of Clostridium botulinum endospores (a physician here) and their fastidious growth requirements. Still I have questions here since I don't necessary know every single thing about this.

I understand frying wouldn't be 100% or else the garlic is thoroughly burned. But I genuinely believe that up to 95-99% moisture is removed this way. And since I'm not frying like 1-2 pieces of garlic but a large amount, which requires at least 10 minutes to promote water evaporation before finally during the garlic crispy. That process alone must've deactivated almost all the endospores.

But the question is: is it regardless still risky?