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dohadizzy

Giant pathos cuttings...pls help

dohadizzy
9 years ago

Hello there...I live in the Middle East where currently temperatures are at 45 degrees celcius, we went to Sri Lanka for a holiday and in the jungles I discovered amazing amazing pathos growing around trees...leaves about 50cm long about 40 cm wide...lovely huge plants with stem of leaves themselves about an inch...let alone the main stalk
I got. Bit mad and grabbed a few cuttings and brought them home...for practical purposes and becos I didn't want to look like I was carting a dead body in a huge bag....I trimmed down the cuttings to two to three 'smaller' leaves.. some a which would fit in a normal-ish size bag to carry onboard....as soon as we arrived after the 7 hour travel journey...I cleaned up the cuttings and put them in water...the cuttings already have aerial roots which they used to wind around the tree trunks...now my questions if u cld pls help:
1. The cuttings r in the water with the aerial roots submerged....leaves out...will these cuttings grow additional roots?
2. Do I put them in soil if so when? And becos the 'clippings' are thick stalks and about 50cm tall how do I go about planting them? And any hope of getting new leaves to grow as big as they r currently
I read that the pathos need to climb to be able to grow larger leaves...and of course I have seen this...but the regular pathos which I have a at home in a pot...climbs up against a Wall from its pot and a moss stick (it's run over the length of the moss stick)...however leaves and stems are normal vine like size...so how do I make sure this one ...the new 'clippings' stay it's size....I can't plant it outside cos of the temperature...
Pls do help these cuttings and leaves r Amazonian to say the least

Comments (15)

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    It's often better to let the cut ends dry off a little and heal over first, but cuttings are pretty easy to start. New roots and shoots come from the leaf nodes but they'll be like young plants. You can lay the stems on top of the soil and make sure they stay moist and humidity is up. That's always a bit more difficult indoors with air conditioning.

    About getting them to a big size, you'd need to have them growing like you saw them in Sri Lanka. Their leaves can get larger than 50 X 40 cms, if you have a tropical rainforest environment. I had large ones in trees in the garden growing up to 25 metres high. Eventually had to cut the trees down because of the risk during cyclones.

    You can see the bloke in the middle of the vines about 20 metres up.
    {{gwi:99246}}

    Some of the vines when the trees were felled.
    {{gwi:99247}}

    By the way, these are native to Australia as well.

  • dellis326 (Danny)
    9 years ago

    Give them time to start growing again. It will probably start growing more roots first and then leaves.
    Often, but not always, a cutting will continue to grow with the form of leave it had when cut off but it also wil take time for them to grow to a large size.

    This post was edited by dellis326 on Fri, Aug 29, 14 at 19:26

  • dellis326 (Danny)
    9 years ago

    A photo of what you have would be helpful.

    If they are Epipremnum aureum, as Tropic said the leaves can get twice that size. There are many species of Epipremnum and Rhaphidophora from that part of the world that may have similar leaves but usually they have similar growth patterns. Some are big like that and some stay smaller.

    45c (115ish Fahrenheit for those of us in the states) shouldn't be too hot for these plants as long as it isn't dry. I don't know what humidity is where you are so you need to consider that as well as watering and soil. If it is very low humidity you may want to think about growing it in semi-hydroponics so there is always water.

    They may not get as large as the in wild but to get larger growth you will need to give it something to climb and it will need constant moisture.

    The aerial roots will keep growing and transform into regular roots, then more new roots will grow. While it is in water try to change the water every few days.

    Tropic; As usual you post the most interesting photos, Still wouldn't want to live somewhere that hot but it sure is beautiful.

  • dohadizzy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Hi guys Here are pics of the leaves I did bring home. Like I said the much Much larger leaves would have just been taken off me through the airport
    I also will upload pics of the stalk and aerial roots which I guess will have to be above soil again once I do plant? tropic pls do tell me where in Oz there r such giant Pathos. We r from oz and go back every year so plan to hunt them down in Dec.
    Thks!

