I received a plant of this last year, and of course I just had to stick a leaf or two of it. Babies came up, and I separated all my AV babies from all leaf pots in about a 2 week span. Not all the babies stayed in the same tray as their siblings . . . it was a matter of how much of a hurry I was in, etc . . . Anyway . . . I put all babies in their own 3oz solo cup, into trays, and back under the lights.
I'm going thru my baby plants, to see which ones I will be taking to the club sale next month, ebay, marketplace, etc. I have noticed that on all 4-5 baby plants of L'Ambassadeur, they have suckered so badly, that I'm wondering if they're worth the effort of separating suckers.
Now, I remember reading from somewhere that if a plant is grown from a sucker, or the plant it's momma leaf came from was a habitual sucker producer, that any babies grown from that leaf or sucker would be prone to the same issues. The original plant I took the leaf(leaves) from in the fall doesn't have any suckers on it, but that doesn't mean it's heritage is sucker free . . .
Now, the usual suspects go thru my head . . . lights (always been an issue with me), mites (had plants checked at the county plant place (yeah, real technical, huh?) - no mites, and fertilizer. None of the other varieties of baby plants are doing this, and I used the same fertilizer on all my plants. The only difference from shelf to shelf is some shelves have a grow lux bulb, and others just have 2 cool lights.
Has anyone grown this plant before? If so, what did you think of it?
L'Ambassadeur
I've heard suckering is a survival defense mechanism when a plant feels threatened. Do you think perhaps you separated the babies too soon, thereby triggering suckering?
Possibly, but for it to happen only on the L'Ambassadeur babies, and not so badly on any others - there may have been one or two suckers on other babies, but not to this scale. Maybe they just didn't like being crowded in with other babies . . . but still . . . the Russians are much more crowded together, but they're not doing this . . . oh, well.
I'm thinking I'll chuck these babies, then try again after the show is over.
Well, I learned something new. I had no idea suckering was related to plant environment and/or disease.
lights, fertilizer, stress, bugs, genetics . . . they all can contribute . . . oh, lack of water at times . . .
Also wicking in the summer.