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I've got a new plant growing from an uncut leaf.

Well color me pink and call me Bob, I was mighty surprised today to see a plantlet growing from an uncut leaf on my critical condition Drosera Adeale. Seems like its bound and determined to keep the family line going in the event it doesn't make it. So now I'm wondering on how to go about this.

There's a high chance that whatever is left of the mother plant above the soil is going to die off as it suffered some very severe root shock, and it looks like the urge to grow the plantlet was triggered accidentally as the part its growing on had a small smattering of soil on it, and the beginning part of the leaf had died but the rest of it remained alive. How do I make sure I can give it the best chance of life? Should I just cut the leaf off, if so, do cover it with soil, or leave it be on top of it?
 
Hi Bob,

Nothing to be embarrassed about, BTW.


Apply Tamlins rule of thumb: if it's growing well, let it. Leave it be, but keep an eye on things. Note how wet the medium is and try to maintain it just so. Change nothing unless there is some decline noted and then pick one thing to change (which will probably be how much water since this is the most changing variable you have to deal with).

Even if all the green goes bye bye keep the pot in cultivation since this plant is famous for its regenerative abilities.
 
Hey Fygee. That's cool that you are getting a new plant off of an uncut leaf. I wondered if that was possible. I don't know what your best bet would be. I am not very experienced so I can't give you any for sure answers. I don't know whether or not you should cut it off, but it seems like you should leave it mostly on top of the soil, with little bits of soil here and there. Maybe this would even encourage some more growth from it.

Good luck!
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Leave it be it is.
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I want to be sure to give the new plant the best conditions to grow, and by my estimates the leaf that it's growing on will likely croak in a week or two. I probably should've mentioned that the leaf with the plantlet on it is not actually touching the bottom soil. Its above it and the leaf has some soil on it, which probably tricked into thinking it was actually on the ground. It'd be pretty interesting to have a levitating sundew, but sooner or later I'm going to have to cut the leaf off and plant it so it can attach itself to the ground and grow independantly. Need to know the best way of going about that. I guess its pretty obvious that it can't be buried too deep or it would smother the poor thing.
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Very much appreciate all the good advice guys.
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Little update. The same leaf has now sprouted four new plantlets for a total of five newbies.
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From my limited experience with adelae and primuliflora plantlets, I have been hasty in severing the ties and had disastrous results. If it aint broke - don't fix it. Let them find their own way into soil media. Worked well for a D. filiformis leaf cutting I received.
 
Well, like I said before, the leaf is above the soil by about a half inch and not touching it in any way. The part of the leaf that connects to the stem is already quite dead as well, so I don't think it would a difference cutting it from there. I figure what I'll do is just cut it there and lay the leaf on the ground and leave it be after that.

I'll see if I can take some pictures, but my sister's supposedly uber digital camera is giving me problems with super close in shots.
 
I just noticed today I also have three plantlets growing from an ucut leaf of my Spatulata. My leaf is laying on the soil though.

I hope your camera works for ya, looking forward to pictures.
 
  • #10
Still trying to figure out this newfangled camera. Stupid thing cost 700 bucks, so it should be able to take up good close up shots.
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These things are sprouting like crazy. The first leaf got up to 7, and now the other two leaves I had are sprouting ones too: one with 4, and one with one.
 
  • #11
I don't know if my adelae has ever grown plants from its leaves, but it produces them by the dozens from the roots. When I first got it, it was in a 3" pot. It flowered, died off and came back from the roots, and quickly filled the pot. I repotted into a 5" and it filled that within a month.
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And it's still growing and getting bigger...... I'm glad it doesn't produce seed! lol
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  • #12
Same here elarwhis, they seem to grow pretty well from the roots.

Fygee......what kind of camera is it? Digital? For 700 bucks it should be great! Nice avatar too
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