  • dellis326 (Danny)
    9 years ago

    Nice looking cutting. When you post photos of the roots & stem we can give you a better idea of how to plant it.

    I'm surprised you could get it though customs there. In the U.S. they would have taken it and possibly given you a fine. I have heard Australia has even more strict regs about moving plants and animals in and out.

    Tropic; Are these plants native to where you are or are they naturalized garden/invasive plants?

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    Dohadizzy, I'm quite surprised they let you into the country with those. You wouldn't want to try it coming into Australia. Quarantine would have you hanging from gallows at the airport as a reminder to others not to try smuggling plants into the country.

    You'll find them growing huge in gardens from the south east of Qld up to Cape York and the NT mainly in coastal towns. Anywhere it's warm with high humidity/rainfall or artificial irrigation. They're fairly fast growers and send out long runners looking for more trees to climb. The more they can climb, the bigger the leaves become.

    Thanks Dellis. I guess it's 'horses for courses'. I've always done better with heat than with cold. Except when I've been snow skiing which I really loved. But of course, when you're skiing you're not cold.

    There are some that still say E. aureum is E. pinnatum cv Aureum, but Kew accepts it as E. aureum.

  • dohadizzy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Trying to post a pic of my husband grasping the smaller stalls. let's see if it works. Seems really hard to get pixs up on this page

  • dohadizzy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Aerial roots of one batch of clippings

  • dohadizzy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    2nd batch cuttings of aerial roots
    Yes I was INCREDIBLY lucky to be able to bring the cuttings through
    I was determined to at least give it a try which is why I cut of all the larger leaves and took only the smaller ones. Very reluctantly as I know lice plants are issue...there were 50 poster plastered everywhere... and we went through about 7 drag scans in the old style airport....but I guess the people there have more important security issues than a bunch of leaves which get thrown out in gardens or jungles everyday.... and with each pass of security mY husband became more weary of my insanity. I'm sure though if I had them waving around and poking through bags they would have taken them...just cos the posters next to them told them to do so.... as it is I had them in a normal...very big... shopping bag leaves folded gently at the bottom of the bag and stems standing up but still not sticking out...and I had them in my hand the whole time for fear of me or anyone stepping on them!
    I would never never consider brining any thing like this into Oz..have a hard enough time trying to bring in food from other parts of the world let alone live cuttings alone...border security... your right would hang me by the gallows..am simply enjoying my self while we do this stint overseas....I've actually brought succulents from Holland in and luggage from their airport ( again amongst very doubtful ppl) and into qatar... and I know friends who live...and mad like me for plants when u r in a desert...bringing in from the UK and US soil even cos its so bad Here the variety...

  • dohadizzy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thks for info guys..tropics I am from the south east of wld...grown up in Brisbane but the Gold coast most of my life but haven't seen the pathos running wild...even in the national parks..maybe I wasn't into looking carefully then as well u aren't desperate for greenery there...hmmm will examine closed when I get back home in Dec...I know u can't take into Oz...but surely I cld take plants out if I bought from legitimate nurseries
    I need to get myself some caladium tubers etc for when we return to Qatar...
    Mom did get me osmocote slow release etc I asked her when she visited... and those little tubs were OK...but they were checked in...diff from carry on I guess

  • Jason J
    9 years ago

    COOL I would love a giant Pathos cutting, like was seen on tropicbreezent's tree, that is something really cool. Wish we could grow them that big in the states..

  • tropicbreezent
    9 years ago

    Dellis, I missed your last post, we posted almost simultaneously. They're not native to the Northern Territory where I live. Our dry season is too hot and dry. So wet season they're okay because of the heat and humidity, but dry season they need artificial irrigation. In north east Queensland there's a lot of rainforest because of year round rainfall, even during their "dry season". That's where they're native. Although some people say they're just an escape from introductions long ago.

