Baby rubber plant, newly propagated, growth question.
Hi! I propagated this baby rubber plant in water a few months ago and potted it in soil in July. It's doing great so far. It has been growing a new leaf at the bottom of the stem and the top leaf tripled in size! It did have a flower at the top for about 6 weeks but it recently fell off. Anyway, I was wondering if this plant is going to produce another stem from under neath to start a new plant or if it will remain one large growing stem. I took this from a plant that had many stems in one pot but I'm not sure if it originated from a main plant or they were all just potted together
Comments (13)
Marcy
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agorobin98
6 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (11)Your potting mix has composted manure and poultry litter in it, both of which are very fine textured, getting more so with time. There have been quite a few complaints about the pososity of this product....just so you know. The finer the texture (smaller the particles), the more difficult it is for water to drain rapidly. Oxygen also becomes deficient in such mixes. You need to know that the term 'organic' can be quite misleading, and is much misunderstood. Nearly all good packaged potting mixes are 'organic', meaning that the prime ingredients (spagnum peat, just like yours) are something that was once alive. That's what MiracleGro means by the term. So, I think you can consider that the original potting mix is 'organic', as well. But, if I haven't calmed your fears about the properties of potting mediums, you can fill a bucket with water and soak the soil away. Yes, you will be injuring roots, but a good root pruning after the procedure will stimulate a lot of nice new (root) growth. Be sure to use sharp scissors for the task. Most of my permanent container plants get root pruned on an annual (or semi) annual basis, and then returned to the same pot with some fresh mix. (Mine is mostly conifer bark fines, perlite, Turface (a fired clay amendment), and maybe some granite grit particles....See MorePropagation-when to pot & how to care for babies?
Comments (7)Did you moved them off the soil? The leaves will start growing roots and/or plantlets when left on top of he soil. Moving them on and off will just break the roots, just leave them alone. Roots will usually find their way into potting mix, and if not tiny bit of it could be sprinkled on top. The leaves are still very full of moisture and they should be left on until they dry up, shrivel and detach themselves. Your plantlets are very tiny, I usually pot them up when they are considerably bigger - can't give you any measurements. They can stay in whatever container you have them if there is enough room. I usually start watering when the roots have grown into soil - but I do not move them in and out. And I water just as I would any succulent. Overwatering would be a problem regardless if the plant is small or big. This plant is still where the leaf fell and started growing:and so are these:...and these:or these - didn't even know they were there, under the main plant. Circled in red are remnants of the dried up original leaf: Less you disturb them, better they will grow :)...See MoreWhy my newly propagated perennials keep dying on me
Comments (8)i agree that pure peat is basically useless to use ....and yes.. i have seen plants grown in such.. and i assume that professionals have all the tools to use it.. like misters.. greenhouses.. humidity controls ... nutrient control ... etc .... in other words.. they can perfect ALL the variables ... which you cant ... in your original question ... you only list media and sunlight ... what about all the other cultural variables???? .. did you take them into account .. and just not mention them??? i recall your foray into conifers .. and i recommended dirr manual on propagation ... did you ever read that??? .. its made my eye glaze over.. for the most part ... but what i ended up focusing on.. was his description of the variables taken into consideration .. and which might be important to a specific plant ... btw .. what stopped me with conifers.. and many other things.. was the hormone or rooting products and the inherent possible toxicity involved .. all the power to the pros ... but i dont need an extra toe or two ... lol ... and btw again ... i have never heard..nor understood that chamaecyparis is the easiest to root.. someone lead you down the wrong road with that idea ... and do note.. again .... i am leading you to one single book .. i have found.. the WWW .. though a great resource.... is so scatter gun ... that it is hard to focus .... find one good source.. and study it ... read and reread it.. until you actually retain something ... and then start winging it ... lol ... and try to focus on the basics of variables .. and how to manipulate them ... your local library can probably secure a copy of the book ... for you to peruse it.. and decide if you want to invest in it .. and once a cutting is rooted ... it would be little different from a seedlings ... and ergo ... the variables for future care would probably start to fall in line ... have you ever considered getting a job at a local nursery/greenhouse operation ..... over winter ... if not for high pay ... to learn??? .. i dont know why.. but i am thinking you are a younger person.. who might have this option ... if not.. no insult intended ... ken https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dirr+manual+on+propagation&t=ffcm&ia=products...See MoreNewly propagated pothos HELP
Comments (6)Hey, at this time of year you’re not going to see a lot of growth. Cooler temps plus less sunlight means no or slow growth. I have recent cuttings in moss and water still pushing out new leaves so you still might see another new shoot or two over winter but don’t worry if not. I’ve accidentally knocked new leaves and shoots off in the past and another will come from the stem that was snapped. If you have seen some of the propagating posts on here, you’ll notice a lot of plants will grow shoots from where it was cut. You could add a very weak solution of fertiliser but again, this time of year isn’t the best time to expect growth. They don’t absorb as much water so fertilising is like giving a bodybuilder heaps of protein without any activity; it can do more harm than good. I would pot it in a loose and free draining soil, water sparingly, in spring you can start fertilising again and should expect to see quite a bit of new growth :)...See MoreMawby
6 years agoMawby
6 years agoMawby
6 years agorobin98
6 years ago
tapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
6 years agoMawby - if you want a bushy plant:
* Allow the new branch at the base to grow.
