Rot prone

Rot prone [ Botany - Horticulture ]
Synonym: Susceptible to rotting

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Of a plant or succulent plant tissue having a tendency to softer, discolour, and often disintegrate as a result of fungal or bacterial infection. Rot typically results from damp conditions.

The cultivation of rot prone plants (and especially root prone plants) need particular care.
Most succulents and cacti that came originally from very dry environments are considered to be more or less rot prone, this plants grow wild in areas characterized by good drainage, excellent ventilation, high temperature with limited precipitation and intense solar radiation. But the condition of cultivation in temperate and humid zones are very different and not optimal for many of this plant which proved to be extremely susceptible to any excess of moisture in the substrate and in the air too.
First of all plants that are rot prone should be grown in a very porous and draining compost, also they need particularly watering cares: during the growing season it is necessary to let the compost dry completely between two successive watering, while during the winter rest season - especially with low temperature - they need to be kept completely dry. Underpot in smaller containers which have excellent drainage is one of the most effective growing practice.
It is also very important to ensure a good ventilation and a good exposition.
For outdoor cultivation raised beds would increase the long-term health of the planting,
Spraying a systemic fungicides especially at the beginning of the growing season and before the starting of the winter rest may be required to keep plants healthy particularly when environmental condition are not optimal.

See also: Root prone

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Holdfast roots [ Botany ]
Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.

Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans), develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994