    Dohadizzy, after having lived in Qatar you'll probably be more attuned to lush rainforest plants, having been deprived of them so much. Long time since I've been to the Gold Coast, when I'm down that way it's more the Sunshine Coast. There's plenty there, and giant Monsteras right up in trees, Elkhorns and Staghorns all over the place. I would have assumed it would have been much the same further south, even down into northern NSW. I think the furthest south growing coconut is near Port Macquarie.

    To move plants internationally you should get a Phytosanitary Certificate. Then you can take plants, provided there's no soil. An ordinary nursery wouldn't get involved with those but some of the internet sellers do.

    That other plant mixed in with the E. aureum in the photo with your husband is a Syngonium. They take over trees but their leaves get no bigger than what's in the photo. To the left of the tree looks like a Colocasia, and just back from that a Costus ginger. A lot of those smaller leaved vines are E. aureum runners coming down from high up and getting ready to take off for other trees once they hit the ground.

    E. aureum don't put out aerial roots as such (not like the Philodendrons do). Those on your stems just attach and hold the stem to the tree surface. Roots are also attached to the surface and run down to the ground. They don't dangle freely in the air, only the runners do.

  • teengardener1888
    9 years ago

    This is really cool!!! I was just looking at a mosspole pothos forming split leaves in the florist shop I work at. I'm really tempted to buy it,but it is not especially healthy.

  • dellis326 (Danny)
    9 years ago

    One time coming back from France, I was waiting for my bag and a dog from the dept of agriculture started sniffing and climbing all over my backpack I had set on the floor. An officer came over insisting she search it. I had brought an apple on the plane with me but luckily I ate it during the flight or I would have been given a fine. A friend of ours was also coming home from France and had a small salami in her suitcase, She received a $250.00 fine. A live plant could only be a harsher fine then that.

    Anyhow, regarding your cuttings, Drop your water levels by at least half. You only need about 5-6 cm (2 inches) of water for them. Soon you will see small white roots starting to grow and then you'll need to decide what to do with them.

    You can keep them in water, grow them in semi or passive hydroponics or in soil. If you use soil you will want a very quick draining mix. so take a regular potting soil and mix it with vermiculite half and half. If you can get fired clay pellets you can use that instead of vermiculite and will be heavier for when the plants are larger. You can find them at some garden stores and hydroponic suppliers or you might be able to find them and a builders supply. You can use the clay pellets either as a soil amendment or alone to grow them in semi-hydro. You can google "LECA" to see what I'm talking about.

    They will look better if you plant them all together in a big container rather than separated into small pots. Then once they start to get growing you'll have to figure out something for them to climb.

  • dohadizzy
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Thks for tip re dropping water levels. Was done ring how far to keep water. then worried what if the new roots develop further up too
    Yes we def have sniffer dogs everywhere in Oz...and this always happens when ppl forget airplane food in bags esp with kids!
    My aim has never been to deceive as u know x ray machines show everything
    I've just tried my luck to see if they allow and if they wld have confiscated then that wld be that
    Even coming back from holland and through multiple scans a couple of times the airport security ppl opened my hand luggage
    All they said was 'u have a lot of plats' with bemusement. And I said yup I'm heading back to the desert and that was that
    But I did have that concern that what if...but again like I said we try..and also i bought snall plants 2-3 euroes so even if i lost them...
    It wouldnt be so painful (to my wallet) cos some of us here get a bit plant obsessed after the dreary ness. I actually exaggerate cos the cities are being made amazingly green and sometimes u don't realise u r in the gulf when u r in the parks or other public areas!
    But I think its just lovely to be able to take on this challenge and try and nurture exotics.
    Yesterday I met a lady here who brought back a hybrid mango tree.. from.India....a petite thing which produced large mangoes! Oohhh if I cld only do that with Australian Bowens!!
    But Australia is something I wouldn't try or get prior approval...cos I know they do ship to other countries so we just need to obtain an OK
    But how...?

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