# help with cuttings



## tongo (Jul 29, 2007)

I got some cuttings today at the expo and need some advice on how to keep them alive and possible ID's.


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## mfsidore (Oct 10, 2012)

I usually just put them in my tank soil and they grow. This only works with the ones I buy though, not when I try to do it myself! I need help to!!!!


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

tongo said:


> I got some cuttings today at the expo and need some advice on how to keep them alive and possible ID's.


Looks like Pellonia pulchra on top (the dark leaved cutting) and Ficus "Panama" looks like the slender leaved vine you have (not really from Panama). I don't know the 3rd one, and can't distinguish any more. If your substrate is moist, simply lay the Pellonia where you want it. It will root quite easily. The Ficus also roots easily in a small glass of water, on a moist surface, and I've even rooted it directly in moist soil. Both are sweet plants, in my opinion.

Edit: both are climbing vines


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

One might also be Begonia glabra. I root all my cuttings in small sealed Tupperware under T-8 lights. I just put down about 3/4" inch of substrate, moisten it good but not soggy. Open it every few days for air exchange. when its good and rooted, slowly open the top a little more day by day to acclimate to less humidity. Then go ahead and plant it in a pot or in the terrarium. Most cuttings will root IN your terrarium as well.


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## epiphytes etc. (Nov 22, 2010)

Likely Begonia prismatocarpa


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## aspidites73 (Oct 2, 2012)

epiphytes etc. said:


> Likely Begonia prismatocarpa


I have a fresh specimine of B. prismatocarpa but it doesn't trail like the cutting pictured (leaves are definately close). Am I to expect it to throw out runners like the one pictured?


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

Definitely Begonia prismatocarpa (small green leaved trailing in flower), Ficus sp. Panama (lance shaped leaves on a wood sort of vine/stem at the bottom of the pile), and Pellionia repens.

Pellionia repens you can just lay on a moist substrate, it roots at every node, so you could even cut that piece up a few times.

Ficus sp. Panama (which is actually not from Panama...), but it does best for me when started in very small pieces, typically only 3-5 leaf tip cuttings, and then in moist sphagnum or potting media to get it going and then I transfer it to a tank.

Begonia prismatocarpa can be a bit finicky at times, generally it does well for me if I just put it right into a tank where it will stay moist. If you want to do it outside of the tank, generally I have better luck with potting media than sphagnum, and again start with a small tip cutting.

Good luck, all three of those are nice viv plants.


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

Oh, and the leaf color on Pellionia repens will change based on how mature the leaves are and how much light they are getting, so dont be worried if they go back to green or another shade between green and the dark purple that they are now.


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

I think the dark leafed cutting may be Begonia 'Withlacoochee' or some other B. thelmae hybrid like B. ‘Panasoffkee’. I don't remember Pellonia having zig zag stems like the one in the picture seems to have.
The oak leaf type cutting is Begonia prismatocarpa and the third is Lance leafed ficus (aka Ficus sp. 'Panama')
Are there only 3? Its hard to tell.



aspidites73 said:


> I have a fresh specimine of B. prismatocarpa but it doesn't trail like the cutting pictured (leaves are definately close). Am I to expect it to throw out runners like the one pictured?


It doesn't have runners like B. glabra, but it does send out fragile stalks that end up sort of laying down and running up things. The stalks don't keep on going. They have a finite length. They just sort of make a tiny bush. However, I do have a friend who has let his B. prismatocarpa take over an entire 10 gallon tank, but that is the exception rather than the rule.


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

phender said:


> I think the dark leafed cutting may be Begonia 'Withlacoochee' or some other B. thelmae hybrid like B. ‘Panasoffkee’. I don't remember Pellonia having zig zag stems like the one in the picture seems to have.


I tend to agree, leaf shape and stem does not look to me like a pellonia. Cant say for certain what it IS though.


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## therizman2 (Jul 20, 2008)

Heres a stock image of a Pellionia repens:









That image is not mine, but shows that the leaves can be rounded and take on that dark color. The leaf shape on it can vary a lot as well as the color depending on how it was grown (amount of light, amount of humidity, how new/old the leaves are, etc).


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## Trey (Sep 10, 2008)

My vote is for begonia of some type. Doesn't look like any repens I have ever seen


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## phender (Jan 9, 2009)

I've been looking at a bunch of Google images and it is amazing how similar the structures of B. thelmae and P. repens are when looking at pictures, yet they are easy to tell apart when you actually have them in your hand.

It very well may be P. repens, but I was thinking something like B. ‘Panasoffkee’.(Picture below) I don't know how common this plant is and the likelihood that he would get a cutting.

I would benefit from a pic of the cutting by itself and/or the underside for a more positive ID.


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