Leaf cuttings: can dead/blackening traps be used?

[eBeyonder]

Since the traps of the VFT die, can I make use of these (and those that are blackening) for leaf cuttings? I have tried getting a blackened leaf with the whitish base still white, and was just wondering if this wld actually work.

 

[NickHubbell]

It can and does work. I did this with my Red Dragon. Results may vary.

I should have gone further and said that you can cut off the dead or dying trap and use the remaining section of the leaf ( the petiole ) as a leaf cutting.

 

[eBeyonder]

That's good! No more wastage of dead leaves then

But if I keep on cutting leaves off, would it affect the parent plant's health?

 

[jhaluska]

I think it would affect it eventually.  When I was younger, I assumed incorrectly that the leaves would never die and I kept trying to cut the black parts off.  Unfortunately I never had a flytrap live more than a year in my youth.  I'm not a botonist, but my thought process is that it may be possible for the flytrap to suck the good parts out of the leaves back into the plant.  

If your plant is healthy and the leaf isn't green, I'd go for it.  But only infrequently...maybe every other dying leaf.

 

[Wesley]

I'd say that you might want to do every other leaf. The plant could still use the leaves even though the trap itself is dead, the leaf can photosinthisize(sp). I personally have never try root cuttings, so I could be wrong.

Wes

 

[Jmenprkr]

i did not know that you could use black traps for cuttings

 

[technoracer]

you can't necessarily use "dead traps", but you can use petioles with dead traps. you need to get part of the whiteish base of the petiole, as this is where the new plantlets will sprout from. i like to use petioles with dead traps, as it cleans up the look of the vft.

peace,
technoracer

 

[eBeyonder]

Thanks for all the replies!

So in conclusion,

1. Petioles with dead traps can be used so long as the whitish base is present.

2. Constant peeling of the petioles with the whitish base may or may not affect the parent plant?

 

[Darcie]

No, it most definitly WILL affect long term plant health. Removing the live part, however small it is, still injers the plant, steals nutrients it could have reabsorbed, stresses the plant, and opens a place for infection.

 

[uglypho]

To be safe go with a live leaf.

 

[Wesley]

Well, yea, you can't use a dead/black leaf to do a cutting.

Wes

 

[BigCarnivourKid]

As Darci said, constant peeling will affect long term plant health.  The occasional peeling will usually not cause a problem.  Everything in moderation.

 

 

[schloaty]

I had a VFT suddenly develope multiple growth points after I took a couple of cuttings (which didn't root, but I think I know why). Has anyone else seen this? Just a co-inky-dink?

 

[Jmenprkr]

how long does it take cuttings to start from when you first put it in the soil

 

[Vertigo]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (schloaty @ Aug. 04 2003,3:22)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">I had a VFT suddenly develope multiple growth points after I took a couple of cuttings (which didn't root, but I think I know why).  Has anyone else seen this?  Just a co-inky-dink?

[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Schloaty, any chance you covered the growth point when you were done? I've noticed the pattern that if a growth point of a VFT is covered up, there's a chance that the plant will develop more growth points. It's happened to me on about 5 occasions now. Usually when I was paying attention in repotting something.

Also, if I remember correctly, didn't someone accidently nick the growth point and something weird happened? I thought it was Darcie, but I may be mistaken.

Then again, it could have split the rhizome when you took a cutting and put out a growth point from there.

 

[pond boy]

It took mine 1 1\2 months to produce 8 traps from a leaf cutting.