# Marcgravia sp.



## kennyb123 (Oct 20, 2019)

I recently purchased some Marcgravia sp. from Josh's Frogs. I know that the advice on here when you receive cuttings is to place them on moist sphagnum, under light, in a high humidity container. However the one I purchased is potted (in sphagnum), not a cutting, it has some aerial roots already. Can this be moved to the vivarium already?

If yes, I have a follow up question: I know you want to stick the stem into the substrate and then run the vine up the background (in my case cork). The problem is that the space between the bottom pair of leaves and the end of the stem is like 1/8 of an inch so I can only do that if I burry some of the leaves as well. I would love to hear any tips and pointers!


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## DPfarr (Nov 24, 2017)

kennyb123 said:


> The problem is that the space between the bottom pair of leaves and the end of the stem is like 1/8 of an inch so I can only do that if I burry some of the leaves as well.


I don’t understand the problem you’re describing.


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## SpaceMan (Aug 25, 2013)

It'll be ok, you don't need to bury the roots, since it's epiphytic plant anyway. Place it up against a wood feature or wall at the substrate level, but somewhere that gets a good amount of light. It will slowly root itself and begin to climb.


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## kennyb123 (Oct 20, 2019)

DPfarr said:


> I don’t understand the problem you’re describing.


The end of the stem is basically in line with the leaves, so if I bury the stem I bury the leaves.



SpaceMan said:


> It'll be ok, you don't need to bury the roots, since it's epiphytic plant anyway. Place it up against a wood feature or wall at the substrate level, but somewhere that gets a good amount of light. It will slowly root itself and begin to climb.


Do you pin yours to the background?


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## SpaceMan (Aug 25, 2013)

kennyb123 said:


> Do you pin yours to the background?


I've only grown a few and I've always started them on the substrate up against a wood feature, but pinning in a spot that gets plenty of moisture would probably work. 

It's also not the end of the world if you bury a leaf or two. The plant will adjust and be fine.


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## blackradon (Apr 2, 2020)

It’s just an easier/cleaner/faster way to propagate some plants. They root much better in the moss, in my head the plant is trying to attempt to attach itself so it’s looking for a solid foundation. That’s the way I look at it ways. 

You are good to go and plant it in the enclosure, the above pointers are good. When it gets to long, I start the process again and plant most of my trimmings.


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## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

SpaceMan said:


> It'll be ok, you don't need to bury the roots, since it's epiphytic plant anyway. Place it up against a wood feature or wall at the substrate level, but somewhere that gets a good amount of light. It will slowly root itself and begin to climb.


Marcgravia is not epiphytic, it is a terrestrial vine, i.e. it likes to have its roots in soil but will then grow up and attach to a wall. However, this advice is otherwise good, as long as its stem is pressed against consistently moist sphagnum or soil it should grow roots into that medium and be fine. I haven’t found it to be difficult to root cuttings. If it already has roots near the base of the stem (different from the aerial roots all along the stem that are meant to grab onto things), it will probably grow faster if you cover those roots in whatever medium you use, but you don’t have to bury the stem.


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## kennyb123 (Oct 20, 2019)

Harpspiel said:


> Marcgravia is not epiphytic, it is a terrestrial vine, i.e. it likes to have its roots in soil but will then grow up and attach to a wall. However, this advice is otherwise good, as long as its stem is pressed against consistently moist sphagnum or soil it should grow roots into that medium and be fine. I haven’t found it to be difficult to root cuttings. If it already has roots near the base of the stem (different from the aerial roots all along the stem that are meant to grab onto things), it will probably grow faster if you cover those roots in whatever medium you use, but you don’t have to bury the stem.


Makes sense. Some of the aerial roots along the stem (not at the base of the stem) are easily over an inch long. Should I trim these before I move it to a background? I feel like they will just dry out on cork bark.


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## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

kennyb123 said:


> Makes sense. Some of the aerial roots along the stem (not at the base of the stem) are easily over an inch long. Should I trim these before I move it to a background? I feel like they will just dry out on cork bark.


No, don’t trim anything. Put the bottom few inches on substrate and cover any roots down there, then you can pin the rest to the background and just let it do its thing.


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## kennyb123 (Oct 20, 2019)

Harpspiel said:


> Put the bottom few inches on substrate


Interesting. So you don't just plop the base of the stem in the substrate but the first few inches laid flat? First I have come across this advice but makes sense.


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## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

kennyb123 said:


> Interesting. So you don't just plop the base of the stem in the substrate but the first few inches laid flat? First I have come across this advice but makes sense.


What you have appears to be a rooted cutting. Most propagation of Marcgravia is by cuttings anyway. Marcgravias will grow roots from pretty much any point on their stem that is touching a moist, soil-like medium, and then if they encounter a surface that they can climb they’ll use a different type of root, small and hairy (at least in the case of my umbellata) to grab on to that surface and climb. Any part of their stem can do either of these functions. You could lay the whole stem flat on your substrate, keep it nice and moist, and it would grow lots of roots into the substrate and then wander around the ground until it found your background, at which point it would start climbing. Pinning it to the background just speeds up the process.

You could cut off the bottom 2 leaves and bury the stem, and that might encourage it to root faster or might cause the stem to rot, I’m not sure. It will probably grow fine either way.


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## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

Perhaps burying the stem is necessary to surround it with sufficient humidity to encourage rooting in a low humidity environment, like a home. In a vivarium it’s usually humid enough that things will sprout roots right in the air, and the greater concern is rot, fungus or mold before things have a chance to properly root and seal up any wounds (i.e. from being cut). But Marcgravias have not struck me as difficult, so if you want to try burying it, go for it. It will probably be less prone to rot if you strip any leaves that would be buried first.


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## varanoid (Jan 21, 2011)

I have successfully started Marcgravias by simply pinning to the background as well as by burying the stem. If you burry the stem don't worry about loosing a couple of leaves, those look like some generous cuttings. It will get going in short order with either method.

Whichever method you choose, the one thing that I think is the key to success is ensuring that the cutting stem has solid contact with the background or sphagnum moss. I use paperclips that I cut to form a "u" and press them down until the clipping has solid contact with the surface.


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## kennyb123 (Oct 20, 2019)

Do all of you guys take special care to not get the leaves wet when misting? Wet leaves seem to be something that is to be avoided.


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## Harpspiel (Jan 18, 2015)

Some plants are really fussy about wet leaves (notably, a few very expensive Begonias), but most are fine as long as the leaves dry off within a few hours. I have an automated misting system which means that everything in the tank gets equally wet whenever it goes off. Right now, I'm having bacterial or fungal issues with a _Pleurothallis tripterantha_ which seems to hate water on its leaves - and that's it. Out of 100 species of plants in the tank, including other Pleurothallis species, just the one. So...make sure you have good enough ventilation and circulation that the leaves dry off in a few hours, and then don't worry about it.


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## DPfarr (Nov 24, 2017)

Mine don’t have a problem getting wet from my mister.


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