Don't ever give up on plants with no roots!

sandy0225 · 12-13-2011, 04:59 PM

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.

DoctorSteve · 12-14-2011, 12:22 PM

Mine has been doing the same thing in a pot. Some of the others recommended a heating mat. I have been looking for one, or a small heater to keep in the room. Now I am convinced that is what it needs.

Olafhenny · 12-14-2011, 09:55 PM

You are talking my language. I have been time and again amazed by the huge capacity of plants to recover from
adversity. If it is not completely rotten, just give it time and a bit of reasonable care.

From my experience and from what I have gleaned from this forum, any time you disrupt the root system, it takes
an average of two months for a banana to recover and resume growth. Bananas appear to be much more ready to
recover from damage suffered to the above ground portion of the plant, as long as the root system is okay. Simple
re-potting does not affect them at all.

And aside from dry root wintering of big plants, of which I know nothing, anything you keep growing in a pot
needs warmth ant water. I know, I keep harping on that, but I cannot for the life of me subscribe to the theory,
that you have to provide desert conditions to a plant, which is home in the humid environment of the jungle, just
because it happens to be winter up here.

varig8 · 12-15-2011, 01:18 AM

Well, this is surprising! How nice it is to learn something new! I would have NEVER thought that putting a corm in water would work in developing roots. I would have thought that it would just rot the corm no matter what. How interesting, Thanks for this post. Next time I accidentally remove a sucker when Im digging around Im going to try this.

sandy0225 · 12-15-2011, 08:09 AM

I've found that you have to have a certain kind of cut off pup for this to work. When you look at it from below, if you can see the layers where the pstems are all telescoped together, like cutting a tree, the "rings", then it won't work. You have to have enough of the corm so that you can't see that part. If you cut it to where there's no chunk of corm part at the bottom, just stem, then it won't root in a glass of water. But if it does have the corm part and it looks kind of like potato like that one up there did, then it will root almost every time.
I hope that makes sense...
The surprising thing about this one was that it took so long to root. Usually when I do this in summer and put them into the windowsill, I guess the sun keeps the water hot enough. They normally start to root for me in a week to two weeks, certainly within a month always.Heat seems to be the trick when you do this in cool weather.

stevelau1911 · 12-16-2011, 04:33 AM

For propagating basjoos, it seems like the most important thing is to have a decent section of corm attached since corms can produce roots, new shoots as well as buds after calluses are formed. I've tried with pure flesh material and no corm with no success because they are basically leaves on top of each other.

Of course starting with a larger pup that already has roots works a lot faster, but I think as long as there is a section of corm, it still has a chance.

12-13-2011, 04:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
sandy0225 Northern Tropics sandy0225's Photo Gallery Location: Muncie, Indiana zone 5 Find me on the map! Zone: zone 5 Name: Sandy Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,718 BananaBucks : 487,677 Feedback: 31 / 97% Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 1,801 Times in 682 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 9 Times	Don't ever give up on plants with no roots! 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. __________________ Sandy Burrell Northern Tropics Greenhouse 1501 East Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47302 www.northerntropics.com specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~ check out our new online store at our website!

12-14-2011, 12:22 PM	#2 (permalink)
DoctorSteve DoctorSteve's Photo Gallery Find me on the map! Zone: 9b Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 390 BananaBucks : 243,927 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 81 Times Was Thanked 306 Times in 158 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 41 Times	Re: Don't ever give up on plants with no roots! Mine has been doing the same thing in a pot. Some of the others recommended a heating mat. I have been looking for one, or a small heater to keep in the room. Now I am convinced that is what it needs.

