Dypsis lutescens dwarf

[PalmatierMeg]

About 18 months ago I found an underpotted 1g of this dwarf Dypsis lutescens (Vietnam dwarf?) at a plant sale. The man selling it had found its parent clump in Malaysia nearly 30 years ago. I stole this deal and moved it to a bigger pot. Since then it has grown merrily away and may soon overtake its current home.

This is a very weird-growing palm. It doesn't get taller than 18-24" and rather than grow from below soil level, it produces new stems that split out of a parent stem - reminds me of the movie "Alien" when the creature burst out of John Hurt's stomach. Unsettling but cool.

At some point I am going to have to split up this clump. One, I'd like to plant some of it in my shade garden. But I also want to keep some of it in a pot so it continues to clone itself. But I don't know how to go about separating the stems in a way that keeps the palm safe and not open to fungal infections and rot. Can someone give me a tutorial, ideally with pictures, on how to do this? I took photos of this palm in its current pot.

Dypsis lutescens dwarf

Top view

Trunks

[Ken Johnson]

I would not cut that palm in half. The last picture shows that the root initiation zone is only in the centermost area of trunks. That would mean some very percice cutting over a long time.

The palm looks like the stunted ones we saw after the Benlate poisoning.

[PalmatierMeg]

I would not cut that palm in half. The last picture shows that the root initiation zone is only in the centermost area of trunks. That would mean some very percice cutting over a long time.

The palm looks like the stunted ones we saw after the Benlate poisoning.

Thanks for the advice, Ken. Last thing I want to do is damage this baby beyond repair. When the time comes, I'll move it to a bigger pot.

[Jeff Searle]

Meg,

I have quite a bit experience with growing this palm for the last several years. I have made several splits from a clump with 100% take. It's pretty safe, and is a good way of increasing your plants. I just basically take my clippers and look for an area that has a slight gap between the major stems, and make your cut there. I also like to cut into it slightly and then using your hands, you can gently "break" them away from each other and both pieces will come away with lots of roots. Now, if your plant is sitting up high from the soil line and has only the center section of the root section in the soil with roots like Ken mentioned, this no doubt will be harder to find a a good space to take your cut. You might only devide in half instead of quatering it or in thirds. The bottom line is, they do devide very easily. I hope this helps some.

Jeff

[PalmatierMeg]

Meg,

I have quite a bit experience with growing this palm for the last several years. I have made several splits from a clup with 100% take. It'd pretty safe, and is a good way of increasing your plants. I just basically take my clippers and look for an area that has a slight gap between the major stems, and seperate the two sections. I also like to cut into it slightly and then using your hands, you can gently "break" them away from each other and both pieces will come away with lots of roots. Now, if your plant is sitting up high from the soil line and has only the center section of the root section in the soil with roots, this no doubt will be harder to find a a good space to take your cut. You might only devide in half instead of quatering it or in thirds. The bottom line is, they do devide very easily. I hope this helps some.

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. Do you treat the "cut/break" areas with anything to prevent infections? Because sooner or later I'll be faced with separating the trunks. The elderly man I bought it from said he separated his clump every couple years and sold the extra clumps. The one I bought must have been separated from the parent a while earlier because it was entirely rootbound in a 1g. I moved it directly into the pot (7g?) shown in the photo.

[MattyB]

Can you raise up the soil level or mulch it a bit to encourage some new adventitious roots to form?

[PalmatierMeg]

Good idea, Matt. Will do.

[malcthomas]

What about making the cut and then leaving for several months before dividing?

cheers

[amazon exotics]

Meg, You can apply elmers glue to seal the cut area and make sure when you pot it up you keep that area above the soil. We have 10 of them in 3 gallons that we did and should be ready for sale soon.

[Rusty on Pine Is.]

Meg, You can apply elmers glue to seal the cut area and make sure when you pot it up you keep that area above the soil. We have 10 of them in 3 gallons that we did and should be ready for sale soon.

Derek has a great idea, and worth doing...

...maybe just to add something...i have seen more than one regular lutescens clump be prone to fungal attack by ganoderma after indiscriminate pruning.....perhaps this is overkill, but just to be safe perhaps you could sterilize your pruning tools prior to the operation.... and then proceed with Derek's suggestion....

But heck, since i love overkill, i would treat the entire plant with an application of daconil and thiophante methyl (Clearys 3336).

BTW, a VERY pretty little palm...nice one!

Rusty

[Jeff Searle]

Meg,

I have quite a bit experience with growing this palm for the last several years. I have made several splits from a clup with 100% take. It'd pretty safe, and is a good way of increasing your plants. I just basically take my clippers and look for an area that has a slight gap between the major stems, and seperate the two sections. I also like to cut into it slightly and then using your hands, you can gently "break" them away from each other and both pieces will come away with lots of roots. Now, if your plant is sitting up high from the soil line and has only the center section of the root section in the soil with roots, this no doubt will be harder to find a a good space to take your cut. You might only devide in half instead of quatering it or in thirds. The bottom line is, they do devide very easily. I hope this helps some.

Meg,

I probably have devided somewhere around 50 divisions over the years and I never have had a problem or had a need to drench them. I just devide them, pot them up, water them in and out to the shadehouse they went. If it would make you feel a little better, a drench of fungicide certainly won't hurt them. Go for it, now's the time to do it.

Jeff

Jeff

Thanks, Jeff. Do you treat the "cut/break" areas with anything to prevent infections? Because sooner or later I'll be faced with separating the trunks. The elderly man I bought it from said he separated his clump every couple years and sold the extra clumps. The one I bought must have been separated from the parent a while earlier because it was entirely rootbound in a 1g. I moved it directly into the pot (7g?) shown in the photo.

[JD in the OC]

Meg,

These do get some trunk once they get older. Here is one we have for sale for $200. Probably decades old...