I've had this sword ladyfinger pup that I cut off with the shovel when I was digging the middle of October. Normally if I cut them off with the shovel, if there's any white/pinkish corm at the bottom of the cut off part, I keep them and try to root them in a glass of water. I normally have really good success with this. But not this one, it's been sitting in my kitchen in a glass of water in the kitchen window since around 10/15. I change the water a couple times a week when I look at it. I noticed that even though it'd been a long time, it wasn't growing any roots, but it also wasn't getting rotten. It seemed like suspended animation.
So I decided it was time for it to "sink or swim". I decided what it needed wasn't light as much as heat. I just took it and sat it on top of the heat vent with a plate underneath it to deflect the air movement a little bit and waited for a cold snap. Sure enough, after a week of cooler weather when the heat was kicking on a lot, it rooted.
I planted it today. So if you cut off a pup and it's got some corm at the bottom but no roots, maybe putting the cutting in a glass of water on a heat mat would be the trick.
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Sandy Burrell
Northern Tropics Greenhouse
1501 East Fuson Road
Muncie, IN 47302
www.northerntropics.com
specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~
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