I recently got this string of coins and it is just not happy. At first I thought it was mealy bugs and had been treading it, but now I’m not sure. This has happened to three branches where it will start shrivelling at the root and slowly die from the top down. I’ve repotted it in to a succulent mix with added perlite, treated with neem oil, tried a neem oil soak and moved it to a sunnier location. I’m at a loss on what to do. Any ideas?
Help save my string of nickles
- Thread starter Jessiwinters
- Start date
Greetings, welcome to the Forums.
String of Nickles (Dischidia nummularia), in the Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae) is an evergreen semi-succulent vine native to southeastern Asia, southern China, Hainan, Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Queensland.
It wants direct sun or bright indirect light, regular irrigation and fast-draining soil. it should be fertilized with a complete liquid fertilizer on a regular schedule.
It is hard to judge your growing conditions from one photo but your plant would likely benefit from more light and less water.
Make sure the drainage is excellent. You mentioned mealybugs (Pseudococcidae, Hemiptera), but have you actually seen mealybugs on the plant?
String of Nickles (Dischidia nummularia), in the Dogbane Family (Apocynaceae) is an evergreen semi-succulent vine native to southeastern Asia, southern China, Hainan, Philippines, Indonesia, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, and Queensland.
It wants direct sun or bright indirect light, regular irrigation and fast-draining soil. it should be fertilized with a complete liquid fertilizer on a regular schedule.
It is hard to judge your growing conditions from one photo but your plant would likely benefit from more light and less water.
Make sure the drainage is excellent. You mentioned mealybugs (Pseudococcidae, Hemiptera), but have you actually seen mealybugs on the plant?
Thanks for your comment! I haven’t seen mealy bugs just the white fussy stuff in the second photo, which I thought was mealy bugs. I don’t have it in a space with a lot of light at the moment so can move it to a different room and see if that helps.
As far as soil do you think an orchid mix might be better? The mix I’m using now isn’t super chunky but does have perlite in it. This plant was a gift so I’d like to save it but it’s giving me an absolute headache
Aha, I didn't even see the second photo. Could you post a macro shot of that white fuzz. It looks a bit like mealybugs, but it looks more like mold. Either way, that stem is in dire trouble. More sunlight, less irrigation and perhaps better drainage are all called for.