FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

But first, we have to talk about the basal shoot

What is a basal shoot?
- It is an extension of the plant. It is like cloning. Basal shoots get a lot of energy from the mother plant, which will cause the mother plant to weaken.

Now we know what is a basal shoot, we will need to know how to cut and root it.

There were 2 ways to separate the basal shoot from its mother:

1. Repotting
- When you unpot the nepenthes plant, you can see the basal shoot was connected with the mother plant. It is at the base of the plant. Cut the basal shoot and try to root it.

2. Cutting The Main Stem Which Is The Mother Plant's Stem
- If the basal is at the main stem, you have to cut the main stem of the mother plant and put it in the substrate so that the stem can root since the mother plant has a lot of energy. The reason why the main plant is not pitchering is that the main plant is focusing in development of roots.

How To Root A Basal Shoot
- It is pretty simple, you just have to put it in a substrate and let it root but if it is a tiny basal shoot, it will never make it because the tiny basal shoot has less energy.

I have done both methods, although I usually like to keep the basal attached to the root system, and cut the main vine into many cuttings…

I was actually a little worried about the hybrid nepenthes I have because it's been slowing down on new pitcher growth until I saw this and remembered that there's a basal growth!

Is there any point in letting the basal growth stay or would it be better to cut it off once it's big enough?