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johnsonm08

Amorphophallus titanum leaf cutting

johnsonm08
10 years ago

I've had good success with this process (100% for 4 attempts) so I thought I would share so others might give it a try.
On 2-18-13 I took 2- 6 inch cuttings from the mature leaf of the mother plant.

I cut them right at the "Y" and dipped them in Rootone.

I used sterilized potting soil with the fine particles sifted out. The soil is damp, but not soaked, and is left kind of loose and fluffy. My container is a plastic "Critter Keeper" with a heatpad (this was a setup for hermit crabs and the box and heater are available at petstores). The temp is stable around 84f deg. The box is under fluorescent light 12hrs a day.

On 5-23-13 the smaller leaf has this small tuber with no roots yet.

On 6-3-13 the larger leaf has a nice tuber with roots.

On 7-6-13 the smaller leaf/tuber breaks the surface with new growth and gets its own 6"pot.

7-16-13 the sprout from the larger leaf broke the surface and was re-potted. The tuber on this one is larger than a quarter.
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This is up to date now, I will add more as it develops.
Mike

This post was edited by johnsonm08 on Thu, Jul 18, 13 at 17:42

Comments (58)

  • lomodor
    10 years ago

    when your leaves are ready..hope u try it grab..
    i set my incubator up this morning..cut 4 leaves..
    had to find ones that werent monsters..lol
    im using a 10 gal aquarium.. cleaned up..
    got some good seedling start mix.. added some perlite
    cut the leaves.. dipped them in superthrive.then in the
    root hormone powder..
    all covered..i have thermostat set on heat mat to 85F
    now i wait..:)

  • johnsonm08
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Ldmo-
    I guess you already started, but :
    Its a sealed system, no drainage, no additional water--the humidity is 100% or so.
    The soil is damp, but not wet to start, and I left it very fluffy--not compacted or soggy.
    No fert till the tip breaks ground.
    Keep us posted!!
    Mike

  • lomodor
    10 years ago

    thanks johnson.. i hope im as successful as u have been..
    i added perlite to the mix.it was a good quality mix..good and light..
    i have plastic over it..and its sealed.. temps are holding
    at just under 84F now..
    now its the wait.. :)

  • temporal-joe
    9 years ago

    Iomodor

    Did the cuttings work?

  • lomodor
    9 years ago

    nope..:( sigh..
    i used leaves from titanum that has HUGE leaves..
    some got almost 14 inches long..
    i think when i try it again..i'll use leaves from titanum that has shorter leaves..

  • stevelau1911
    9 years ago

    I believe that you may want to use some plant hormones, rooting hormones, and get them into humidity domes underneath a t5 setup in order to give them the best chance possible.

    Also it may help to take the leaf cutting when they appear to have the highest starch content.

    I'm nowhere close to the level where i can take cuttings yet.

    Couldn't you also air layer them?

  • robfnq
    9 years ago

    FWIW: I'm using a pot of live spagnum of "Kiwi" (New Zealand) origin to start my titanum cuttings. I dip the end of the leaf cutting in Yate's "Clonex" and just poke it down into the living moss. So far I've had success with everyone I've done. Bugger growing them from seed. The cutting method gives better results with zero "genetic misfits."

  • stevelau1911
    9 years ago

    It looks like the a titanum grows similar to a ZZ plant eh. It seems to make sense that leaf cuttings would be the most efficient form of propagation for this type of plant.

    I think the key to success is getting it enough humidity and strong light so the leaves can produce enough energy to form tubers and roots. Warm soil is important too.

    All I have is small seedlings, mostly just spikes so I'm nowhere close to trying something like this yet.

  • robfnq
    9 years ago

    It also seems that you don't have to be too fussy about what part of the leaf you use. I even have left over pieces of random leaf stem material that are developing roots after only a week in the spagnum pot.

    I doubt that I'll bother with seeds again. Although almost all of the seeds I purchased did germinate successfully, about a third of them are what I would call "genetic misfits." By this I mean the old roll of the genetic dice has produced some strong, vigorous individuals along with straggly prodigy that should be relegated to the compost bin. This is true with all plants I've grown from seed and not just A.titanum. It's just that with the price you pay per titanum seed, no one is inclined to do a bit of "selective breeding." This shouldn't be such a problem with cutting grown material.

  • stevelau1911
    9 years ago

    Since there's nowhere you can actually buy a titanum leaves for propagation, the best way is to just pick out the seedling that grows the most vigorously out of the entire batch.

    Since some seeds are simply larger than other ones starting out with more starch, I guess it will be necessary to let them grow out a few more leaves before telling which seedlings are the keepers.

