Colademononis ...

The colademononis hasn't survived ... but I didn't expect it to! I'm going to try and chop off a couple of the tips to see if I can grow anything from them. I've written to the eBay seller, and hopefully she will give me a refund - I'm not going to ask her to send me a third plant, just to see it rot away!

Replacement Colademononis

OK, so I've received a repacement for the totally rotten colademononis I got recently, but it's still not good! They sent 5 "stems", which is what I paid for, but I've already had to throw away one of the stems! It was like jelly and just fell apart in my hand ...

Here is the inside of one of the stems ...

Not very sharp photos!

So I've put the remaining bits in a pot, but I'm not going to water it, and see if it survives! I'm not sure what the state of the rest of the plant is, but I'm hoping it can be saved. I've written to the seller, and see what she says. 

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UPDATE - The seller replied later in the day, and said that the rotting was probably caused by the heat, but if it doesn't survive, to let her know.

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Gravel

I finally found white gravel! It's from an aquarium shop, called The Reef, in Fish Market Lane. I've walked past the shop umpteen times, but never really noticed it was there. I got two packets, which I think will be enough for all the plants I'm waiting for, plus any future ones! They also had a mixed gravel which the shop assistant said was the best for plants because he thought I wanted the gravel to mix with the soil, and not for decoration. And of course I'm going to go back and get the other gravel, to mix with the cactus and succulents soil and pumice mix I've been making to use for my plants! I was hoping they had black gravel, but although they had other colours I thought they were too garish ... I wanted black gravel to put around the very pale - almost white - succulent I got with the order I received recently. I still don't know what variety it is - the seller said she would have to ask her supplier for its name. I later went on AliExpress and bought a couple of (probably tiny) bags of black gravel.

Have bought more plants today ... including two cacti. One of the cacti is a monkey tail (Hildewintera Colademononis - honest, no joke ...). Wasn't cheap, but there are supposedly 5 rooted cuttings in one little pot. I've seen it in lots of YouTube videos, and I had to have one!