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[plantlight]

Need help with mandragora.  I bought 2 live mandragora officinarum plants 3 months ago.  They were 2-3 years old according to the vendor.  Both of them were very happy until this week when the temperatures warmed up and both plants dropped all leaves. 

I probably should uproot them to see what they look like below the soil line but I thought I'd shout out for help first.  Any suggestions?

[modern]

They likely are going dormant. They only grow during cool weather and when temps get high 80-90 i think they go dormant. In the fall they will sprout new leaves.

If you want you can bring them indoors or a shady area and they may keep from going dormant. I did this last year with my 2 m.officinalis. They grew thru the summer and one started to bloom this spring but flower rotted and leaves died back... likely went dormant.


They also tend to drop all their leaves when they reach the bottom of the pot... and restart leaves. I doubt they went dormant so early but idk how hot your area is.

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[plantlight]

What should I do to preserve them?   Dig them up and store them?  Temps have reached the 80s this week.

[modern]

Just keep them in the pot and water less often. Now is a good time to up-pot if you think it already reached the bottom. They tend to grow during the 'dormant' period from the stored energy from the leaves I think. By grow I mean thicker/longer roots.

I tend to water once a week when there are leaves but down to 2-4 weeks during dormancy.

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[plantlight]

I'll repot tomorrow.  Anything special to consider soil wise?  I have them in a light perlite/soil mix -- the same I use for psychotria viridis.  Should I lean more toward cactus mix?

[modern]

I use a light soil as well but that happens to be the same as my cactus mix. 50/50 soil/perlite with a few handfuls of pumice so probably 30-40 soil.

I need to repot mine as well and want to put it in a much deeper pot... gonna use 3 juice containers and make it almost 2 feet deep. 1 of mine are still very green with growth so will delay repotting until summer time so they are both dormant.

Again maybe yours is not dormant yet (i think at 85-90 it goes dormant I don't remember exact temp but will lean towards 90) but has reached the bottom of the pot... They also drop all their leaves if you rotate the orientation to the sun. If it is one of these two they should sprout leaves in 2 weeks or so. You can repot either way but just letting you know.

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[plantlight]

Ok, gonna go lighter with the mix and repot tomorrow.  Perhaps they have reached the bottom because I didn't give them much growing room.  They're in 1 liter pots today but 2 liter tomorrow.

[modern]

I am currently using a 2 liter coke bottle as my container. I'm sure that they still have a little while to go before reaching the bottom with the tap root but some feeder roots have reached the bottom.

They will grow even in a smaller container but the roots will likely circle rather than have that long body look they normally have with age.

If you are interested in doing this you can break the stem in half and the top will grow 'arms/legs' and the bottom will grow a new grown with time. Needs to be a little thick but they can be propagated by root division. Will likely delay flowering though.

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[plantlight]

Something to think about.  Thanks for the advice.

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[modern]

plantlight just another thing I remembered... I also add about half an inch of pure pumice topsoil to prevent rotting in the crown/leaves.

When looking at my plants today I noticed that my mandrake is gonna flower I started these from seed 2 years and 3 months ago. The dormant one was budding but the leaves all dried out and I pulled the crown when removing the leaves. I wonder if I will get any fruits/seeds.

[plantlight]

Your plant looks beautiful and so healthy.  Congratulations! 

I've only had mine for 3 months but they were advertised as 2-3 years old.  The tap roots are curvey, about 2 - 3 inches  long and a bit over 1/4 inch diameter.  Does that sound about right for the size? 

I repotted mine in a larger pot with lighter soil, added 25% perlite to my mix so I'm thinking my mix is about 38/72 soil to perlite/vermiculite now.  I just now replaced the top 1/2 inch with pumice.

I have only exposed them to filtered light but it looks like yours may be in direct sunlight.  How much sun should they have?  Watering -  how much is right?   

They've been in my greenhouse but I'd like to put them outside.  Do you know if animals will try to eat them? Lots  of squirrels visit my yard.

Sorry for so many questions but I'd like to repeat your success.

[modern]

IDK but that size sounds like mine when they were around 6 months old. Maybe growth conditions were different or the original soil was more course than mine? Like I mentioned my soil is very light and the roots grow and spread quite easily. Assuming your source is SS I would trust them as they water/soil/sun conditions are much different then mine. Similar to comparing 2-3 year old trichocereus seedlings depending on growing conditions can vary greatly.

Mine gets direct sunlight but only when it winter due to sun orientation. I don't get direct sunlight during the summer.... Indirect sunlight is fine and I've grown mine in indirect sunlight most of the time. The only difference is that the leaves will be less compact but will do fine.

I think animals will instinctively not eat the plant due to being a nightshade plant. Even if they do eat the leaves a little they will soon stop after seeing the effects. The main issue with this plant IME is mealybug on  the underside of the leaves.

My plant blooming within 2 years is definitely not the norm and many people have their plants for 4+ years and have not seen blooms yet. Others report only getting blooms after planting in the ground.

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[plantlight]

Yes, they're from Sacred Succulents.  I'll report when/if they grow leaves again.  Thanks for the advice.