    One thing I've found about the seeds is that they literally take 4-6 months to put out a leaf, even with bottom heat.

  • robfnq
    9 years ago

    I found the same thing with the last batch of seeds I grew. Some bolted almost immediately, but most were bloody slow. I still have one fat, plump seed that has only a small, healthy shoot, but it seems to be taking its time to accomplish any grown from the shoot stage. I may bin this bugger if it doesn't show a bit more initiative!

  • stevelau1911
    9 years ago

    It's been a couple months. Just wondering, how is the leaf cutting going? I'm not planning on doing it until my plants get a bit bigger, but now I do have plenty of seedlings fully leafed out.


  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    My leaf cuttings have gone dormant, or the little tubers have. Since one of the larger plants has put out a new leaf I'll be starting a new cutting soon. I find they do better if you use younger leaflets. Older leaflets tend to give up too easily.


  • robfnq
    9 years ago

    My leaf tubers are expanding and producing roots, but still no shoots. I've actually had pretty good luck with older leaflets. I recently stuck a couple of fresh, younger leaves in the old sphagnum filled propagation pot just to see how they would do.

    We're getting heaps of rain at present and the temperatures are staying well above 20C. Cooler winter and "drizzle season" is just around the corner and I'll have to start thinking about how to keep the temps up and the water off without moving the buggers indoors.

    Tropic, Thanks for the hint on how to re-establish one's connection with this forum. I must admit that I'm not very impressed with the change over.

    Also in reply to your email: Yes, I would be very interested in an A. galbra tuber if it isn't a big problem for you. Also let me know if there is anything (other then the fishtail lawyer vine seed) that would work in trade. I'll probably have to wait until November for the fishtail seed to ripen.


  • stevelau1911
    9 years ago

    Just wondering. If leaf cuttings are not all that hard, then wouldn't injuring a leaf, then air-layering some branches work in terms of getting you plants that still have access to energy from the mother plant? it's not all that hard to air layer as long as you can keep the layered area moist, and injure the growing point enough for stem cells to form, causing roots.

    Has anyone ever tried that before?

    I would like to, but none of my plants are big enough. I really doubt they will produce tubers any bigger than a golf ball with leaves of this size.


  • robfnq
    9 years ago

    I'm using, at present, leaf cuttings from a two year old seedling. None of the tubers that are being produced are anywhere near "golf ball" size. In fact most, so far, haven't even reached "pea size." All of the small tubers are producing the classic top-of-tuber roots, but none have a shown a leaf shoot yet.

  • stevelau1911
    9 years ago

    I think you may not have quite enough energy in your leaf cuttings if they are not producing a leaf yet.

    I'm not overly watering my pots, but the older ones do seem to be gaining weight in comparison to what they were when they started so I believe tuber formation is already starting. I'm only using 4X 54 watt T5 lights 2-8 inches away from the leaves. The lights are on 16 hours a day to supplement the window light which really doesn't add much.

    I believe that warmth, and light levels are very important for energy production. The room mine are growing in stays at 72F, and I use a heat mat to add some bottom heat. I'm looking forward for some of them to start making their 2nd leaf which should be much bigger, but that should take 2-3 more months since they are only a bit over 3 months old, started from seed. Some haven't completely put out their leaf yet, but some have been leafed out over a month.


  • robfnq
    9 years ago

    Plenty of natural sunlight, naturally high humidity and daytime temps up to 33C during the day and 20C+ during the night, but still a bit slow with leaf production. Most of my "juvenile" titanums can be a bit slow when going from shoot to full leaf. Sometimes the shoots will stay that way for months and then all of a sudden put up a leaf in a week's time. Compared to the other Amorphs growing nearby in the same bush house (see photo below), the titanums are on a whole 'nother wavelength.

    Left to right: A. paeoniifolius, A. muelleri, A. konjac, A. bulbifera


  • stevelau1911
    9 years ago

    I find that the Titanums do like strong bright light, but they do not like high uv Rays and prefer high humidity for optimal growth. Now some of my titanium seedlings are starting to push their second leaf. I do notice the most darkening of the bottom of the stems on the ones that are pushing.


    I also used different potting mixes and the ones with there greater soil porosity appear to be the best performers.


    One thing interesting about the second leaves is that they are starting out about the same diameters of the original leaves but I believe they will fatten up some more once they get a bit taller.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    I'm following the reccomendations of this post and I am quite happy with the results. On 31st May 2016 and 4th June 2016 I've made cuttings. The first one is on a bottle, wrapped in plastic film and covered with humid soil. The leaf is still green and fresh. The second one got yellow and dry, I checked out today and it doesn't have a tuber, so I think this one is dead, although the other, apparently, will keep on living. I'm from Brazil, so it's winter here, but it is warm and we have plenty solar light.

