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N. fusca cutting

Est

War. War never changes.
Staff member
Moderator
Howdy all, I got an N. fusca cutting from this year's NASC auction and somehow it just doesn't seem to be working out for me and it. The bottom part of the stem just blackens and dies without rooting. I don't feel too worried about the plant itself because it's GROWING. The cutting has formed two or more leaves since I've had it. While that's great and all, I suspect that it could be a symptom of the same thing keeping the cutting from rooting:

My guess is humidity is too high. It gets to be in the 80's in the tank on warm days, and there's not much air flow so the humidity shoots up. It also cools down at night. The whole time I've had the cutting put in pure lfs. Despite using rooting hormone, this doesn't seem to be working...

So, as it stands, if I were to get no replies I would: Cut off the black part, make inscisions along the bottom inch or so, dip it in rooting hormone, put it in a media that that wont hold as much moisture (perlite, I guess,) and leave it out of the tank where the humidity is lower and it could be protected from the night time temp drops (because I dunno how grand that is for a cutting)- BUT since I hope to get replies, I'll probably deviate at least a little bit from that plan. So, can someone help me get my cutting to root?

Thanks to all that reply.
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Hi,

the black part won't build any roots, because it is already dead. Cut it off and treat it, as you already described it. The humidity in your tank should be as high as possible, because the plant has no roots to absorb the water it evaporates through its leafes. The media you stick the plant into should only be humid and airy to avoid further rotting of the stem. I only have tried sligtly humid but not wet LFS, which works well for me. N. fusca is a higland plant, so temperature drops by night are important for the health of the plant.

Good luck!

Joachim
 
Wow, thanks for the quick response. I know the black part is dead, that's why I'm disappointed to keep seeing it.
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I wasn't sure if cutting likes to be treated like the adult plants (ie like a highlander in this case.) Well, so I guess I'll stick with the LFS, but I'll think it out a bit, add a little perlite to get it a bit more airy and keep is a bit drier. I kept the substrate moist but not wet, but I guess I need to do a bit more tweaking. Thanks for the suggestions and the quick reply.
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The other point is, if it's still growing, it's probably putting its energy into that and not into forming roots. If there are pitchers on it which have some fluid in them, then this shouldn't be a problem as they will provide moisture & nutrients, but if there aren't, the plant will start to tire itself out.
 
Nope, the plant is growing, but not forming pitchers. Worst comes to worst I could cut off the tip, it'd take a while for the other nodes to wake up from dormancy... Hmm, I really want this plant to survive! Yar! Any further suggestions? (I'm impressed with what I've gotten considering the time!)
 
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