This is my croton. It’s “leggy”—which is plant people speak for awkwardly having about three leaves at the top of a two foot long stem.
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| I'm a bad plant parent. Also, you can see a few test air-prop. bundles. |
This mutant look was achieved when I left the plant in a too chilly apt. for a couple of weeks this winter. Also, the leaves are constantly being womped off by fatal tail wags from the canine in residence.
So, here’s what I’m going to do—air layering propagation. Basically this will shorten the plant by creating new roots further up the stem. This should cure some of the awkward (or just kill the plant—never actually done this before. Cross your fingers, ya’ll) and give me a smaller and tidier plant. Here is the basic procedure.
Several inches down from the last leaves slice a circular band in the stem. Cut another about two inches down. Don’t cut all the way through, just enough to get the bark off.
Then cut a line from band to band. Slip your razor or knife or preferred slicing device under the bark and simply peel it off.
Now, with a paintbrush dab some rooting hormone on the wound.
Glob a handful of damp sphagnum moss around the operation site. Now plastic wrap it up real good and secure with twisty ties or string.
Now, we wait and watch for signs of root growth (or entire plant death), making sure to keep the sphagnum ball moist. Hopefully in a couple of months, a root system will develop enough that I can snip of the braches and repot them.
I wonder if this would work on a Norfolk Island plant that has gotten very leggy?
ReplyDeleteA neighbor who worked for the Dept of Ag taught me to do this. You don't have to cut through the "bark" as you described. He taught me to scrape the bark just enough to expose the green layer under the bark. It works fine. His way would be less traumatic to the plant.
ReplyDeleteCan you post an update on how this worked out? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI want to see pictures of the plant after the plastic wrap has been removed "before" anything else has been done! I just can't picture the end results. Thanks.
DeleteUpdate: This worked perfectly. Not only did the tops grow nice big root bundles, but I left the sticks to grow in the old pot and they sprouted all new leaves. Now I have two big beautiful crotons!
ReplyDeleteYou can scrape just to the green layer--i've done both, and find that you get bigger better roots (and faster) if you go past the green, like i have here.
This looks as if the bark is removed all around the stem...is that correct? I thought that would kill it like circling a tree. I tried Dracena Marginata small leaf several times and got nothing but I didn't remove bark, only slit it and propped it open with a toothpick, root hormone, then wrapped. In the end, the plant produce 2 little ones from the base root and I was able to cut them loose from the parent plant and they did great alone, just couldn't get air layering to work.
ReplyDeleteHi Margaret,
DeleteThat is the idea. A plant sends nutrients from the roots up the sap wood in the center and then the leaves send nutrients back down to the roots through the bark. If the flow is interrupted, the plant will try and grow roots at the new end of bark. If you leave a small piece of bark, the plant will repair the bridge completely. It won't die as in ring barking because the wound is not open to the air and doesn't dry out.
Did the original stem grow any leaves after removing the new plant?
ReplyDeleteYou can also simply cut the branch of a croton or dracena and pretty much any tropical plant and just stick it in the ground, about 5 inches down into soil and keep moist. The trick is to cut the leaves about 90% off just leaving the stem and a portion of the leaves, this will help reduce moisture loss via the leaves, keep in a shady place for a month or 2 and you will have a new plant. The place where you cut the branch will make more branches and make the croton more bushy.
ReplyDelete