Dumb Cane

I have a dumb cane that has three separate stalks(three different plants in one pot I should say) and is very tall. The stems are probably 9 to 12 inches tall, and the stems the leaves are on are probably 6 possibly 9 inches long. There's at max three leaves on a stalk...and after looking at other pics, these seem to be kept as smaller plants. I had taken a cutting from a stalk, and I think its doing ok, but I left the leaves on. I think the long stems the leaves are on are unattractive so I want to take just a cane cutting with no leaves. I'm ready to start hacking away, but want to make sure I know what I'm doing. Any advice? Oh, I also moved them outside in a fully shaded area, and the leaves aren't looking very good. They've faded and have some spots(some white, some black, haven't checked to see if they'll come off....may be from birds). I had read that when you take a cutting, that you're supposed to get another one coming up from the orignal plant...when I took my first cutting, this didn't happen. I think its because it had already sent out a side shoot in the past, so would it not send out another one?

Thanks

Kristie

Hi Kristie, sorry but cant ID from your discription, any chance of a picture, that would help a lot, as regards taking cuttings, MOST plants struggle when the cutting has such a long stem and has no roots to support it, this meens the stem has to work really very hard to put out roots and hold on to the leaves, as we dont know what kind of plant this is yet, for now, dont pull the leaves off as this is needed for plants to a) take in air and b) the leaves helps the plant draw up a water supply right to the top of the stem where the growing tip is, do you know the name of the plant that you took the shoots from, also, IF you have three plants in 1 pot that have taken root, maybe it is time to seperate them into indevidual pots to give more root room, they may need a cane for support as they are so tall, were they this tall when you potted them or are they reaching up for some light, sorry I cant be of any more help right now, but send a pic and I'm sure others can help also. good luck, WeeNel.

I looked in the plantfiles, and I think I have a Bause Dieffenbachia dumb cane. I put in the pic of the one off the plantfiles...I don't have a digital to get a pic of mine. The three plants I have are in a huge pot and I'm pretty sure they have enough room. I had four in there, one of them is the one I used to take my cutting from. It never grew a pup like the book I read said it would. I figured it was because it looked like it had already sent out a shoot from that individual plant. I want my plant to look like the one in this pic, not the long, leggy things I have now! Thanks for the help, hopefully this added info helps.

Kristie

Ok, the pic didn't work...here's the link to the plantfile:

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/105918/index.html

Well, I think I am going to take one of the stalks, cut off the leaves, and then cut 2-3 inche segments and pot them. I just have two questions...I have a huge bag of potting soil, but it has fertilizer(up to 9 mos)...will this be bad for the cuttings? If its at all possible to start cutting in fertilized soil, I'd like to do it because I don't want to buy any more soil :) Also, do you completely cover the cuttings with the soil or let a bit of the end stick out? Any help would be nice! :) Thanks

KRistie

I have a Dumb Cane that was about 5' tall and began bending over. It has been dumped out behind my shed in the backyard for about 4 years now ... I keep saying I am going to bring it in, un pot it and cut it up and root the cuttings. Seeing this post of yours makes me think about it again! I WILL get it done! hee hee ... I just need to remember to go out and move it into my deck area so I will see it and do it! I'm gonna make myself a note right now. I will take a before and after photo and post it in the next day or two! It was a really Beautiful plant a few years ago and is really ugly and sick looking now because of lack of care! But, I KNOW it can be Glorious again with a little care and attention!

Good luck with your's Kis_01 .... and Thanks for reminding me of mine with your post!

lol...we seem to have a lot of the same plants! I'm sure yours will look better. I just did the cuttings today....two segments two to three inches and the bottom part of the leaf stalk, minus the leaves(for good measure, who knows, it might root). I ended up using the fertilized soil...I put a bag over it to keep it moist and stuck it in a partly sunny place outside. I hope this works... I only have two stalks left to practice with before I kill it! Thanks for the advice and encouragement...can't wait to see your pics! Oh, and glad I reminded you to get to yours again! Good luck!

Kristie

I don't know about putting it in the sun. I wouldn't give it any sun until new roots form. But, I've never put any Dracaena/Dumb Cane in sun. Mine are always kept in bright light but a more shaded area of my deck. Where mine is dumped behind a shed it's shaded all day by a bunch of trees. The sun down here is fierce and would scorch it!

Yes ... Thank you for the reminder! I even wrote myself a note this time after seeing your post! :)

I'll go pull it out of the sun then....thanks!

Kristie

Hi Kristie:

Here's a photo of my Dieffenbachia/Dumb Cane that I need to take cuttings from and repot. I don't know which cultivar I have, I've had it for quite a few years and am almost embarrased to post this photo because I haven't taken good care of it. I have so many plants sometimes one or two get lost in the jungle! :)

I couldn't find this one in Plant Files.

Oh, let me try again .... that was not a very clear photo. I will take it back outside to see if I can get a better shot:

Ok ... I think this will show it much clearer:

Ok ... I've dumped it out of the pot. There is even one branch that had fallen off and calloused over, so I will also see if I can get that branch to root. I am going to cut the branches up and root them in separate pots and repot the bottom part in the same pot it was in before.


edited to say: I will post another photo when I get the canes cut and potted up individually!

