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Post by rco911 on Oct 20, 2007 17:56:32 GMT
I am just wondering if anyone here has ever tried -- and had success with sarracenia pitcher pullings/cuttings? (I don't know what you call it, if someone can please correct me...)
Just for laughs, I am actually trying it out. I pulled off a pitcher of one of my readii's and took as much of the white off the base that I could, (where pitcher meets rhizome) dipped the base in rooting hormone and am growing it in a large terrarium for now. I also cut the pitcher about 2/3ds of the way down . (since the top was starting to brown anyway)
its been about 2 1/2weeks and its still green... but im afraid to look to see whats going on under the surface, I don't want to disturb anything IF anything is even going on...
who knows...
if anyone else has tried this -- can you please give me some tips/insights?
thanks!
Rob
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Post by John Brittnacher on Oct 20, 2007 18:28:50 GMT
Barry Rice published an article on this: Rice, Barry A. (2004) Leaf Pullings: a 'new' way to propagate Sarracenia vegetatively. Carniv. Pl. Newslett. 33(4):123-126 Some species have a higher success rate than others. It also works great for Darlingtonia and at least certain Heliamphora species. www.carnivorousplants.org/howto/Propagation/HeliamphoraLeafPullings.phpIt is always worth a try if you have a special plant. You do have to have as much of the rhizome as you can get. For Sarracenia at least, chunks of the rhizome also work as there is usually a dormant bud at the base of each place a leaf used to be. |
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Post by rco911 on Oct 20, 2007 22:25:46 GMT
Thank you John!! I've gleaned some words of wisdom from that article:
"But be prepared to be very patient because the new leafs will sprout after one or two months later. The big advantage of this propagation method is that it avoids the stress caused on the mother plant like in the propagation by plant division."
-- thank you I will report back with my findings as they occur.
If successful, I will have a Pitcher Pulling Par-tay! Anyone care to join?! :-) Thanks again John,
Robert
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Post by Aidan on Oct 20, 2007 22:32:27 GMT
Rooting hormone is unecessary and in my hands at least does more harm than good. If a cutting/pulling is going to strike, it will strike.
I prefer division and will be taking something like a thousand or so this coming winter, starting next month. It is a reliable method of propagation and results in more plants than pullings.
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Post by Michael Catalani on Oct 21, 2007 2:54:06 GMT
Hey Rob,
The more white from the rhizome you get on the bottom of the leaf, the better your chances. Leaf pullings have worked really well for me with S. psittacina and S. minor.
For taller pitchers, you might have better luck cutting the pitcher so that its only 6" or so in length. The lower part of the pitcher (the round and flat petiole section) is thick, which helps it retain moisture and is slow to die down. Keeping more of the pitcher above this may sap the entire pulling from moisture before it can develop roots.
Dont mess with it once you potted it up. You'll know success by the emergence of new leaves. Even then, it may not have developed roots yet, so be careful you dont disturb the plant and break off any emerging roots.
I agree with Aiden in that I have not seen any improvements in strike rates for Sarracenia leaf pullings using rooting harmone versus not. I dont use rooting harmone at all now for Sarracenia pullings because its not worth the expense, the care needed in handling a pulling dipped in harmone in the future, or the care needed in handling rooting harmones in general.
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Post by rco911 on Oct 21, 2007 3:31:11 GMT
Aidan and Michael, Thank you very much for the insight, it is greatly appreciated! I have some extra rooting hormone, so I decided "What the heck, might as well try it!"
I will be doing divisions in the spring time, but as I was "cleaning up" some of the older pitchers the other day, you know - those that are starting to brown and/or fall over - I felt as if I should at least try to see if this works for me, instead of just tossing the pitchers out ... I don't have that many plants so, if I can just add to my collection any way I can, I'll do it :-)
Michael: What time of year do you do your pullings? Does it matter at all? Do you just use the same media that the parent plant is in, or do you use something else?
Thanks again!
Rob
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Post by Michael Catalani on Oct 21, 2007 13:29:24 GMT
Michael: What time of year do you do your pullings? Does it matter at all? Do you just use the same media that the parent plant is in, or do you use something else? Thanks again! Rob I use the same media for the pullings as for the mother plants, which is sphagnum peat moss. I dont use long fiber sphagnum moss for Sarracenia because their fibrous root system intertwines with the moss, making it difficult to remove a plant from this soil without damaging the roots. This is especially true for leaf pullings, in which the newly emerging roots normally shoot from a single point in the white area of the pulling, and can easily be ripped off by long fiber sphagnum. Any time of year works, but it helps to use a newer and fresher leaf. This is so that the green part of the leaf will stay alive longer, which allows it to photosynthesize and produce energy to the leaf, which gives the pulling more time to develop roots. You can also have success with simply the white base part and very little to no green leaf above it, but the greatest strike rates seem to be with a fresh leaf. If I start the cuttings late in summer or fall, I move them to a grow chamber under lights, and place them back into a temperate environment the following spring after any chance of freezing has passed. |
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Post by wallsg7 on Oct 31, 2007 19:43:21 GMT
I have something to add here as i have experimented this year with both leaf pullings and rhizome slicing.I found my leaf pullings had a high failure rate even with great care.My rhizome slices on the other hand have been very successful although they can take a long time to shoot.
