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Posted 3M ago by @SuperNoob

what’s happening with my tiny euphorbia trigona 😳

albert was otherwise thriving lately with visible growth and new big green leaves after stagnating for idk how long.

but yesterday i noticed these large weird yellowing on the middle of his stem! it started as one small spot near the soil line, but boom suddenly it went big like this out of nowhere. it’s kinda translucent but not mushy nor smelly. and the yellowing doesn’t start from the bottom, it’s completely in the middle…

i water him only when the soil is dry. he gets bright direct sunlight almost all day, everyday. what is happening, really? 😳
4” pot with drainage
Last watered 1 week ago
@SuperNoob Hi kristeva, it looks like it is corking which can happen as the plant gets older and it’s base gets hardened. This can be influenced by its conditions.
Hope this helps answer your question, all the best πŸ˜€πŸ‘

https://www.ourhouseplants.com/plants/euphorbia-trigona-african-milk-tree

https://www.thespruce.com/african-milk-tree-profile-4846360
@Seymour hey, thanks! i have heard about corking before but i never expect a plant this small 🀏 to experience such thing hahaha πŸ˜‚

is corking related to age rather than size? because iirc my mom already had him for a few years, but it was put in a pretty shady place in the kitchen inside a small glass cup with no drainage, hence the stunted size…
@SuperNoob Corking is more of an age thing. When indoors, the more light they get the better they seem to do.
@Seymour ah i see. i’ve actually been putting him in a proper pot, outside with lots of light since august; but he only started thriving when i tried bottom watering once (i think the soil was so dry that he wouldn’t take any water).

it only improves everyday from that moment on, and suddenly this, worrying me. but i’m so glad to finally know that it’s nothing bad! :D
@SuperNoob If you’re concerned, you can spray the plant with eg neem oil which will kill off any potential infections but corking is quite common with these plants. The guide link above might offer some more insights. All the best πŸ˜€πŸ‘