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Friday, April 24, 2020

Dischidia oiantha


This particular dischidia is different from the Ant plant type which has a pouch. This one has oval shaped foliage which appears to be a succulent type. Ideally sold in nurseries in the appearance where the stem rolled around a coconut husk and somehow it is very stable in that condition.

These cascade beautifully once they taken strong roots at the medium but to take caution on over-watering as the whole thing can rot away. The rot will start at the stem turning yellow and hollow and leaves falling apart.


The best ideal method of plant care and propagation I found that works best is rolling them up on a kokedama ball. This kokedama is basically a formation of cocopeat placed inside a teabag and tied up with a fishing line. Once the aerial roots grows from the leaf nodes and get embedded inside the kokedama - it is considered stable.


There are not much of study done on dischidia concerning their various species and their characteristics. However as much as this is known - this one is native and grows wildly around my region. 


I find this particular dischidia does well as a companion plant on other epiphyte especially on staghorn fern and birdnest fern - these ferns has strong fibrous root structure that support this dischidia to cling on them well.


Basic Care & Maintenance of Dischidia:

Medium:
This require a fast draining medium - something like orchid medium mix.
It does well with a mixture of perlite, sphagnum moss, cocopeat & bark mix.

It should not be a strong drainage mix where it doesn't hold any moisture at all but it should not be holding water too where the roots and stem can rot too. The balance of both is ideal.

Sometimes the nursery plant them - rolling them in a coconut husk making a ball from it. Another medium will be coconut husk stuffed inside a seashell with the dischidia hanging from it.
For sometime - it would look cool but eventually it get spend and burned due to lack of root growth and nutrients - making the plant leggy and trying to escape elsewhere.

Watering:
I water daily and twice during the hot dry days. These can go without water for few days to a week and perhaps you have to take note on how the foliage appearance - if it appears withered or drying than watering is mandatory. The downside of watering will cost the leaves to turn yellow and start rotting - therefore - the right balance is necessary.

Sun:
Dischidia is not a totally shade loving plant but you can place them in bright indoors area. I for one had experience where when it is placed in dark areas - they rarely show new growth and appears to be very leggy (the leaves nodes along the stem appear to phase out far apart and it is very unsightly especially when you prefer to have a compact foliage plants)

These are trailing plant and more on the wild side. The seemed to do well in most unforgiving conditions but at times - just barely surviving and it is indeed a slow growing plant - so don't expect much if you received a small cuttings and looking forward for new growth - It may take many months to actually notice anything.

I for one, just place them in their ideal spot and consider that done there and routinely water them on daily basis and weekly spray flowering fertilizer on them hoping them to bloom. Otherwise, it's another trailing foliage plant that I'm contented with.

Other Factors:

1) Do take effort to foliar fertilizer on them to induce new growth or else it will remain in that same size for months.

2) It's a trailing plant - so do allow space for it to grow and trail heavy, it will climb and vine everywhere - so do take note on that garden space in place them permanently as once it captured and coiled within the garden space - it will be difficult to remove them without cause damage to the vine or foliage.

3) This plant does produce aerial roots and may start off new shoots hence a new plant from a different location where it had rooted. You can propagate new plants from here but do it soon or if in case it had established itself - it would be too difficult to remove them without damaging them.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This was super informative so thank you very much! I am having some difficulty with my Dischidia Oiantha and would love some advice! It is hanging in my bathroom near the shower and is rooted on bark. Some of the leaves are turning yellow and dropping off, with some leaves going mushy, others withered. Some of the stems are also shrivelling and have consequently died. I have tidied it up a little and cut off bits that look sad. Thank you. Justine, UK

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Tropical Garden, Batu Caves, Malaysia
My Malaysian Tropical Garden mainly focused on unique and colorful plants ranging from rare to common plants all around the tropical belt across the world. Ideal for inspiration for challenging areas in the garden space - indoor gardening, balcony gardening and small green spaces especially for ariods, bromeliads, begonias, edibles, cascading & vertical garden plants, succulents & cacti, orchids, together with both shade and sun loving plants.

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