The plants at work have been doing this too, but this is more special because it's my own personal plant, that's been with me for a little over a year now. The bloom isn't gorgeous, and I'm actually a little concerned, because I'm not sure what to expect the plant to do now that it's flowered. A few of the work plants have been starting to form multiple rosettes, which I kind of find unattractive. Wev.
(For more, see the Cryptanthus profile.)
Meanwhile, I'm trying to put in the next tropical order (Philodendron 'Xanadu!' Anthurium hookeri! Euphorbia
I have the same plant. After it flowers it'll produce a few offsets, and the mother plant will eventually die. When the babies get to be about 1/3 the size of the mother, you can take them off (they break away very easily) and pot them up separately. My own plant started putting out 5 offsets, but only three survived. :)
ReplyDeleteNice. I used to have one of these but it died back after flowering, and only put out two pups, only one of which appears to be doing anything.
ReplyDeleteThat's kinda what I was afraid of. I tried to root some offsets from a plant that a customer had brought in (to be replaced; she didn't want the plant anymore) and went 0 for 6. So I'd rather not lose all of my plant's offsets, assuming that it produces some.
ReplyDeleteI used to grow broms, but I got tired of dealing with rooting the pups so often. Too much aggravation. Yours is a very pretty plant, though.
ReplyDeleteI think I'd be Very Suspicious of any plant with the description 'drewp -ifera'... Seems like destiny direction, somehow.
ReplyDeleteIf you break the pups off when they're too big or too small, they won't survive. You really need them to be about 1/3 the size of the momma plant, and root the pups in soil not water (they tend to rot in water). For some reason I'm usually successful at this----maybe it's cuz I keep my broms in full sun. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the last blogger . Most Cryptanthus are super easy . I let the babies get as big as possible . Sometimes a baby would drop off too soon , I would peel off a leaf or two from the bottom looking for a bump waiting to turn into roots and use rooting powder. Put a plastic bag over the plant ( loose ) to up the humidity . Baging the whole plant when the babies are still small helps them form roots . These plants are great in the humidity of a terrarium as long as the roots have sharp drainage . Tie or wire the plant with a tiny amount of sphagnum moss to a branch or rock ( sitting in wet soil will rot most )
ReplyDeleteI never saw a cat hunt one of these down but sometimes they find one and beat it up without eatting it .
This is a tough and pretty little plant .thanks george plant queen from MA