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heliamphora division

I picked up a heterodoxa x minor last summer from a local nursery.  It has been doing quite well, but its growing at multiple points for such a small plant.  It's in a 2" pot.  Here's a pic for you:

heliamphora.jpg


My questions are:

How big does the plant have to be before it is ok to divide?

Does the clumping process crowd out the nearby growing points and stunt the growth of the plant?

In one of my older CP books, it states that the plant should be transplanted every year, in order to insure fresh soil.  Does anyone know if that's true, or recommended?

Thanks in advance. I'm contemplating what I'm gonna do with this plant over the winter...
 
I have never herd that before but i can see that because from years the soil can become water logged from time to time but also helis doesnt like to be repotted over and over they hate to be root disturbed ! If i was yur i wouldnt divide that plant its way to young still i would wait a little bit
smile.gif
 
As you know, Heliamphora are extremely easy to break. As a result, it is also often are easy to separate offshoots from the mother plant without undue disturbance. From your photo, it appears that several of the smaller side-shoots could easily be removed. Check to see if you can break the plantlets from the rhizome and retain some roots. The advantage in separating plants is to avoid loss of the single mother plant from some disaster and also to reproduce more plants for trading. I have divided plants for several years wthout damaging the mother plant. Just be careful.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]From your photo, it appears that several of the smaller side-shoots could easily be removed. Check to see if you can break the plantlets from the rhizome and retain some roots.

Do I need to take the plant out of the pot in order to do this?  Maybe just taking my box knife and slicing the side-shoots off will work with out harming the parent plant?

Electric Carnivores, thanks.  I'll avoid repotting and whole-sale dividing this year.  If I can get away with just cutting the side shoots off with a sharp knife I'll try that.... maybe.
 
Homer I think it would be pretty difficult to not cause root damage while the plants are still in the pots. Ive never done a rhizome division so Im far from expert on this, but the main consideration in any process like this is to protect the roots as much as possible. I believe it would be a much easier process if you remove the pot and all the soil by gently swishing the rootball in water, then make the splits and repot everything.

Just my 1/5 of a dime
Steve
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]Do I need to take the plant out of the pot in order to do this? Maybe just taking my box knife and slicing the side-shoots off will work with out harming the parent plant?
It depends on what media you are growing the plant in. I grow Heliamphora in a very loose soil of live sphagnum, perlite, and sphagnum peat. Because the soil is loose and open, it is very easy to poke my finger along the edge of the plant and extract (break off) the small plantlets or offshoots without unduly disturbing the mother plant.
 
Ooooohhhh, this is good to know. Once mine has grown a few more months, I'm going to try this. Thanks folks!

Capslock
 
I agree with Bob, Helies can be divided pretty much anytime due to how brittle they are. In my opinion it is more a confidence thing, how confident are you that you can provide the conditons to the small divisions as opposed to large divisions. I just de-flasked some Helies and I divided every clump in the flask which resulted in my having close to 50 plants (and before anyone asks I am sorry but none of these are available for trade/sale.) It sounds great at first but better than half of them are between 0.5-2 cm total size. I know I can care for plants that small and that is why I made the divisions, other growers might not be that comfortable.

As far as the transplanting thing goes, again I think it is a matter of personal choice. Watch your plants and see what they are telling you. I will repot some of my plants 2-3 times in a season while others I have not repotted in 3 years.
 
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