cfkingfish

I was nicely given a choice Ae Ae from a friend which had keeled over after it fruited and sent up a bunch of suckers. He said if I took it away I could have what's left, as he has a few other large plants. The main trunk that fruited, I chopped that to about 2 feet to fit in my truck, and I took the 4 foot suckers off and put them into pots. The main trunk (about 15 inches wide) is now in the ground at my house. Since this is more of a shade lover, what can I do to make sure these guys root well, both new suckers from the main trunk in the ground, and the suckers already in the pot? My main concern is rot as it has been cool outside lately, and with fresh cuts and lots of water, I did not know if the plant could handle all of that at once.

Much thanks!

-Christian

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Venice, Florida
Zone 10a
55 inches of rain per year.
Frost once or so a decade.

chong

As far as the ones planted outside, there is little worry if you have good drainage where you plant them. Just don't over water them. In regards to the main "trunk" (pseudo stem), you can just chop that one to the base because that will no longer live much less grow. However, you can plant the corm, or pseudo bulb, and any "eyes" that are remaining on the corm will potentially grow into pups, under favorable conditions.

Also, Ae'-Ae does not like direct sunlight. So you should plant them where they can avail of some shade particularly during the intense solar period.

cfkingfish

Chong-

Thanks, I know I used improper terminology. I am more used to palms I guess! I have it planted where it will get morning sun. The previous generation plants that are large but have not flowered yet are in mostly shade and have a heavy compost dumped on them and when I dug out the pseudostem it was very decomposed at the bottom.

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Venice, Florida
Zone 10a
55 inches of rain per year.
Frost once or so a decade.

bigdog

Hi Christian. I would pot them up into as small pots as possible, with some mulch and a bit of potting soil and perlite mixed in, and water very sparingly. When you start to see roots growing, pot it up a bit into a regular potting soil mix. I'd wait until spring to plant it outside, even in your zone.

BTW, how's the 'Ice Cream' and 'Orinoco' doing?

Frank

harveyc

Yes, even Jordon, who has grown Ae Ae in Florida for 40+ years, has written that most pups this late in the year don't make it so I think that the potted route is the way to go. Baby them and keep them warm. I know you've had some cold spells lately and pots would give you the option of bringing them in during such cold spells.

Jordon also grows his Ae Ae in full sun as they will grow stronger even though the white portions will get fried. He's got a few posts here about his Ae Ae so you might want to search those out.

Good luck!

Harvey

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