As far as divisions are concerned ,from my experience, there are ways to force a plant to offer divisions more quickly.Digging up and replanting the rhizome on its side resulted in a mass of divisions being produced.One for each new leaf that grew!Also pulling off leaf bases from old leaves that have died off often results in new divisions being formed.
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Post by BarryRice on Nov 1, 2007 1:20:12 GMT
Really!!!!?
VERY interesting. Tell us more. What species did you use? How large was the plant?
More more more!!!!
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Clint
Full Member
Posts: 808
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Post by Clint on Nov 1, 2007 1:31:50 GMT
That is interesting. Do you know if you nicked/cut the rhizome when you pulled the old petiole off, or did it slide right off? Were they "old" leaves as in from this spring, or from last spring?
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Post by BarryRice on Nov 1, 2007 17:19:09 GMT
I'm particularly interested in wallsg7's news about resetting the rhizome sideways, and this resulted in lots of sprouts at the leaf axils. This could be useful if reproducible.
I want to know what species wallsg7 used, if the growing point was removed, etc etc...
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Post by wallsg7 on Nov 1, 2007 17:29:09 GMT
Hey barry we have discussed this topic in an earlier thread.Basicaly i recieved a purpurea montana in the post that had been squashed flat in transit.When i first saw it i didnt fancy its chances but it did have one long root still intact so i potted it up.As the leaves were squashed i had no choice but to plant the crown on its side.Over time it slowly grew one leaf then another then the plant suddenly started putting out divisions.First one then another.All at the top where the crown should have been.I recieved the small to medium sized cutting in spring this year in poor condition.Last week i divided the plant up and now have seven plants all with their own leaves and root systems.Not bad going in my book.I dont know if its worth mentioning but when i first noticed the plant going mad i made sure i fed each leaf with a slug or snail so that the plant had a plentiful supply of nutrients while it was producing all these new growth points.
With regards to pulling the leaf bases off i heard from someone that it encouraged divisions so i tried it myself and it does work,in my experience,almost every time.Start with the oldest leaf base.Just get hold of it and pull it off.It will probably not offer much resistance.Then the next oldest and so-on.The second and third may offer more resistance.Gently apply more pressure and pull these off.When you encounter real resistance dont force it just leave it alone-its not yet ready to come off.Normaly within 3 to 4 weeks you will notice divisions growing from the eyes that youve uncovered.I recently tried this technique on a leucophylla alba which wasnt showing any signs of dividing.Now it has three new growth points at the base.
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Post by wallsg7 on Nov 1, 2007 21:53:30 GMT
Barry,the earlier thread is on page 2 titled 'forcing divisions'.I did not remove the growing crown when i planted it sideways.It was planted in a very deep pot in a mix of 1 part moss peat to 3 parts washed medium silica grit.It was watered from above using distilled water and as mentioned earlier,well fed.This is a rare plant so i gave it special treatment.If memory serves i think it grew about four new leaves which twisted up and then it started producing the divisions one after another.Six in total in one growing season.In addition,towards the end of the season i noticed the plant was putting more energy into the divisions at the top than the main growing crown at the base.Almost as if it was trying to correct its predicament.The plant tried to develop a flower in autumn but i chopped this off.Hope this is enough information.
Gary
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wadave
Full Member
He don't know me vewy well do he?
Posts: 283
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Post by wadave on Nov 3, 2007 7:12:42 GMT
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Post by RL7836 on Nov 4, 2007 2:08:23 GMT
If I start the cuttings late in summer or fall, I move them to a grow chamber under lights, and place them back into a temperate environment the following spring after any chance of freezing has passed. Michael, Any idea of the temps in your 'grow chamber'? About 2 weeks ago, I took some 'pullings' from several purps and psits. Placed them under lights in plastic box w/ ends in chopped live LFS. The temps have been running ~78*F - a bit warmer than I wanted (although I've always been suspicious of the black remote temp sensor having higher readings than the true ambient temps). |
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