Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 22:16:16 -0500 (EST) From: Perry Malouf <pmalouf@access.digex.net> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg3398$foo@default> Subject: Re: nepenthes again
Miles wrote about Nepenthes cuttings:
> Why would they need stored chemical energy? Plants get energy from
> light, which they use to make carbohydrates. All the roots do is take
> up wateer and minerals.
Not everyone follows this recipe: I remove the distal half of each
leaf of a Nepenthes cutting when I'm trying to root it. This is to reduce
water loss though transpiration--fairly important when the cutting has
no roots with which to bring in more water. Some water is brought in
through the stoma, but this doesn't replace the function of roots.
Because the leaves are cut in half, the area for conducting photosynthesis
is also significantly diminished. Clearly a cutting is not in optimal
shape--it has a lot of catching up to do. A store of energy helps.
Also, with no roots, the cutting has no way to bring in minerals. So
a store of minerals helps, too.
So, my answer to the question is that having a store of energy and
minerals might not be _needed_, but it helps a lot.
Regards,
Perry Malouf
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