12-14-2011, 09:55 PM	#3 (permalink)
Olafhenny Olafhenny's Photo Gallery Location: Penticton, BC, Okanagan Valley, Canada Find me on the map! Zone: Hardiness Zone 6 Name: Olaf Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 1,705 BananaBucks : 297,528 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 2,050 Times Was Thanked 2,012 Times in 876 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 77 Times	Re: Don't ever give up on plants with no roots! You are talking my language. I have been time and again amazed by the huge capacity of plants to recover from adversity. If it is not completely rotten, just give it time and a bit of reasonable care. From my experience and from what I have gleaned from this forum, any time you disrupt the root system, it takes an average of two months for a banana to recover and resume growth. Bananas appear to be much more ready to recover from damage suffered to the above ground portion of the plant, as long as the root system is okay. Simple re-potting does not affect them at all. And aside from dry root wintering of big plants, of which I know nothing, anything you keep growing in a pot needs warmth ant water. I know, I keep harping on that, but I cannot for the life of me subscribe to the theory, that you have to provide desert conditions to a plant, which is home in the humid environment of the jungle, just because it happens to be winter up here. __________________ The reason I joined this forum was to share experiences, my own and those of others and to learn from them.

12-15-2011, 01:18 AM	#4 (permalink)
varig8 Member varig8's Photo Gallery Location: miami Zone: 10-11 Name: varig8 Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 266 BananaBucks : 49,977 Feedback: 0 / 0% Said "Thanks" 74 Times Was Thanked 383 Times in 144 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 3 Times	Re: Don't ever give up on plants with no roots! Well, this is surprising! How nice it is to learn something new! I would have NEVER thought that putting a corm in water would work in developing roots. I would have thought that it would just rot the corm no matter what. How interesting, Thanks for this post. Next time I accidentally remove a sucker when Im digging around Im going to try this.

12-15-2011, 08:09 AM	#5 (permalink)
sandy0225 Northern Tropics sandy0225's Photo Gallery Location: Muncie, Indiana zone 5 Find me on the map! Zone: zone 5 Name: Sandy Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 1,718 BananaBucks : 487,677 Feedback: 31 / 97% Said "Thanks" 38 Times Was Thanked 1,801 Times in 682 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 9 Times	Re: Don't ever give up on plants with no roots! I've found that you have to have a certain kind of cut off pup for this to work. When you look at it from below, if you can see the layers where the pstems are all telescoped together, like cutting a tree, the "rings", then it won't work. You have to have enough of the corm so that you can't see that part. If you cut it to where there's no chunk of corm part at the bottom, just stem, then it won't root in a glass of water. But if it does have the corm part and it looks kind of like potato like that one up there did, then it will root almost every time. I hope that makes sense... The surprising thing about this one was that it took so long to root. Usually when I do this in summer and put them into the windowsill, I guess the sun keeps the water hot enough. They normally start to root for me in a week to two weeks, certainly within a month always.Heat seems to be the trick when you do this in cool weather. __________________ Sandy Burrell Northern Tropics Greenhouse 1501 East Fuson Road Muncie, IN 47302 www.northerntropics.com specializing in bananas, heirloom tomatoes and water gardening plants~ check out our new online store at our website! Last edited by sandy0225 : 12-15-2011 at 08:12 AM.

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12-16-2011, 04:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
stevelau1911 stevelau1911's Photo Gallery Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 458 BananaBucks : 168,140 Feedback: 1 / 100% Said "Thanks" 51 Times Was Thanked 563 Times in 258 Posts Said "Welcome to Bananas" 24 Times	Re: Don't ever give up on plants with no roots! For propagating basjoos, it seems like the most important thing is to have a decent section of corm attached since corms can produce roots, new shoots as well as buds after calluses are formed. I've tried with pure flesh material and no corm with no success because they are basically leaves on top of each other. Of course starting with a larger pup that already has roots works a lot faster, but I think as long as there is a section of corm, it still has a chance. __________________ I'm in zone 6 upstate NY, specialize in growing temperate cold hardy bamboos(mainly phyllostachys) and starting to get into bananas. my picture website is http://www.flickr.com/photos/31489820@N02/ http://stevespeonygarden.blogspot.com/

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