So, it has been about two weeks since the last time I posted about the propagating techniques of my pandan bubs. Initially I have to say that I was fairly uncertain about this process, but seeing how others have reported success using water propagation, I decided to give it a try. I am sure that you are probably wondering whether it has been successful so far.

*Drum rolls*

As you can see, the initial aerial roots (the long green ones) now have small roots appearing and growing outwards. This photo was taken about 6 days ago and you can see that the roots on the secondary aerial root has also grown much longer as well! I have read from online sources that 2-3 weeks would give you optimum growth for the roots, but it seems like it would take 3-4 weeks in water to see such growth in the roots. I have added root hormone and some epsom salts to the solution, but it seems quite responsive to seasol solution (as shown in the picture above). No doubt my poor tiny plant has actually grown bigger and now new aerial roots are starting to show!
The crown has also produced longer leaves from the middle as well. Some sources mention that the longer they stay in water, the harder they struggle to survive when they are planted into the soil. I have decided to give it a good mix of organic soil + peatmoss, to ensure that the soil drains easily and that it would be a suitable acidic environment for the plant. Perhaps a dose of seasol would help too.

N.B. Over the last week we had a cold spell with temperatures dropping below 8 degrees! I am so glad and thankful that all my pandan plants survived the cold and are growing as strong as ever. Till next time!

This is not my first experience of separating pandan plants. The first was when I had two large branches which snapped off the parent pandan plants when it started getting windy in the Spring months. Unfortunately, as I was new to separating pandan (and I believe that the aerial roots had already matured), I ended up with two dead pandan plants! (I will leave this story for another post)

This summer brought the birth of a new baby pandan which emerged slowly out of the soil since Spring last year. However, after creating a warm and humid environment for the plant, the baby went thru somewhat of a growth spurt! Generally, the rule of the thumb is that when new plants have at least 2-3 aerial roots and is of a size of about 15cm in diameter, its quite safe to remove them and propagate them. Although it was not my first separation, I was truly nervous especially when we are unsure whether the plant would survive after the “operation”. While separating the plant was not difficult at all, the next step was something that I was unsure of. I had two options: 1) stick it into another pot (with rooting hormone) or, 2) soak it water to propagate roots. After some consideration, I decided to go with Option 2. I have read in other forums where some found success propagating roots while soaking in water for about 2 weeks.

Thankfully, after about 9 days of soaking the plant in water, we finally found new roots appearing! This tells us that the plant is still alive and doing very well. For a moment, we were a little unsure of whether the plant was still alive or whether it had gone dormant. We have decided to soak this plant in Seasol solution for another week or so!