Dioscorea mexicana 3" Turtle Plant Caudex

The Central American species of turtle plant. Vigorous and easy compared to elephantipes, the South African species. Seed grown, bred in house. 3” pots, shipped in pot. The first photo is a VERY old specimen. You will receive a 3" pot as shown in the 2nd photo. Please keep the caudex buried for at least a year. If you would like to change it's pot, please wait until it goes dormant, usually in late fall.

Please keep in mind these do occasionally drop their leaves and vines in transit. We do send these in pot, so when received, please unwrap and water so the soil is thoroughly saturated. The vines and leaves will grow back within a few weeks. We have found it's best to wait until they go dormant in the fall to repot. Once the caudex is a little larger in diameter than a US quarter, it can be raised above the soil. Otherwise keep it buried about an inch below the soil line so it can continue to grow!

Dormancy:

This plant is winter deciduous. If you purchase this plant in the late fall/winter/early spring, it will not have leaves. As it starts to warm up, you can water more frequently to encourage it to start growing new leaves. 

Even during spring/summer/early fall, this plant may still drop leaves in transit. This is normal and expected. When plants are put in a stressful situation, which includes being bare rooted and put in a dark box for a few days, it is going to conserve as much energy as it can. It does this by dropping its leaves. Once it arrives, please pot it up, give it a good drink, and keep it in a shady area for about a week while it starts to recover. You should see new leaf growth within 1-2 weeks. If you have any questions about this plant’s care please reach out to us at the website chat, Facebook, Instagram, or support@paradisefoundnursery.com.

Grower's Choice:

Photos in the listings unless otherwise specified are representative of the plant that will be sent to you. Each plant may vary slightly in shape, size, growth pattern, etc. as they are all individuals like you and me! As always if you receive a plant that you are dissatisfied with please reach out to us within 7 days of receipt at support@paradisefoundnursery.com.

All plants are hand selected by our team, we pick out the biggest and best in stock! Smaller plants like seedlings may be shipped in pot at our discretion

We ship all orders Mon-Wed excluding federal holidays. If temperatures near you are below 45℉ we highly recommend adding a heat pack to your order. If temperatures will be much lower than 20℉ please leave us a note with your order asking us to hold your order until a given date as heat packs will fail at temps much lower than 20℉.

If you’re local to Sarasota, FL you may select local pickup at checkout instead of shipping. Please leave a note with your order of when you would like to pick up your order.

Any other questions please reach out to us at support@paradisefoundnursery.com or the website’s chat function!