nph

I have found some great Pups at my (I think) gold Finger as well as one of my Gran Nain. Even though I will experiment with both to see if I can keep some p-stem alive during winter it is still a gamble since I live in north Dallas.
Depending on web site i check it is either zone 7b or 8a.

I want to try and keep one pup of each alive during winter in case my experiment with p-stem fails.
But since I will be traveling for over two weeks in beginning of July I was wondering if I should dig up the pups now or after I get back?
When is too late to dig up a pup or is there something like a pup too big?
I am not concerned about the Gran Nain since there is 0% probability of it flowering this year given it's size even though it grows great!
But the gold Finger I have a p-stem of almost 6 feet since it grew in my garage last winter so I dont want to risk it in case it does decide to bloom.
So can I wait until I get back or what is your recommendation?

LilRaverBoi

Why is there a rush? I wouldn't separate pups till this fall to save for winter. Are you trying to overwinter the main plant outside with protection or are you doing the dormant thing? Either way, I'd just wait till fall to separate pups. The larger they are the better chance they have of success. People tend to be very anxious to separate pups and end up killing them because of it.....my best advice is to do your best to be patient, wait till fall and then separate the pups then.

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nph

Sounds good, that would be my preference so I will go with that plan.
Any risk that my Gold Finger will be spending too much energy on the four pups it has so far instead of the p-stem and potential flower?

Abnshrek

Well my Goldfinger has a pup but isn't nearly as tall as yours. If your worried cut 2 pups off @ the ground.. You still have 2 pups and more most likely in the future. I'd keep 2 pups, cut the rest to the ground for the near-term, other than the mother which isn't doing anything but flowering hopefully. :^)

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LilRaverBoi

As a general rule, every stem is working most on itself (selfish I know LOL) and there is limited worry about pups limiting the growth of main plants. Though, once you get something to fruit, that is the limited condition where you might worry about excessive pups draining the development of fruit. Beyond that, leave the pups on there and let the entire plant do its thing.

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RIP Tog Tan. We love you and will always remember you!
I'm Bryan with a Y! There is no 'I' in BRYAN!

Abnshrek

If you can cut the pup down to the growth point w/ no damage the mother corm gets to use the cut-off pups roots. Cutting off 2 pups and leaving two pups only strengthens the possibilities of fruit. If the 2 cut pups come back you didn't get down far enough in the center of the pup.. Practice make perfect.. :^) If it were my 6 ft'er I'd knock all the pups to the ground. More pups will emerge. :^) You can grow for more plants or you can grow for fruit.. or you can be somewhere in between.. Almost sound like politics.. lol :^)

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pitangadiego

The most important factor is to take the pups when it will be sufficiently warm for a while that the pup will grow roots and get established on its own. You might sever it from the parent corm a couple weeks prior to removal, to help signal the transition.

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Bob

One thing I've found is hat all pups are not created equal despite their size. Some pups are ready to be cut at a couple of feet while others have very little root developement even at 4 or 5 feet... this happened with some "Bordelon" for example I tried to share with friends last year. Make sure you have enough of them and try the biggest first when you suspect its ready. Then you'll be more prepared for each cultivar in the future. Even if they done have substanital root growth when you remove them if you keep them warm and not over watered long enough you'll still have a good chance of success.

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moomooman

I agree that you should wait before separating. If you wait til after your trip, then you would still have 6-10 weeks of good weather for the pups and the parent to recover. The longer you wait, the bigger and stronger the pups will be. However, if your looking for fruit, you should probably just kill 3 of pups and then dig the biggest one up later on

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