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Strange(?) drosophyllum growth

Over the summer I purchased a Drosophyllum seedling and placed it in my large, sunny, south-facing window. Well, apparently it wasn't sunny enough because it showed severe etiolation, growing long and sparse with rather short leaves (see photo). The strange thing is that it started to bloom after only a couple of months in my care. I cut the bud off while it was still developing, and at around the same time moved the plant under lights. Shortly after, the growing tip has apparently died, but at the base of each leaf it appears that a new plant is growing. At first I thought it was only a single leaf, but some of them are now showing multiple leaves growing from the same point. I tried to photograph it as best as I could with my phone camera.

Has anybody experienced this before? I'm a bit uncertain as to how to proceed and would appreciate any feedback. If they all grow, I'll have about a dozen little plants growing along the stem with only one root structure and I'm not sure that it could support all of them. I know conventional wisdom states that Droso cuttings will not root, however I found a couple of sources online saying that they can, so I may try it with one close to the tip once it gets a bit larger. Any suggestions would be appreciated.



 
Well seems like the plant has decided to branch since the main growth point has died!
Branching is not that unusual and the plant is capable of making a new growth point at each leaf internode.. as you are experiencing. Normally though it only has a few going. Maybe because they are spread out the hormones which might restrict neighboring dormant buds to initiate growth is less effective?

Have never tried to root any cuttings but maybe you are onto something if it works..
Might be worth trying a clipping or two from the tip. I don't think it would have any adverse effect on the rest of the plant if you cut off a little. Obviously the plant is cabable of supporting the growth so your roots are probably nice and strong.

Might also be worth trying to lightly bury the other end? Maybe the plantlets will send out roots when they grow a bit larger, at which point you could clip the stem.
 
personally i like the multi branched effect, and i would encourage my plant to do so, if i had one...it makes the plant resemble even more like a mini bonsai tree, not unlike Geoff Wong's.
 
Thanks, Tony. Actually that's exactly what I've done with the tip since the first photo was taken. I "pinned" it down with bonsai wire and mounded some soil around the base of it. If it roots then great - if not, I'm no worse off. This poor little guy has been through a lot, and it's nice to see that it's strong enough to adapt.

---------- Post added at 02:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------

Thanks amphirion. I like the bonsai-effect as well. I think I've been more concerned with how close some of them are to one another (especially around the base) and the sheer volume of them overwhelming the roots.
 
Over the summer I purchased a Drosophyllum seedling and placed it in my large, sunny, south-facing window. Well, apparently it wasn't sunny enough because it showed severe etiolation, growing long and sparse with rather short leaves (see photo). The strange thing is that it started to bloom after only a couple of months in my care. I cut the bud off while it was still developing, and at around the same time moved the plant under lights. Shortly after, the growing tip has apparently died, but at the base of each leaf it appears that a new plant is growing. At first I thought it was only a single leaf, but some of them are now showing multiple leaves growing from the same point. I tried to photograph it as best as I could with my phone camera.

Has anybody experienced this before? I'm a bit uncertain as to how to proceed and would appreciate any feedback. If they all grow, I'll have about a dozen little plants growing along the stem with only one root structure and I'm not sure that it could support all of them. I know conventional wisdom states that Droso cuttings will not root, however I found a couple of sources online saying that they can, so I may try it with one close to the tip once it gets a bit larger. Any suggestions would be appreciated.




Yes, exact same thing happened when I cut the flower bud off one of mine when only a few inches tall . It formed 2 other plants; one died and the other survived and flourished. That part eventually fell over and grew fine like a separate plant attached to the other. I put them under a shop light with two 40-watt cool white bulbs as close to the lights as I could get them. I don't know if it will form roots if cut because mine did not form roots when it was attached to the "mother" plant. It is attached to a long what looks like a runner on top of the soil from the original plant and is doing just fine, looks like another plant that came up from seed. Mine have also formed plants growing out the side of the main stem at the base and I think that stabilizes the plant especially since it started off with not enough light and got very tall.
 
I had no idea that Drosophyllum even did this. Weird!
 
Update

Since my last post, one of the branches has distinguished itself by growing significantly larger than the others. Three of the smaller branches started putting out flower buds, but 2 of them quickly aborted themselves. One of them continued developing 2 buds, one of which opened this week.

 
wow that plant looks very nice.
 
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