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Making a cutting of a cutting - Confusing, huh?

I recently purchased a N. ventricosa x inermis rooted cutting. It seemed healthy upon arrival and I promptly potted it up. For some unknown reason, it has begun to die. A blackness is spreading from what seems like the roots up through the stem, taking the leaves with it. I emailed the vendor about a possible replacement, because I haven't done anything to cause such a quick demise. But in the meantime I'm considering taking a cutting of the healthy green portion of the plant. Is this possible to perform on what has been sold to me as a rooted cutting?

In other words: Can I take a cutting of a cutting?
 
Of course...why not? Some people cut a 4ft vine off then cut that up into 2 node sections or so. That's like a cutting of a cutting of a cutting of...
 
I've done the same thing. It should make it.
 
Yes, you'd be just removing the useless part. It'll work.
 
Yes, but make sure you have at least one node.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I took a cutting and placed it in a ziplock baggie filled with distilled water. I haven't rooted a Nepenthes cutting before, so I'd like to know if I'm going in the right direction!
 
Sounds like a strange method to me, but I've never tried it so I can't tell you. I usually just jam my cuttings in a peat/perlite mix and put them in really bright light. I have a 100% success rate so far (unless you count the cutting my dog ate), so I just keep using my current method.
 
Arg! Dog ate? I've had my cat do that. :censor:

Phis, do you put them into a baggie or anything to cut down on traspiration from the leaves? Or do you just have a naturally high-humidity environment?

I do pretty much the same thing as you do, though I usually use LFS instead of the pete/perlite mix. I do, however, put them in a more humid environment that the rest of the neps grow in, since most of my neps are hardened off to about 50 - 60 percent (even my bical!)
 
Phiss,
Was that cutting N. fusca, by chance? I got a small one from Ch'ien Lee in SF in 2000, and when I potted it up, our beagle walked by and snatched it out. She has never reacted to any other nep...
I take it you root at appropriate the temp of parent plant? I am just guessing by reading other posts, so do not know or sure. A lot of people use bottom heat for cuttings, no matter what they are.
Logically, since you use peat/perlite and Schloaty uses lfs, many also use lfs/perlite.
Cindy in Singapore has good success in pure perlite. Obviously you hit on the perfect mix for your plants, with that kind if success.

Cheers,

Joe
 
  • #10
Hey there,

I agree with the others; cut off the healthy part and it should work. Here's a method for rooting cuttings that works for me:

I root all of my Nep cuttings in a terrarium then slowly harden them off once they've rooted.

I generally use a 10 gallon aquarium, but if I have a lot of cuttings (the last time I took cuttings, I had 16) I use a 20 gallon long. The "long" aquariums have a larger footprint which gives me more room for cuttings and they're also a lot shorter than a regular 20 gallon aquarium which gets the cuttings closer to the lights. I put about an inch or so of water in the bottom of the tank, and put in some eggcrate which I keep out of the water with little pieces of PVC pipe. I keep the tank almost completely covered, except for a little space that runs along the entire back of the tank. I put four T12 flourescents across the top of the tank to make sure the plants have plenty of light.

I make the cutting at an angle to make sure there is as much surface area as possible at the base of the cutting. I make almost all of my cuttings with one node and I dip the cut end in rooting hormone. I wrap that in wet LFS, put it in a little 2 inch pot and stick it in the tank. I sometimes cut the leaves of the cutting in half. By doing this, you cut down on transpiration and water loss from the cutting, but if you've got the cutting in a really humid environment, I don't think this step is necessary.

You want to keep the LFS around the cutting moist, but not WET. I've read where keeping a Nepenthes cutting too wet will hinder it producing roots, but if it's kept a tad drier, the cutting will put out a much better root system. I haven't tried that yet, but I've got some N. x ventratas that I'm willing to see if it makes a difference.

Using this method, I've had cuttings that started pitchering before they were potted up. As a side note I only make one cutting nodes because I've made cuttings with two nodes and both of the dormant buds sprouted and I'd have to let them both grow for a while so they'd be big enough to make another cutting so the plant would only have one growth point. I'm anal retentive like that sometimes. :)
 
  • #11
Where you sure that the cutting was dieing ? It is normal that the part of stem that was orgiginaly from the mother plant turns brown and woodie after a while, all my cuttings did that and they're al doing fine. When my memorie doesn't fail I'd say that this proces normally starts from the bottem of the old stem.

I just thought that I had to mention this.
 
  • #12
Where you sure that the cutting was dieing ? It is normal that the part of stem that was orgiginaly from the mother plant turns brown and woodie after a while, all my cuttings did that and they're al doing fine. When my memorie doesn't fail I'd say that this proces normally starts from the bottem of the old stem.

I just thought that I had to mention this.

Thanks for the suggestion, and I know what you're talking about, but this cutting was definitely dying. As we speak, I'm looking at what's left of the original plant and it's all black and rotted now.
 
  • #14
my dog is addicted to sphagnum! she rips it to shreads, messes up the yard, then rolls around in it and gets a dog high!

back on topic...

yes i think it is! all it really needs is one node, and some grower skills, which you have plenty of!
 
  • #15
Quick update: I took the cutting out of the plastic bag several days ago and jammed it into some LFS, which is jammed into a 3 inch plastic pot. It's currently residing in my terrarium and from what I can see, the rotting has stopped and it's still very much alive.

Here's hoping that it will root and grow! I'll keep you all updated.
 
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