I got this snowdrift in March of this year and her roots rotted within a month of me having her (my fault I put her in a substrate I wasn’t familiar with). I ended up chopping her roots and putting her in water in the beginning of April.
Fast forward to the end of June and she hadn’t grown any roots. She has not had any rot on her since chopping her roots and has only lost leaves due to the root rot.
After doing some research I decided to try propping her in perlite and that’s where she’s been since the end of June. She still is showing no signs of rooting but she’s also showing no signs of rotting.
I also originally had her in my greenhouse cabinet when trying water propagation but noticed her leaves starting to look bleached so she was moved where my other plants are and gets indirect light from my grow lights.
Am I rushing her? Do I remove her leaves and try the wet stick method? Any suggestions would be great!
by 9BNHMM
4 Comments
If I have problems propping in a different medium, I always go back to water and my success rates are much better lol
I would say definitely unpot and check the plant because it still looks sad and there may still be rot present that you may have not seen. After that just put it in water and leave it be
I always have a harder time rooting an entire plant vs rooting a cutting that’s one (or 2 nodes & a leaf or 2.
I think you’ll be more successful if you cut it into 2 separate plants so it’s not trying to support an entire plant with no roots. That way you can root half the plant in perlite & the other half in water or sphagnum moss (my preferred medium) or stratum or whatever else you have on hand.
This way, at least one part of the plant will survive instead of potentially losing the whole thing
Youre trying to prop an entire plant… its not using enough energy towards rooting. Cut it up more into individual nodes.
In my experience, the greatest reason props fail is loss of moisture. To combat that, you’ve got to remove some leaves, because leaves are where the plant is losing the most water, and ensure good environmental humidity.
I’d remove the weakest leaves and find some manner of clear container to fit this plant in. Even a large plastic bag has done well for me. I prefer clear plastic jugs or water bottles when I can make them work. I know some folks have used aquariums with success as well.
I feel like them getting light from your grow lights is a good idea. It may even be a good idea to expose them to that light directly, but not as close as they had been in their prior location in your cabinet while continuing to monitor for problematic signs like the bleaching you mentioned, but that’s definitely your judgment call.
Lastly, I recently propped some split-leaf philodendrons and received some helpful advice to stake and tie them to give them some proper support so that those leaves can more effectively do their job gathering in light from your lamp. I had three cuttings, and all three are doing well now after the initial shock phase that looked very similar to your plant’s current state.