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    Which part of Brazil are you?

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    I am from Paraíba, this tiny red dot: https://goo.gl/hoCsUX. It is kinda close to the Equator, so we have not a relevant difference between night and day duration between the seasons, and it is also pretty hot and humid by the coast, where I live.

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    I looked it up, you're about 7 degrees off the equator. I'm about 12 degrees off the equator but have a drier dry season here than you have. It's winter here too now but today was minimum 21.7C and maximum was 32.6C. I grow my A. titanums outdoors all year but just have to be careful when we get the dry winds because I'm not on the coast. I find that the leaf cuttings do better in sphagnum moss rather than in soil.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    I will try my next one in sphagnum. I have a lot here, ordered 1kg in January and there's about half of it. It gets way heavier when wet lol. There are three fresh leaves uncurling, I think it will take about two weeks to be fine for a cutting. Do you add anything besides root hormone to your sphagnum?
    BTW, I also have a konjac bulb. It is in dormancy since June. Have no idea when the new leaf will pop up xD


  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    Sphagnum stays very wet and the titanum leaflets seem to like it. I usually just dip the leaflets in rooting hormone. After tubers form and the leaflets die off it's probably best to put them into good soil which doesn't stay so wet. I've lost the little tubers when they develop their own leaf but have been left in the sphagnum.

    My konjacs show up about October (I think, can't remember exactly). I've got a couple in the ground and a couple in tubs.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    I think it makes sense. As the sphagnum has almost no nutrients, the leave is kinda "forced" to develop roots, searching for more. It is something like cutting a ring out of a tree branch.

    (or I also could be totally wrong xD)

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    Sphagnum has anti fungal properties as well. Gives the leaflet a chance to develop good roots without rot setting in. With soil and rooting hormones, the roots grow out beyond the antiseptic zone created by the hormone powder and can be attacked by fungus. That's my theory anyway. But whatever, it seems to work.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    Hey folks, I was wandering here: sometimes, the Titanum develops very tiny leaves. If I cut a small piece of the corm, something like 1 inch diameter, where this small leaf is developing, would it grow roots? Or it could be bad for the whole plant? Has anyone ever tried something this way?

  • stevelau1911
    7 years ago

    I think there are chances you could rot the corm. If you want a sure division, try air layering some branches.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    Does air layer works on monocots? Their vessel system is quite different than dicots

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    Hey folks, check this out: one of the leaf cuttings made in early June is turning yellow, so I came to check and found this inside the soil. Can someone tell if this is a small corm? The petiole has kind of a lump on its base. Sorry for the poor quality of the images, my cell phone camera zoom sucks.


  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    Does look like a tuber forming. If the leaflet is yellowing then the food reserves will be going down into the small tuber which might get (slightly) larger before going completely dormant. Don't let it stay too wet and keep it from getting cold. They can take a while for the new leaf to grow.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    Got it! It is on a "green house" made from a PET bottle. Umidity is regular and it is on a warm place, receiving sunlight, so there is no way it gets cold. When the leaf turns completely brown, should I cut it off or just leave it there?

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    Be careful if it's in a PET bottle and in the sun. It could get too hot. Here my daily temperatures now are 36C to 38C. Anything in a PET bottle left in the sun would be completely cooked in a few minutes.

    I leave the leaflets to fall away themselves. They'll do it when the time is right.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    I've put the bottle in direct sunlight during a few moments in the day I made the leaf cutting. When I came back to see, the leaf was curly. So I put in the place where it is until now, receiving indirect sunlight. The sun just gets there during a short period in the morning, so there is no danger. Luckily, the leaf survived and I didn't got a boiled Titanum xD. Came there to check and there is just a narrow green dot in the leaf, the rest got yellow or even brown. I just don't know how is it going to "detach" from the little corm: it is too small, even smaller than a nail. Uptades soon o/

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    So, guess is time for some uptade: the old leaf drought completely, leaving a small corm about the size of a bean. I took of as much as I could from the leaf blade to avoid fungi propagation and put the petiole with the small corm back in the soil. I'm pretty pessimistic about that: the tuber seems to small to produce anything, but I'd rather be surprized than disappointed, so... let's wait a few months

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    I've had the small tubers (from leaf cuttings) stay dormant for about a year, so you might have to wait for longer than a few months. Just don't let it dry out.

  • robfnq
    7 years ago

    Spot on advice. Not only can they stay dormant for long periods, but they can often delay dormancy for years. My three or four year old "Big John" only recently went into dormancy for the first time.


