Need help with my Monstera Albo cutting!
Ok so first, the background info:
So I originally had a 4 node/ 3 leaf cutting that I probably should have bought rooted plant for the price I paid. This is what it looked like on eBay.
The big root snapped in half pretty quickly and never grew more roots but was still firm and white inside but very fibrous. idk if it was just too old to grow baby roots?
Anyways, I put it in moist sphagnum moss and put a humidifier and the younger roots started to develop little nubs but then the oldest leaf started yellowing 3 days after I got it. I’m not sure what I did to make it do that. Did I do something wrong?
I panicked and put it in water with a little aerator because I thought it wasn’t getting enough water. The yellowing stopped. The nubs grew a little more but the stem started looking a little black on the ends so I panicked again and went back to moist moss. I’m pretty sure I hindered the rooting process by all of this and checking on the roots every day... the Nubs never really grew much more... so I decided I should just go to soil like people were telling me... but I made this decision a Month in and I think the plant used up all its resources. I put the plant back in water for 2 days with some superthrive to make sure it was hydrated before putting it in soil. Then the old leaf started yellowing more. I had to cut off the youngest leaf and node because it was too long to fit in a pot and the aerial root was pointed in the opposite direction of all the others. So now I have one younger node with a leaf and a 2leaf/3 node cutting. The oldest leaf turned yellow and fell off within days. The petiole was completely spongey and dry. The last leaf on that big cutting also slowly yellowed and fell off but the cutting had already started developing thick soil roots before the last leaf dropped. I assume it used up all those leaf nutrients to put into roots.
The single node cutting is now still doing fine and I assume is rooting just fine And the bud seems to be getting larger.
But the big cutting developed rot where the old aerial root was and I didn’t want it to spread to the rest so I cut that node with roots off from the other two nodes. The problem is, the rot was right next to the aerial root that it has sprouted all of its new roots from so I couldn’t just chop it off. I scooped as much of the rot out but what looked like healthy tissue just turned brown or black within minutes of being exposed to the air. It’s hard to see because I put a bunch of cinnamon on it. It’s not mushy, it’s very fibrous but the fibers turned black immediately after removing the mushy black part.
Does anyone know why that is? does It mean that tissue was also rotted? Even though it seemed healthy when I first cut off any black mushy stuff? It has happened to a regular monstera cutting where the root rotted and then the stem tissue rotted and every time I cut off the rot, the new tissue darkened a lot. I don’t want to lose this thing. I‘ve poured Hydrogen peroxide on it and soaked it in some systemic fungicide In an attempt to keep the rot from getting worse.
i Also cut the ends off the other part of the big cutting because the edges were black and the healthy tissue didnt turn black but it did turn a little reddish and leaked a little reddish juice on the counter. Is that something to worry about? What’s happening there?
any insight would be appreciated, thanks!
Comments (10)
Tony Lo
3 years agoRelated Discussions
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Comments (205)Yes, a node is the bud, the bump which is usually just above the line which divides sections of the stem. In your marked picture, you've indicated the brown section division line as a node rather than the bud, which isn't correct. You did identify a bud, which IS a node. Once a node breaks and produces a new growth, it can't regenerate again if the growth dies. If that growth dies but not all the way back to the parent stem, there could be a node that could grow. This is what has happened on your stem sections 4 and 5. So look for the nodes, the bumps on the stem, rather than stem sections. The node you cut into is high and obvious, sometimes they're flat with only an encircling indentation to show you where they are. I'm not of the opinion that cutting a stem with a node away from the parent plant will encourage it to grow. By doing that you cut off energy the main stem is providing to that stem sections with the node, making it weaker. You also introduce an open wound where rot could start. So there's no benefit by cutting in my opinion and I would leave everything alone, just be patient. It will grow whenever it's ready, it might even wait until spring. It's possible node 3 could grow, it hasn't turned black so that's a good sign. I suppose it depends on where the cut is on the node, hopefully it's on one side or the other of the microscopic tissue where growth comes from. There's a node between where you indicated Node 1 and Node 2. The node, the bump, should be just above the lower brown ring. I can't tell which way the short stem with Node 4 and 5 is growing, but there is a node in the section that comes off the main stem. The next section attached to it that terminates with a cut may or may not have a node. Looking carefully with a magnifying glass for the bumps might tell you. On watering, if you can't tell for sure if the medium is damp then it's pretty dry and I'd go ahead and water. These are tropical plants and don't like being completely dry at the roots....See MoreMonstera Albo Propagation Help
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Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoI haven't read your whole post, but I probably would have cut off all leaves but the topmost one, then stuck in a pot with soil + perlite, and enclosed the whole thing in a large clear plastic bag. I usually root mine outdoors in summer, in which case I do not need to maintain humidity, but indoors you probably ought to. Here was the cutting. I had to cut back the aerial roots as they were two feet long! Whether they branched, or just new roots came out of the stem, I don't know. Aerial roots are not always able to deal with soil.
The resultant plant months later.
Russ1023 (central Fla)
3 years agoTony Lo
3 years agoTony Lo
3 years ago@Russ1023 (central Fla) im still kicking myself. I should have just bought a rooted top cutting or a rooted plant. I paid the same amount for that 4 node cutting as I did for this small rooted plant and it has put out two leaves in the time that these cuttings have been rotting away or very slowly putting out a leaf bud.
Dave in NoVA • N. Virginia • zone 7A
3 years agolast modified: 3 years agoTony Lo
3 years agoTony Lo
3 years ago
Russ1023 (central Fla)