Date: Thu, 19 Aug 1999 10:09:04 -0400 From: "Malouf, Perry" <Perry.Malouf@jhuapl.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2974$foo@default> Subject: Re: Woody Nepenthes vine
Nick Plummer wrote asked:
> When the lower portion of a Nepenthes vine becomes brown and woody, does
> that have any effect on the ability of the plant to produce new basal
rosettes?
I can say from experience that a brown woody vine can indeed produce
new basal rosettes, sometimes several. I have not noticed if there is less
proclivity for a woody brown stem to do this compared with a green
and non-woody stem.
Case in point: I have a hybrid of rafflesiana x gracilis, and it was a
reasonably
large plant before I cut it back. The vine was about 5 feet long, and almost
0.75" in diameter at the base. The lower 3 feet were brown, woody and
leafless.
The remaining two feet were green and produced 18" leaves. I allowed the
vine to droop below the level of the pot as best as I could--it was not very
supple and I didn't want to break the woody part. After a while I saw green
nodes start to grow at 5 different places along the woody part. When this
happened I lopped off the green part and rooted it. It was a good rooted
cutting and I've already given it away.
The nodes on the woody part have grown nicely. There are two basal rosettes
spaced apart by about 18", with leaves that are 12" long and producing
pitchers.
Elsewhere on the woody stem are a few more basal rosettes but they're much
smaller and not growing as fast. It seems that, once one or two basal
rosettes
sprout and begin to grow nicely, all others grow slower or become dormant
for
a while.
Regards,
Perry Malouf
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