bird of paradise... clone?

so I go out to check on my giant bird of paradise this morning...



And I notice something peculiar...


So I do a little digging. Just below the soil line, I found this thing to be connected to, and sort of bubbling off of, one of the plants. With a little pulling... and a little snip... I have what appears to be a freshly sprouted bird of paradise bulb...


Am I right? Is this a whole new plant? did I split it off correctly? I'm not really familiar with bulb type plants.

Upon further inspection I found another one. It's still attached.



it might be difficult to understand what you're looking at. It's a fresh live shoot that is off of the main shoot of the plant. It's surrounded by old cut stalks that were once holding large leaves....


So if I fucked up on the first one I have a shot at this one... that is if these are capable of being split... I barely know what I'm talking about, much less doing, in this realm of plants. Somebody help me out.

I wouldn't call it a clone....this is how the plant grows! You should be able to carefully remove the new growth and start it in some soil! Let the 2nd one get a little bigger before trying to remove it

TexRx said:

I wouldn't call it a clone....this is how the plant grows! You should be able to carefully remove the new growth and start it in some soil!

Click to expand...

that's why there's a question mark after the word "clone." Is this how the bird of paradise is propagated? Is it pretty odd that 2/3 of birds in the pot had these at the same time?

and the cutting part... did I do that correctly?

Bird of Paradise propagates by seeds and by division. So, it's one of the ways they reproduce. Division means that you can either remove new growth to start new plants and you can also just remove the plant from its pot and cut it in 2 with a shovel and re-pot. You will then have 2 plants instead of 1!

M B P said:

and the cutting part... did I do that correctly?

Click to expand...

The cut looks OK but maybe wait until it's larger to remove! Then Put it in some soil and keep it moist!

It is considered to be a side shoot and can be separated when it has roots of it's own. It will need to get bigger than in the picture. After it has developed a few leaves, maybe a couple of months, you can cut it away and plant it in a new pot. If you cut it off before it has roots it will probably not make it.

They bloom much better when they are crowded so it may be a good idea to leave it and get a bigger pot.

I think the one you took out will root fine. A little rooting hormone wouldn't hurt. They're pretty tough. I have the orange and the giant white, which I think yours is. When it flowers it makes a big seed pod at the bottom of the flower. They germinate in about 30 days, and they also use the seeds to make beads in the Caribbean.

thanks for your help everyone. I'll wait for the second one to get larger before cutting it.... maybe end of summer or something. I've had the thing for 4 years and have never seen one of these before (hasn't flowered yet either). Then today two of the three had these side shoots. It made for an interesting morning.

One last question: Will these side shoots grow roots of their own while still attached to the main plant?

yes, let them grow their own roots before removal, for better success.