Date: Wed, 04 Jun 97 21:36 EDT From: dave evans <T442119@RUTADMIN.RUTGERS.EDU> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2193$foo@default> Subject: Re: Re: n. alata roots
> > (they look a little like VFT roots except smaller). Are these roots
> > or are they something else?.... Please let me know whether I should
> > treat the plant as an unrooted cutting...
Well, it has roots. Probably not enough of them yet though. Treat it
like Perry suggests.
> >From your description, I surmise that this is a cutting which has
> barely begun to root. I myself like the cuttings to be more
> well-established before I send them out as "rooted cuttings".
Hi Perry,
While the size (a couple mm.) of the roots on this cutting are
on the small side, (what I would sell and have been sold as rooted
cuttings are a couple cm. long) sometimes I get lots of callus,
especially when I used root hormones, and not much roots... The
cutting can still take in water, but you can wait a long time for
much more in the way of roots.
I used to be worried about how established a Nepenthes was before
mailing, but then came to realize the more roots a cuttings has, the
more to damage on the way through the mail. ;) A root ball the size
of a 35mm. film cansister is a lot easier to protect (especially when
you can root and mail them right in the same film can) than larger
masses of roots.
> It seems that your plant has just started to root and is quite
> fragile right now. It should be treated with care. Gently pot
> it up in a sphagnum/perlite mix (1:1 by volume), water it in,
> then put it in a clear plastic tent under bright fluorescents
> being careful that the plant does not get too hot under the lights.
> When it is more stable, it will evidence some new growth.
Generally Nepenthes don't grow new strong leaves with large robust
pitchers until they are well rooted. They can do some growing though.
BTW, that's how I grow most of my more valuable or newly aquired
Neps. I don't want to chance bugs on the very best and I don't want
pests coming off the new stuff! It's really weird, I've kept some
new plants in bags for six months only to find out there were bugs
in there too, but only after letting them out. :(
> I've used Superthrive (which contains a rooting hormone) on
> such cuttings, but I haven't experimented enough to provide
> statistically meaningful results on the treatment.
This is probably better to use for promoting roots than rooting
hormones. Nepenthes have plenty of their own rooting hormones and
don't need as much as some other horticulturally important plants,
like those juniper/pine shrubs/trees. Infact, too much slows or
stalls rooting. BTW, agent orange was just a strong mix of rooting
hormone and it could kill whole sections of forest with one shot.
Dave Evans
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