Sigh.....
I wouldn't be trying to do this if I had not had an attack by a SLUG on my plant a couple months ago. This was my lovely Monstera dubia before the slaughter.
This is the variegated form. I also have the plain green form, which was spared by the slugs so is still going strong
This is what I was left with. I took it off the support and put it on a smaller one that I made with 2 paint stirrers, hoping that even though ALL the leaves were eaten off (including the apical shoot, the last growing leaf at the top) I might get a new shoot coming out somewhere. But its been a while and no activity.
So I have decided to section it all up and try and propagate it that way.
Many studies have been done of plant hormones and their roles in causing plant growth and branching. The main hormone that is responsible for plant growth is Auxin. It is made up in the apical growing tip of the stem (where the last new leaf exits). Auxin inhibits branching. But the nodes at all shoot tips along the stem affect each other in different ways. So if you prune a tip off, or pinch a plant back, you halt the inhibiting property of Auxin. If there isn't any Auxin, a plant can be motivated to branch or form new shoots.
I was hoping that would happen when the slug ate the growing tip of this plant but it has not.
The second plant hormone that is important to plant growth is Cytokinin. It is made at the very tips of the roots and influences plants in the manufacture of new organs (roots, and shoots). If roots tips are damaged in maneuvers like repotting, or by insects or snails, or chemical attack, this is what sets plants back.
Cytokinin also helps plants repair damage. But the relationship of Auxin to Cytokinin is what is important. If Auxin > Cytokinin,the plants form roots. If Auxin < Cytokinin, the plants form shoots.
SO my plant has the growing tip destroyed (no Auxin) but was still rooted (+ Cytokinin).It should have shouted, and might if I was willing to wait. But I'm not. Because I think I can get 3 new plants out of this disaster.
So in looking at my now bare stem, I count my nodes. I have 9. I want to have at least 2 nodes per cutting. So I make my cuts on the stem accordingly and end up with the still-potted mama with a node, and 3 additional cuttings with 2 or more nodes
I use a special pair of small sharp scissors for this that make very clean cuts and don't crush the stem. These are actually old suture removal scissors.
I keep the cuttings lined up the way they were growing from lower to higher (L to R) so that I don't get the orientation wrong when I plant them.
I dip the cuttings up past the bottom first node into rooting hormone.
I put them into very tiny 1 1/2" clay propagation pots in a mix of Jungle Growth potting mix, peat, and a whole lotta perlite that I pre-moistened. I have already filled the pots and made holes with a pencil. I water lightly ONCE. I won't water again until the pots dry out completely.
These will need really HIGH humidity, so I am keeping them in one of my terrariums.
Then I turn on the fogger.
Since mama is still rooted, I will put her back out in the greenhouse. Then I do an ancient fertility dance and throw rice at them (just kidding)
Now there isn't anything to do but sit and wait. My experience with doing this before over the years with many different types of plants tells me it will be successful, but, you never know.