    During "Big John's" dormancy I re-potted the fist size oblong tuber into a much larger pot. Lucky I went to a bigger pot, the bugger has produced not one, but three fairly large leaves. Now that massive pot looks too small! :)


  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    Wow! And there's even a small leaf under the big one. I think mine might still beginning a dormancy right now: two big leaves felt and there is no sign of new ones being born. There was a little fungi problem some months ago, but I treated it with copper and the AT got better, but I think it kinda stressed the plant. Do you have others besides Big John or is it a single plant?

  • robfnq
    7 years ago

    Big John's tuber is somewhat elongated and could possibly be divided in two, but I don't really need any more A. titanums. I'd liked to try and force the plant to flowering by regularly fertilizing the tuber and giving it plenty of sun exposure as I have done successfully with all my other Amorphs.


    I also have two 2 year old A. titanum seedlings which only recently went into dormancy. I purchased the seeds from a well known supplier in the eastern United States. I had another five seedlings, but I gave these away to mates down on the warmer coastal area of Far North Queensland (Australia). Big John and "friends" get low energy electric heating jackets wrapped around the pots during our cooler/cold winter months up on the Tablelands.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    Is it possible to split a Titanium tuber in two? It would be a great thing, considering it does not grow other corms like konjac. I'm thinking about buying some seeds, but unfortunately there are no sellers here in Brazil. Looking for someone who sells abroad

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    Bad time on my Titanum: there was only one leaf, and then a strong wine kind of broke it. I think it is going to start a dormancy soon: the other two leaves died out. I am a bit afraid of a possible death of the plant, but as it is only losing its leaves in a large time period (one month and a half since it started, I guess) I feel it is just some dormancy coming out. Next time I'll put where there is less wind

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    I haven't had that problem with my titanum but my gigas (which is pretty similar to titanum) had all sorts of problems over the years. One season a tree branch fell on it and broke the petiole. Insects got in and ate out the inside of the petiole. The plant went into early dormancy, it had only been growing for a couple of months. Gigas grows for one year and then goes dormant for one year. But afterwards it came out of dormancy earlier than one year and grew okay. Another season I had put it into a more exposed position and it got badly sun burned. It went into early dormancy that year also. Last season it was broken by the wind. But I found it very soon after, tied it up and painted over the damaged area of the petiole with grafting paint. It kept going for the rest of the season without going into early dormancy.

    When I saw it damaged the first time I went into a state of shock thinking it was going to die. But now, after a few dramas, I don't worry so much and just do what's needed to keep it going. So hopefully there won't be any more problems but if there are I feel fairly confident of being able to successfully deal with them.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    It is not going on dormancy: went to check out this morning and there is a sprout growing out of the soil. When it matures, I'll tie it to a big stick so the wind want mess up again. It is getting very windy these days, and my neighbours' house got into demolition, so there is less protection to blows. On the other hand, konjac sprout is still growing up slowly. I think it is a little shy xD

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    Looks like it's going to be okay. They're a lot tougher than what we sometimes think. My titanum is about to open out a leaf. It used to have a few leaves at the same time but lately it's only one leaf at a time. My gigas is just coming out of its one year dormancy. This time I'm going to tie it up BEFORE anything happens, not after something happens.


    I planted some bulbifer and konjac in the garden. The bulbifer produced so many plants it's taking over. The konjacs aren't as much of a problem.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    Do you have A. gigas? Wow, I really wanted one. Where did you get it? Did you get the seeds or the corm?

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    I got the gigas on Ebay, but it was advertised as titanum, and a tuber not a seed. It wasn't until it flowered that I positively IDed it as gigas. The spathe is about one metre high on top of a two metre stem. The smell is quite strong but because it lives outdoors and a long way from the house it wasn't really a problem.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    I was thinking to myself: recently, I got some ZZ plants leaf cuttings and they are starting to root. They 're in my backyard, in a sealed transparent conteiner receiving no direct sunlight, but all walls around are white and reflect it well. I wonder if putting a titanum leaf cutting on the same conditions would be more adequate for it to grow a bulb and roots. Since they grow up in rainforests, I guess no direct sunlight wouldn't be a huge problem

  • tropicbreezent
    7 years ago

    Photos I've seen of titanum in habitat often show them out in the open in full sun and not under the rainforest canopy. But there don't seem to be any photos around of seedlings or small plants in habitat so not sure on whether they can be out in full sun while still small. You can always experiment though.

  • PEDRO ISAAC
    7 years ago

    Feeling kind of uncomfortable about cutting a leaf again, but one more try won't do any harm, I think. Gonna try this in January, when the new leaves will be mature

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