* If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, pinch the main stem back to 3 leaves next summer. You'll get 3 new branches in the leaf axils (crotches) of each of the leaves you left on the tree.
* When the first leaf opens on a new branch, remove the old leaf - it will be one of the leaves you left and the new branch will emanate from the crotch it forms with the stem. See the small branch forming in the axil/crotch of the leaf on the right? After the branch gets a start - remove the mature leaf. This might seem counterproductive because it contributes creates photosynthate (food) for the plant, but removing it reduces leaf size and shortens internodes (distance between leaves), which ends up giving you a much fuller and more compact plant.
* Don't neglect regular repotting, which is different and more involved than potting up. Root congestion causes shedding of older and interior leaves, and detracts significantly from your ability to keep your plant full; this, even if ALL other cultural influences are favorable.* Finally, when the new branches have 3 mature leaves on them, prune them back to 2 leaves. You'll get 2 new branches in the leaf axils. At that point in time, you remove the old leaf as described (refer to the image again). As you repeat this process over and over, you'll get tons of branches. Simply remove the ones that don't complement the composition.
* Fertilize regularly with something appropriate. Low fertility tends to cause shedding of older/interior foliage.
Al
Mawby
6 years agoI see, thank you. Those are good instructions I will be sure to follow in spring/summer. That also makes sense because on my cuttings some of the baby leaves either shriveled and died or fell off. Maybe if I cut one mature leaf at that point it would have grown instead. I also have a baby plant from the stem of this plant (I cut it when I took it out of water - it grew a leaf while in the water). And I have an additional mature cutting. I was considering combining all of these plants into one pot or putting the small one with one of the bigger. I am starting to wonder if that may be too much for one pot. Thoughts?
Mawby
6 years agotapla (mid-Michigan, USDA z5b-6a)
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoWhen you said, "..... on my cuttings some of the baby leaves either shriveled and died or fell off". Maybe if I cut one mature leaf at that point it would have grown instead", did you mean some of the leaves that were on the cutting when you took it shriveled and were shed, or was the reference to new leaves that occurred after the cutting was taken? After cuttings are taken, they need to be prepared by reducing the leaf surface area; this, because the cutting often just collapses and fails if it can't keep up with water needs of the leaves. Note how I reduced the leaf surface area to insure the cutting would be able to supply enough water to the foliage:
If you look carefully at the second image from the top (Ficus benjamina), you'll see a leaf at the base of both branches. These are the leaves I referred to in my post above - that should be removed as soon as the branch is pushing growth. It's the first thing I did after the cutting struck (rooted).
"I was considering combining all of these plants into one pot or putting the small one with one of the bigger. I am starting to wonder if that may be too much for one pot. Thoughts?" My experience with group plantings has been that you're going to end up with roughly the same increase in plant mass, no matter how many propagules you have in a pot. IOW, all else equal (especially pot size/ soil volume), a single plant will grow faster than individuals in a group planting, and there won't be much difference in the total vegetative mass between the 2 plantings. And, in most cases you can achieve the same degree of fullness with a single plant as you can with a group planting. It just requires a little bit of attention to pinching.
One thing we hobby growers often forget is, we aren't obligated to keep every bit of mass a plant produces. That's a less pushy way of saying, if we don't take control over what the plant is doing in terms of growth, we might be less apt to end up with Beauty, and more apt to end up with The Beast. The concept behind why we prune is a simple one, so I urge everyone that grows a branching plant to learn how to control and shape it. Not only is the process extremely rewarding, it's FUN, and definitely adds to the personal satisfaction we get from the growing experience.
Al
Mawby
6 years agoI was referring to the new growth before. On my 2nd cutting that I posted earlier today, it started to grow a leaf and it ended up falling off after a few months. It actually fell off yesterday in the pot. It was growing on the top left branch initially but here is a photo of it resting on the top right (so you can see the size it stayed all summer before falling).
I agree with you on the last part of what you wrote, I was initially going to combine all of them but I've learned so much since and decided I will let them grow separately since they are so pretty. Especially now that I know how to make it bushier.
All in all I had two cuttings and now I have 3 plants :) not too shabby for my first propogation attempt! The small baby plant is the result of putting my original stem (in my first post) in water. I think that's my favorite! I did have another stem cutting from under water but it rotted so I tossed it, I think I neglected it a little (oops).
Surprisingly the one I propagated in soil (pictured here on this comment) had the least growth. I now see I could have benefitted from taking off another leaf when it started to root.
Mawby
6 years ago
robin98