Expert: Christopher Littrell - 4/27/2008

Question
QUESTION: Is there a way to grow a new plant from the originals plant? example of what i mean, you can take a rose bush and regrow a new bush from the growth on the stick.

ANSWER: Hello Patricia,

What species of carnivorous plant were you thinking of trying this with? Many carnivorous plants do reproduce through rhizome divisions, root runs, root cuttings, leaf cuttings, and vine cuttings according to species. There are only a few species that are difficult to propagate with those methods.

Christopher

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Nepenthes alata is the name on the plants tag

Answer
Hello Patricia,

Nepenthes of many species can be easily propagated through vine divisions, particularly the easy to grow ones like N. alata. Just wait for the plant to grow several feet long, then clip off 8-12 inch sections of the vine as you prune the plant. Leave a good section of vine with the parent plant so it has plenty of leaves to photosynthesize with; it will grow more vines from its base and from the growth nodes along the top of each leaf attachment point near the vine.

You can use a vase of water, moist Nepenthes mix, or wet perlite as described by Sarracenia Northwest, to help get the cuttings to grow roots. Get some root growth hormone sold at most any garden center to apply to the cuttings to help out with root growth. Remove a number of leaves from the cutting until you have several inches of base, leaving several good leaves for each to photosynthesize with. Notch each cutting base with a knife or razor up to half-way through the cutting several times and apply the rooting hormone to the notches and all around the cut base. Place the notched ends in wet perlite or in the vase of water and wait a month or two for it to grow roots, then plant it in its own pot. If you use Nepenthes soil you can try another method of vine cutting. You can notch a vine on the parent plant without cutting it all the way off, put rooting hormone on the notches, then wrap the notched section in moist Nepenthes mix with a plastic wrap taped around it. Wait a month and remove the wrapper to see if roots have formed. If so, cut the vine section off and plant it. You might want to use a sulfur based or neem oil based fungicide on the notches section too in order to reduce the incidence of mold attack while it recovers and roots.

May your vine cuttings be productive,

Christopher