Experience topping n. trucata?

[stone jaguar]

Howdy.

One of my large N. truncata has become quite unsightly due to being kicked around by playful pets, clumsy gardeners and the weather. This plant is about a meter across; the stem is now approx. 30 cm long and 4 cm thick. It does not have a basal offset yet.

I was wondering whether anyone here has experience topping big N. truncata? The plant is outside here - prevailing cool temps (this is a lowlander) are aggravating the problems with its appearance, so I'm really itching to do something other than watch it get leggier and uglier...

TIA/Jay

 

[NepenthesMaster]

Topping it? Never heard the phrase before, if you could describe the action maybe i can give some insight.

 

[rattler]

i do believe he means taking a cutting of the growth point. he is worried that such a large cutting wont work. i have been told truncata doesnt take to rooting very well but have no personal experiance with the species.

 

[SydneyNeps]

It has a completely different meaning in other contexts...

 

[stone jaguar]

To clarify:

"Topping" in normal horticultural parlance would involve the removal of an apical portion of a plant/tree, etc.

I am not concerned with rooting the "top" portion but, rather, the survival of the rooted, basal portion of this particular plant. I realize that the removal of the meristem should, via the loss of apical dominance, induce the remaining dormant nodes to produce offshoots. In practice, however, sometimes the procedure queried results in the loss of the entire plant.

Thus, my question.

BRgds,

Jay

 

[NepenthesMaster]

If it's a cutting he's talking about, then i have heard that they are relatively easy from cuttings. I have no experience with this species though.

 

[swords]

Jay, you might try emailing Jerry at OL. He has some rather unruly sized N. truncatas in the rafters of the retail/display house. I was there early one morning when an enormous freshly watered N. truncata weighing probly 100+ lbs suddenly came crashing to the floor! I'm sure they ended up pruning it maybe they'll have some insight for you?

Edit my own truncata is about 1.5 meters in diameter but still only about 20 cm high so I "guess" it's still a seedling as it doesn't yet have any vines or leaves like the ones at OL.

 

[The Griffin]

Josh,

Did you weep when that happened, lol?
"Oh the humanity of it all!!!"

Cheers,

Joe

 

[Trent]

Jay and All,
I've seen some of these adult truncata, and sometimes they can be stubborn where side or ground shoots are concerned. Personally, I would be hestitant to chop off the top to induce side shoots or ground shoots. We have found keikigrow to be very effective in spurring a new shoot lower down the vine. Once the treated eye (or eyes if you treat more than one)throws a new leaf, then top the plant, and the new growths will move ahead rapidly. We have about an 80 percent success rate with keikigrow.
Hope this is helpful.
Trent

 

[stone jaguar]

Thanks.

Trent: your suggestion definitely sounds like a winner. I'll apply some keiki paste to a few of the lower nodes and see what happens.

BRgds/Jay

 

[Sszvein]

Erm...what's keiki paste?

 

[swords]

Quote[/b] ]Did you weep when that happened, lol?
"Oh the humanity of it all!!!"

Nah, but it was lucky none of those little old ladies who always seem to be there was standing under it! ~"Grandma got runover by a Nepenthes"~

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

"Walking through the greenhouse on Christmas eve!"

Trent, where can I obtain some of this Keikipaste? I would like to try it on some species like N. hamata most notably, it has so many little nodes on that vine and I would like to spur them so I could get a bunch of plantlets from it.

 

[SydneyNeps]

Keikis are the side shoots that appear on certain species of orchids, notably dendrobiums and phalaenopsis, often where flowers normally develop. They turn into plantlets that can be remove and grown separately. Keiki paste is a hormone used by orchid growers to promote the occurence of keikis. I think it comes from the Hawaiian word for child?

You should be able to get it from nurseries which sell orchids, or online.

 

[Trent]

Hi Everyone,
Dustin, we get it from an orchid supply house in Miami where we buy media and pots. They go by the name of OFE, and take out ads regularly in Orchids magazine and have a website-I think its OFE International or something like that. They should be easy to find.
N. hamata would be a perfect candidate for KeikiGrow. What we do is apply it to nodes (eyes) lower down on the vine. Once they start, we cut the top to make one or more cuttings from the plant. We are using it to propagate some of our better clones. Once the vine is cut, the sprouting eyes will take off.

Trent

 

[leucophylla]

You could also try - if your truncata / setup allows - to lower the growth tip below the level of the plant base for a few months. This should also have an impact on the apical dominance and might induce basal offshoots.
Havn't tried it with truncata yet, though.
Or even try ground layering, if you want to root the top at the same time.
Volker

 

[nepenthes gracilis]

Thanks for the tip Trent! Will try to get ahold of some. Is Keikipaste poisonous or need to be apply with gloves or something?

 

[NepenthesMaster]

If it's safe for plants i'd assume it's safe for you, but i don't know for sure. Maybe i'll try that on my Ventrata, it will turn in to a friggin' bush from what i've heard.