Expert: Greg Simpson - 6/24/2006

Question
My husband and I purchased a very beautiful and expensive 5' tall madagascar palm hybrid.  We fell in love with it and it is a feature plant in our front garden.  When we planted it in the ground however, the location got too much run off water from other plants.  The bottom has begun to soften and rot.  Is it possible to uproot the plant, remove the rotted portion, let it dry out, and then repot? Or, are there any other methods to save our beloved madagascar?  We are desperate!

Answer
Dear Dianne & Randy,

I had the exact same issue and had to install rain gutter to keep it from reoccurring. You can take a cutting, but you need to make sure that there is no rot whatsoever in the cutting. You can tell by looking at the cut area, if you see any brown or black spots, make another cut 3 to 4 inches above the previous cut.

Make sure to clean the knife with alcohol between each cut made. Once you have a non-rotted cut, let it dry for at least a couple of weeks, out of the sun to make sure it is healed. The put it in a container that is mostly sand, about 60/40 sand to soil. Plant it, water and water only if the soil is completely dry, at least until it starts to grow.

I have to be honest with you, Pachypodiums can be difficult to root, but not impossible. Good luck!

Sincerely,

Greg