Journal February 26, 2013

For several days now I have been watching, with concern,  the Trilye and Edemerit seedlings that I purchased on eBay from Turkey.  At first I noticed a brown sludge on the bottom of one of the plants that I at first thought was mud.  I scraped off the sludge and continued to observe the plants.

Next I noticed a white fungus type growth at the base of every plant, and my concern deepened at that point.  Yesterday, it was apparent that the plants were beginning to die, from the base up.  It is apparent in the above photo that only the top half inch of the stem is still alive, and that death is slowly progressing up the stem.

The dilemma was: what to do.  I had written to the person who I purchased the seedlings from, twice, and received no response.  I moved the plants away from my other plants so the disease would not spread and thought about what to do next.  I could just take a loss and destroy the plants, or try to salvage something.  

I decided to try to salvage the plants.  If I fail I lose, if I don't try, I lose.  At least by trying I might have a chance of salvaging something.

In an attempt to save the plants, I cut off the tops of the stems to just above the points that were turning brown, or dying.  I scraped off the outer bark to expose the cambium layer and applied a generous coating of rooting gel to the cambium layer.  The stems have been planted in coir and perlite in an attempt to clone them.

If the stems still show some green though the bark after a month or so I will know if there is any chance of saving these plants. 

Fortunately I have seeds for Trilye olives, so I still may be able to grow a variety from Turkey.  The seller's name was goldenpera_com, and I would recommend that you do not purchase from him to avoid diseased plants.