TRex (Tetrapanax papyrifer 'Rex') Sasa Palmata in disguise

[Dave Brown]

I bit the bullet and have sawn off last years growth and rubbed off all buds except one on each stem. I hope I did the right thing, all the old embryonic buds on last years leaf axils where dessicated.

You may be right in the long run, but I have not done that...... yet

This is a pup that flowered last autumn..... only 2 feet tall, but sprouting

[simon]

Hmmm, I probably should have rubbed the buds but left the stems on for a while longer but I'm pretty sure they weren't going to do anything with all that activlty on the old wood.

[DiCasS]

Has anyone tried this, I was wondering if this would work. My three trunks are all the same height so just forms a canopy. I was thinking of cutting a stem to half the height and rubbing out all but one bud hoping that will give me the big leaves lower down as well, layering the plant I haven't done it yet, but would love to give it a go so I could see these leaves from lower down.

Edit: Just re-read your reply Simon, hope it works as this is what I was planning to do.

Di

[simon]

Sounds like a good plan, Di. Another way is to allow a pup to flourish if one comes up in the right place. I did this last year which is why I have so many stems.

[Dave Brown]

Found another 2 pups today It really seems to be going for it

[Dave Brown]

Another 3 pups today I've decided to call the mother plant Frankenstein.

Seriously it has surrounded my large Dicksonia antarctica with pups that have emerged in the last few days

[bobbyd44]

thats good speed for the pups..these still the crinkly leaved ones dave??

[Dave Brown]

I'm sure the pups are as a result of the main growth point getting zapped. They are appearing quite quickly

[bev]

had to dig out couple of pups from the foot of a Trachycarpus, 3 feet or so from the main plant.

about 4" down i found the main artery to these pups, a decent sized root. i cut the root with some snips either side of the pups, only to find another pup shooting from the root.

on the other side of these pups the root took a dive down deeper into the soil, i just hope it doesn't creep so deep that it wanders under the edges of the raised bed it is planted in, about 22" deep. 4 feet further on from these pups, another has appeared right up against the side of my raised bed.

so in conclusion, i'm glad i've got mine in a raised bed!

cheers

lee

[DiCasS]

First year I've lost the growing points and the first year I've had a pup, so could well be. My pup came up about 7 ft away from the Mother plant, travelling underneath a concrete path, up the other side into my middle bed.

That looks very worrying Lee.

Di

[Dave Brown]

I decided that with pups apeearing all around my Dicksonia antarctica I would have to act quickly and remove them. I dug down about 3 to 4" and connected with the root. this I teased up then dug along the line of the root. There were multiple pups appearing from it, some which had not surfaced yet. Pup production is a little odd as it appears that the pup does not grow any roots unless the main root is cut or broken . The big pup further up the thread with the large horizontal woody root has no other side roots and you can wobble the trunk from side to side as it is only attatched to the ground by the big root on the surface.

I'm not sure if all clones of TRex are the same, but the Grooved one sends up multiple pups from a tiny area of the same root, and there was no damage to that root so pupping is not a response to root disturbance.

As I dug around the Dicksonia antarctica Treefern I connected with more and more roots, running in parallel at 3 to 4 inches (75 to 100mm) below the surface. Some were quite thick, up to about 1 1/4 inch (30mm) As Lee has described these plunged deeper than I could get to. In the direction of the mother plant about 6 feet away they became appreciably thicker some feeling in the order of 2 inches (50mm) diameter.

Since I dug the 18 or so pups out on Monday 3 more pups have appeared in the same area.

This is definately a plant worthy of a rhizome barrier

I now have multiple root cuttings and pups. Even pups with only a tiny portion of root where I removed all the leaves except the clenched fist (spear), these have not wilted so far.

[bobbyd44]

some serious roots there dave, so if any one removes a pup its best to go as far back to the mother plant as possible then!! to cut down the amount of new ones popping up along that peticular root!

[Dave Brown]

I would Rob, but I didn't get very far with mine as too thick and too deep.

It does seem quite selective. One side of the mother plant is unimproved dry clay that has no pups whatsoever. Where I have improved the soil with plenty of organic material and particularly where it is watered regularly... it's pupping allover the place, especially around the Dicksonia antarctica Treefern.

It knows where life would be better and is hell bent on emigrating to where the Dicksonia antarctica is

[bobbyd44]

thats usually the way dave. so this is the crinkled leaf form and it lost its growing point this year so a few factors there, the flatter ones definatley seem to hold the growing points better, and am i right in thinking the flatter ones dont flower as quickly.. did you say the crinckly one flowered young too... sorry seems alot of questions in there!!

[Dave Brown]

It is the first year it has lost it's growing point and may be as it flowered as the main point is the flower head and the growing point is sort of a side shoot at the top. I guess losing it's main growing point will kick in a pupping bonanza

The plant didn't flower young, but a pup only about 45cm tall flowered as well. I wonder if the pups are still the main plant unless detached