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N. tobaica...did i kill it?

schloaty

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Ok, folks...I did a no no.  
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 I tried to separate a basal shoot without un-potting the mother plant.  I THOUGHT I could avoid re-potting shock for the mother.   Guess again.  
    So I snipped the basal shoot from the mother, below the soil suface....and wound up with 90% of the roots on the 2 and 1/2 inch (4 leaf) basal shoot, and only about 10% of the roots on the 7 inch (10 leaf) mother plant!
    Will the mother plant recover, or is removing that much of the root system a death sentence?  I did dip the wound in rooting hormone, just incase that might help.
    Next time you can be darned sure I will take the mother plant OUT OF THE MEDIUM before I attempt any more surgery!
 
Hi Dave

I don't actually cultivate that many Neps myself so I may be talking out of my asking someone else like Tony might be a good idea, but it doesn't sound like a fatal mistake to me?

Treat BOTH plants like cuttings.
Cover them to maintain humidity and the rooting hormone sounds good. If you treat the original mother plant like an unrooted cutting I can't think of any reson why it shouldn't respond like one and produce new roots then living long and prospering.

My Rp2 worth.

Cheers, Troy.
 
I do Have a N. tobaica and I have couple basal shoots on it. If you wanted a seprate plant by cutting the basl shoot of you should have waited ntil the basal shoot would be half as tall as the mother plant. Next time take a huge tub fill it is with distilled water and place the plant in there. Scrub as much of the soil as you can then take a cutting object and cut the basal shoot as close to the mothr plant as pssible but if you wait and have the basal shoot be hal as tall as the mother plant the you just have to repot it without cutting and all that.

Treat the mother plant a little like a cutting and give it SuperThriev and wait.
 
Sorry about that Schloaty, I did the same exact mistake with one of my N. Coccineas about 4 months ago. Trying to cut the basal shoot off, I ended up cutting the main stem
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. Lucky for me, there was a side shoot which became the main stem. If it were me, I would make the stem with only 10 % of the roots into cuttings. But that was what I did with the N. Coccinea, it may not work with N. Tobiaca because it is harder to root. Sorry! Good luck!
 
Look on the bright side! At least you won't have to worry about rooting the basal shoot now!
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N. tobiaca is quite sensitive to shock so you should notice it quick if you did induce shock upon it. To treat it like a cutting the mother plant MUST be in a sealed bag. Mike Catalani told me this trick, quote from him: "The only sure fire and best way to root an N. tobiaca is to place the cutting or shocked plant in a sealed zip loc bag and put under lights." He told me it is a race against time, although it can root quickly it can also rot just as fast so humidity is a big part of it's survival as a cutting.
 
Hi Schloaty -

Does anyone think bottom heat would help or hurt? One thing I have wondered about was putting shocked or plant cuttings in baggies and setting them on a reptile rock.

Any thoughts?

WildBill
 
I like a little bottom heat for cuttings. I am not familiar with reptile rocks but taking a wild guess that it would be too warm. 75degrees would be where I shoot for.

All good suggestions on caring for the plant. It will be some time before it recovers and puts out sufficient roots to handle the large stem/leaf mass. So humidity is very important in keeping the plant from drying up as well as more moderate temperatures and a bit lower light levels to reduce transpiration. Another alternative would be to take a cutting from the main plant also if it is tall enough (and at 7" tall this is an option). This would bring the top growth more in balance with the reduced root growth.

Tony
 
I wouldn't chance using a reptile rock. They don't regulate the heat they produce very well and you could end up cooking your plant.
 
  • #10
Thanks Tony,

I asked about the reptile because we have a large flat one around here somewhere. Our cat likes to sleep on it in the winter. Right now my Nep cuttings (ampullaria, khasiana x ventricosa) are in sphagnum filled yogurt cups under lights in ziplock bags.

I think what I'd do with that reptile rock would be to put a little rack over it or put it in a box with sand on it - raising the sand or rack until a thermometer laying flat on top reads 75 degrees.

WildBill
 
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