Soā¦lol I ordered a Philo Melanochrysum plug off etsy in November last year. And it was not much smaller when I got it than the photo above, which I literally snapped today. Clearly I managed to keep it alive, but its giving Philo Micans. But this is not what I wanted š I gave it all this time because chatgpt said they both have similar velvety leaves at this stage, but the longer I wait Iām starting to feel like I got scammed lol is there any shred of hope that this is the beloved Philo Melanochrysum of my dreams? Thanks guys!!!
by puplichiel
18 Comments
Idk my micans are much darker or also red backside. Guess this could be faded but I have hope for you.
Looks like Melano, not micans.
Its probably a melano and you didnāt get scammed but the poor plant does not have the right conditions to grow. Please give it a smaller pot.
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Before I give my opinion, I want to kindly recommend you repot into something about 1/10th (maybe a slight exaggeration) of that size. It looks like itās way too big and could encourage root rot.
That said, my vote is for melano, itās just immature. But Iām not too confident on that.
Regardless, good luck!
Please stop using ChatGPT for plant identification. Itās not reliable. Itās a juvenile melano.
Looks like my baby melano. They are just slow and a little grumpy. If it was a micans, they would be 10 feet long by now.
I agree with others that pot is way too big – repot into a 4ā pot max. Iād also recommend a clear plastic pot so you can how the roots are doing.
Stop using AI to tell you things about plants and most things in general. It’s far from reliable and making people far too lazy.
You can literally ask it ‘what was wrong about that answer?’ It will correct itself.
Actual research will get you much further, and more environmentally friendly.
What is the climate like where you have it? Because it needs high humidity and indirect light.
To addā¦ the pot is too big for your baby because the roots canāt reach where the water goes in a pot that big. When you have a smaller pot with a smaller plant, the roots can more easily reach the water and get the moisture necessary š
Not sure if you are wanting to get it climbing, but itās the time when I would give it a pole, doesnāt need to be moss, so that you start it early
Itās likely exactly what the seller sold it as: P melanochrysum. They are SO MUCH like micans in that they will either thriveā¦.or do nothing. I ordered 3 4ā single vine P melanoās for my nursery about 19mo ago. We like to acclimate to our climate before putting things out on the sales floor like every other place and they did nothing in the two weeks in grow tent, we moved 2 out to the floor and they sold immediately (our goal is to find plants for people at prices THEY can afford) and we held one back to let grow out with plans to move her to the floor as a semi larger plant to offerā¦ā¦19mo later and she looks the exact same š«
This pot is also quite large so that could play a factor.
That’s 100% a melanochrysum. Should be called melano-crisis though because they’re always throwing a fit!
Thati s a melanocrysis, yes. Micans has much more skinnier stems.
I’m not sure why it’s in a giant pot and it looks like it’s outside… maybe that’s why it’s still small. Mine does better in an IKEA cabinet, but I’m in Canada.
This is def melano. Up humidity a TON, smaller pot, chunkier soil mix, give it a moss pole these guys can be finicky
It does look like a melano. Micans leaves are slightly different
Looks like my baby melanocrysum, albeit a bit more red. Definitely not a mican.
https://preview.redd.it/w52lx3nybeyg1.jpeg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cd08adfef93c4035c29ee1fd35913ff5e5d9c14b