Q. I read your article on the red lipstick plant with great interest. I have grown it in my apartment. We take great care of it. Recently, while relocating the pots to a new location, one of its leaves got separated from the plant. I want to know if I can grow another plant out of this leaf. And if so, what measures should I adopt? I am also attaching its photograph.

A. We followed up the article on the Aglaonema red lipstick plant with another one the subsequent weekend. It is on the propagation techniques to increase the number of plants from a healthy, flourishing Aglaonema red lipstick plant. That article covers the shifting process and growing procedures for the baby plants of the red lipstick. You may refer to it for further clarity on how to grow small plants from the parent plant.

As per your specific query, you can easily propagate it. If your plant’s stem or cutting has a few roots intact, then the chances of its survival are much higher. With a little effort, the cuttings of the red lipstick plant can be propagated in soil and even in water. However, it is much easier to propagate this plant in the soil, because the roots tend to grow more and faster in this medium. The thicker the stem, the higher the chances of the roots growing out of it. However, one must remember that adopting the propagation process for cuttings does not guarantee complete success. On the other hand, water-based propagation of the cuttings can, sometimes, result in root rot and the subsequent death of the cutting as well.

All your gardening queries answered here…

Q. Years ago, I received a pot with a few small African hosta plants as a gift. I kept watering it and took care of it. Some years back, I shifted the plants to a much larger pot. Now, the pot is entirely filled with them. They look really beautiful and green, especially after misting. The issue is that the bulbs of the plant, each bearing three to four leaves, are being pushed out of the soil and dislodged from the pot after every few days. There is no space left in the pot for repotting without hurting other leaves. I was wondering if I was giving the plant excessive fertiliser or water. What should I do?

A. It’s a normal phenomenon. You may grow the separated bulbs and prepare separate pots or hangings. If you do not have enough space, you may give them as gifts or sell them online. Finally, if you have no other option but to discard these bulbs, then make them a part of your compost bin, to make it useful for the environment.

Q. A few of my indoor potted plants have not been growing well of late. I suppose this is because of the intolerable heat that has hit us over the last few weeks. Please let me know what to do. I have attached images for your reference.

A. Firstly, I will request everyone sending their queries to always mention their city. It allows me to understand and know beforehand the local weather, precipitation and even soil fertility. Secondly, sending relevant photographs is always helpful. But always send photographs in the JPEG format. Do not send them as RAR or ZIP files, as these will not be opened to prevent any risk of virus infiltration.

As far as your query is concerned, indoor plants need more care than outdoor plants. The lack of care or deficiency in any prerequisites is usually reflected early on, in the form of leaf discolouration, which is evident from your photographs. There can be multiple reasons for this. Let me elaborate on some of the common ones.

Any increase or decrease in watering quantity or even minor deviations from the watering schedule tend to cause this problem. Another reason could be inadequate exposure to sunlight. An indoor plant will be adversely impacted if it has direct exposure to sunlight and even when it doesn’t have enough exposure to bright, indirect sunlight. Moreover, some indoor plants can benefit from misting in extremely hot conditions. Changes in the quantity of the fertilisers and soil compaction can also contribute to poor growth in indoor plants. Regularly tilling the soil every few weeks can mitigate the issue.

Q. I want to purchase flower plants known as sadabahar to grow in pots. What are they called and can I buy them from the nursery?

A. The sadabahar is referred to as periwinkle as well as vinca. It is easily available in local nurseries and can be easily grown from seeds as well. Summers are the ideal time to grow this plant.

Please send your queries and emails to doctree101@hotmail.com. The writer is a physician and a host for the YouTube channel ‘DocTree Gardening’ promoting organic kitchen gardening

Published in Dawn, EOS, June 30th, 2024