- Where can I get suitable offshoots?
- How should I treat the offshoots?
- How to care for a young elephant foot?
The elephant foot is truly an imposing and decorative houseplant. Unfortunately, a handsome plant doesn't come cheap. This is because the elephant foot grows rather slowly. It is cheaper to pull it from an offshoot yourself.
Older elephant feet form offshoots
Where can I get suitable offshoots?
In principle, an elephant's foot has only one trunk. But with increasing age, it occasionally forms small offshoots in the leaf axils. These can be separated quite easily when repotting, for example, in order to grow a new plant from them. As a rule, however, such an offshoot only forms when the elephant's foot is already a few years old.
How should I treat the offshoots?
Your offshoot will rot in a jar of water. It is better to put it about five centimeters deep in a shallow pot with loose, well-moistened potting soil. If the offshoot dries up a bit, that's usually not a problem either.
Pull a transparent film over the pot with your offshoot and attach it with a rubber band or put a transparent container over it. Now keep the offshoot evenly moist and warm so that it can easily form new roots.
How to care for a young elephant foot?
Although an elephant's foot gets by with very little water, a young plant should definitely be watered regularly, but not too much. It first has to develop the thickened stem that is characteristic of this plant. In it, the elephant's foot not only stores water for dry times, but also nutrients. The young tree, on the other hand, is dependent on a regular supply of water and fertilizer.
The essentials in brief:
- It is best to cut off offshoots close to the trunk in summer
- leave a little wood on the offshoot
- plant in permeable potting soil
- cover with a transparent container or foil
- keep constantly warm and moist
- remove the hood as soon as the first new leaves appear
- Water the young plant regularly but not too much
tips
You should never put an offshoot of your elephant's foot in the water for a long time. It does not form roots there and would only rot instead.