This message was edited Jun 3, 2007 1:01 PM

Yes, please post all the pics you can, I need them for reference! :0) I moved the cuttings out of the sun....I have a ziploc bag over it because I'd read it helps them root, but will it keep it too moist and make the stems rot? I watered the soil well and let it drain well before putting the bag on it. I also dug up the one cutting I had taken before with the big leaves on it. It was starting to root, so I put it in its own pot and cut off the leaves(I had put it back in the original pot with the old ones...its a big pot!). Hopefully it'll sprout new leaves....the leaves on the old one were HUGE and looked terrible....well, keep me posted!

Kristie

Ok ... here's the "After Surgery" Photo: I chopped it up pretty good as you can see. I hope everything roots, but sometimes with me it's all Trial and Error ... sometimes things root, sometimes they rot! I am a bad "plant mom" sometimes, forgetting to water and watch my babies! I have so many plants that sometimes things get "lost"!

Since we have so much humidity down here I didn't put them in plastic. The "Mom" plant is on the left in the old pot and I just put cuttings into whatever I could find. I also put cypress mulch on top of the soil to keep moisture in since I usually don't water often enough!

Your cuttings shouldn't rot with the bag over them as long as theres not too much moisture building up inside the bag. If the bag gets to looking real wet inside then you could remove it for awhile.

I will keep you posted on how mine do and you keep me posted on yours also!

Good luck to both of us!

ooops ... forgot to add the "after" photo:

Wow, thanks for the pics you take great ones! I will keep you posted on mine as well...Good Luck!

Kristie

I finally have some pics of my dumb cane and cuttings! Let's see if I can figure out how to get them on here.....

Here's the second picture of the original plant!

The first picture of the cuttings didn't show up, so here goes again.

Lin I enjoyed the "peek" at your deck area, if that is only a small portion of all your plants it's a wonder you can keep up with them all. Looks great though, I love the "jungle" atmosphere!

I like the looks of the Dumb Cane whenever I see them but I'm afraid to have them around with young grandchildren who don't hesitate to roll the walker to a plant and start munching on a leave! My 8 month old grand daughter did this to an Asiatic Lily growing in a pot on the back deck just last week. No ill effects from that time but I won't chance it with something that got it's name like this Dumb Cane plant did!

Hope both of you are successful with the results of your plant surgeries!
~Brenda

Oh Brenda .. Yeah, there are so many plants that are toxic to Children and Animals! I don't blame you for being very careful! Hubby and I have 4 cats and one of them is always wanting to munch on plants! It seems like I am constantly shooing her away from something! Glad you enjoyed the "peek" at my deck area ... Yeah, I have so many plants sometimes I don't know what to do with them all! But, it seems like I'm always buying one or two more! I'm down at my Sister's house in Fort Lauderdale this weekend and she has a couple of "sickly" plants that she wanted to know if I could take them and maybe save their lives! :) Of course I can't refuse!

Well ... Hope everyone is having a really nice "Fathers Day" Weekend.

Lin

Kristie: Any update on your plant? I gave some of mine away but here's what the others look like a year later. Major improvement!

Lin,

Well, after research, this is the plant I found out was actually a chinese evergreen instead of a dumb cane! But, I have still "chopped" it up completely this year, and so far the cuttings seem to be doing well. I am going to give some to my sister and some back to my mother, now that its in a small pot she can keep up from the animals. Yours look really good! You definately have a knack for plants!! Do you know what kind of dumb cane you have? I eventually bought a real dumb cane after realizing mine wasn't really what I thought, but it is more of the white center with green margins. I really like the "splotchy" ones like yours! Congrats on your babies!

Kristie

Hi Kristie,

I have been growing house plants for 41 years and love plants of all kinds! I don't know which Dieffenbachia (Dumb Cane) I have. I've had it for a long time and it had no label when I first bought it years ago. Just a common Dieff. There are nine listed in Plant Files: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=dieffenbachia&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search but I am not sure if mine is one of them or not, I'm not good at identifying from photo's sometimes!

So your plant was a Chinese Evergreen? I love them too and have a couple of small ones. They are great plants for low light areas! Plant Files shows eighteen listed: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=aglaonema&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

Good luck with your babies, I hope they do well for you. I know your Mom and your sister will love having an offspring of your plant!

Plantladylin, wow your dumb cane is so pretty..... Would love to have one....

Amalie63

Plantladylin, I looked up to see which dumb cane you have and it sure looks alot like a Dieffenbachia 'Camouflage' here is the link for it... http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/60826/
If you ever have any cuttings or babies from your plant, please keep me in mind...Would love to have one...

Blessings,
Amalie63

Lin the results of your whacking up ^_^ your Dumb Cane are awesome, so many beautiful plants now!

My Chinese evergreen plant from you has finally recovered from it's move to ID and is putting out new growth and looking good this summer!

~Brenda

Amalie, if you will d-mail me with your address info I will send you a small one. I can't guarantee how it will travel in this heat but I'll gladly get one out to you next week.

Hi Brenda: Glad your C. Evergreen is holding up. Yep, sometimes I think it's just as much a shock on plants traveling from one climate to another, as it is for us humans! LOL.

Thanks Plantladylin, I sent you a dmail with my info...

Blessings,
Amalie63

Got it!

I am reading this thread w/ great interest as I have just cut a large branch and trying to root. plantladylyn did you take any precaution w/ your cuttings during winter?

My branch was 2' tall and I only cut it in 1/2. Wish I had noticed this thread earlier to see learn that I could have cut them much shorter.