FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Some advice will be greatly appreciated! This morning when I went to mist my nepenthes Ventrata (Clara), I noticed there's hopefully one basal offshoot. It's unexpected though because while I knew it was going to happen, I didn't thought it would be this soon, I got Clara in April. I have two questions;

When would it be the best time to trim the basal offshoot from the main stem?

And when I do trim it, does it need a root system or that doesn't matter? I've watched two vids of basal offshoot cuttings and almost all of the offshoots don't have a root system.

I'm in the same boat, my Bloody Mary has at least two basal shoots.
From what I have read, wait until the average leaf is at least one inch, not before. You'll have to rummage around until you find where it attaches to the main stem and cut it there. It will not have roots because it is getting its life from the main plant. Cut as close to the main stem as possible and stick that little guy into some fresh media. Unless you have naturally high humidity, it's best to bag it at this point. I plan on also hitting the media with a light dose of Bioadvanced 3 in 1 to ward off potential mold.
Now that you've done all that, wait for a couple months to see if it grows roots and lives or dies.
Hopefully someone with actual experience will chime in to guide us down this path.

ChefDean wrote: ↑Sat Nov 06, 2021 3:54 pm I'm in the same boat, my Bloody Mary has at least two basal shoots.
From what I have read, wait until the average leaf is at least one inch, not before. You'll have to rummage around until you find where it attaches to the main stem and cut it there. It will not have roots because it is getting its life from the main plant. Cut as close to the main stem as possible and stick that little guy into some fresh media. Unless you have naturally high humidity, it's best to bag it at this point. I plan on also hitting the media with a light dose of Bioadvanced 3 in 1 to ward off potential mold.
Now that you've done all that, wait for a couple months to see if it grows roots and lives or dies.
Hopefully someone with actual experience will chime in to guide us down this path.

I feel ya, I'm not prepared for this to happen
For now I'll have it growing just until I get fresh sphagnum moss and perlite because I have none and planned on doing that next year when I do repottings.

And with it being winter, I think the humidity is decent in my house, as I text this, my hydrometer is reading 60%, but I will bag the basal offshoot if I need to.

Panman wrote: ↑Sat Nov 06, 2021 4:10 pm As I have resuscitated my neps multiple times from cuttings and basals, I feel I am experienced enough to comment on this.

What ChefDean said.

Wait until it is at least a couple of inches across. Cut it as close to the stem as possible. Put it in a pot of damp media and put the whole thing in a plastic bag. Give it bright, indirect light. As long as the leaves still look healthy, it is working on rooting. After a couple of months, adjust it to normal humidity. If during this time it starts to wilt, bag it and let it cook some more. Once it is able to survive without the bag, it is rooted.

The reason for the bag is twofold. First, it help to keep the plant and media from drying out. Second, neps are able to absorb moisture that it needs from the air through the leaves so proving a humid environment let's it get water without roots.

This sounds easier to do if it was during summer, but I can try this method when it comes down to it.

And would it be also ok to leave it growing on the main stem until spring comes? Because if I'm not able to do this method I would have no choice but to just let it grow there until I can finally do it.

Panman wrote: ↑Sun Nov 07, 2021 12:35 pm There are no problems with leaving it as it is.

Great! Just for now I'll leave it go but if it gets any bigger and develops a pitcher than I can try trimming it.

And I did saw posts from years ago with this topic as well, and in one of them a person said nepenthes sometimes grow a basal offshoot because its stressed and is growing it's energy somewhere else. How can I tell if my nepenthes is stressed? Nothing had change in how I care for it, maybe the temperature is dropping a bit at the bay window at night and I might not be aware of it because it does get drafty there. I never knew a nepenthes can get stressed tbh.

I wouldn't worry as long as the main vine continues to grow at a similar rate - if it slows down, starts going pale, etc, you may want to investigate.

Yeah, they write articles and people overthink the stuff to death. More times than not, a plant will backbud like that when the main point gets damaged. One of my Neps got worked over and it responded by growing from practically every node it had available. You'd most likely see something wrong well before it does something. It's likely a healthy plant and its just doing its thing. Several of mine threw up basals this year when they got to an adequate size.

Personally I wouldn't cut off the basal at all, at least not yet. Cutting off at an inch just seems like an unnecessary risk unless you want to experiment. Two growth points isn't really a bad thing unless you're trying to keep the plant compact. As they said, it isn't going to cause harm. If I'm trying to keep a plant compact, sometimes I'll let the basal grow out and cut the main point off.

BugBiters wrote: ↑Mon Nov 08, 2021 12:27 am I wouldn't worry as long as the main vine continues to grow at a similar rate - if it slows down, starts going pale, etc, you may want to investigate.

I'll let it go for now. My Ventrata is healthy and things r still good for it. But I will keep an eye out in case if something abnormal happens. Thanks!

Apollyon wrote: ↑Mon Nov 08, 2021 12:41 am Yeah, they write articles and people overthink the stuff to death. More times than not, a plant will backbud like that when the main point gets damaged. One of my Neps got worked over and it responded by growing from practically every node it had available. You'd most likely see something wrong well before it does something. It's likely a healthy plant and its just doing its thing. Several of mine threw up basals this year when they got to an adequate size.

Personally I wouldn't cut off the basal at all, at least not yet. Cutting off at an inch just seems like an unnecessary risk unless you want to experiment. Two growth points isn't really a bad thing unless you're trying to keep the plant compact. As they said, it isn't going to cause harm. If I'm trying to keep a plant compact, sometimes I'll let the basal grow out and cut the main point off.

My Ventrata is healthy. It's growing a lot more leaves than when I first rescued it and has three full grown pitchers! I'll definitely let it go with it being late fall and winter is on its way. Maybe in the spring if there's anything that needs to be done, I'll try. Thanks!