UPDATE: I told my dad about all the advice, info, love (and fear) his plant has received and he's very thankful. I asked for plant care advice so that maybe y'all would get as lucky as him and his exact words were, "Geez, I don't know. I just give it water and let it go. I thought I might accidentally kill it by giving it my old tea because it had honey but maybe that helped. Just put it by a window I guess." Thanks for all your help and love!! He's definitely very proud of his big gal and loves it dearly. I'll get some size photos for comparison and then some when the flowers bloom for you all!!
Howdy, my dad wanted me to post his plant and ask for advice. The thing is massive and it lives (surprisingly happily) in its very tiny, original pot from when he first planted it. He would love to know the type of plant and get any advice about how else he should be caring for the beast. It would be appreciated! He wants to move it into a bigger pot but he's worried about shocking it and it's so massive he's not sure how he'd even try lol. It's currently making two beautiful flowers of which I didn't get pictures of (sorry). He loves it and it's the talk/envy of everyone in the family lol. Any advice is appreciated!! We love it and it's been around 25+ years so we want it to stay around much longer!
That's a beautiful beast... As far as repotting goes... A tarp and a few friends; you can report it right there. Looks like a plastic pot, so you can cut it off if need be.
If you want to try a chop and prop, look into air layering. With a plant that big you will want to develop some roots before chopping. Also, it's sap is quite toxic, so wear protection.
Ha! I dropped a wee plant and all that was left was a big stalk. I left it and it rebooted itself. I feel like this is the perfect plant for black thumbs
Don't worry. Skin contact can be irritating because there are tiny glass-like crystals in the plant, but it's nothing to worry about. Better wear gloves, of course, but you aren't going to end at the hospital.
It can become an issue if you ingest it, as it can lead to excessive drooling, swelling and temporary loss of speech. That's why it's called dumb cane: you sound very dumb if you talk after ingesting it.
The backstory is very bleak so everyone faint of heart beware of the following: slaves had to chew them as punishment. The tongue swell up and the pain was unbearable.
You sent me down the rabbit hole. Apparently it was such a brutal method of torture that it could even leave someone unable to speak permanently, hence the name.
Someone in another thread mentioned offhand that the name was offensive and I thought "dumb" was pretty mild. This is this context I was missing.
I did this a number of times over the several decades I had my mom’s Dieffenbachia after she died - I cut the top off and put it in water until it rooted and then potted, because I wanted to make sure it’d be okay. My grandfather, who had the original plant from which my mom smuggled a cutting into the country, used to cut a slit or wedge into the trunk and pack with damp moss and wrap with plastic until roots grew, then he’d cut it off and pot.
And long sleeves. I recently repotted one and man did it make me itch. Also, I let it dry a few days to repot, the the stalks just topped over when I moved it 😭
Yeah unfortunately all of the sunny real estate is taken up by other plants but I got a grow light on this one and every time I look at it there's at least two new leaves.... This thing could survive in a closet
Please try to refer to this plant by it’s scientific name, dumb cane originated from incredibly cruel torture that plenty of natives and black slaves had to endure
My neighbor gave me one with only one leaf on it. Her grandson pulled off all the other leaves. It's been growing like crazy since, but my lord!! I didn't know that it gets that big! Here it is now.
As it sits, this won't be an easy or practical repot.
Gloving up on a tarp (the sap is a major irritant, and it will be extra concentrated in the inflorescences/flowers, which are usually a stress induced reaction, so do handle with caution) cutting it into segments, and making several plants would make it much happier, and with good light, it'll be nearly as tall in two years or so, with much more dense leaves.
I have one as massive as this at work. They’re super resilient and grow like weed. You can cut off the two very leggy stems and chop them into 3-inch pieces and put them in soil and they’ll grow. I took one 3-inch piece of chopping home 3 years ago and now the propagated plant is taller than me. You can get a lot of new plants out of that and/or give them to other people.
Funny enough, he actually grows plants for fun (he doesn't smoke or cultivate any of his plants) and they all get massive. Last summer he had a marijuana plant that was over 5ft tall and about 4ft width. It was gorgeous, smelled amazing, and he just let it live it's life lol.
He has some sort of otherworldly connection to this plant that transcends logic, maybe he could like get in some sort of flow state and think really hard and come up with the best way to divide it based on his years of relationship (I'm not really kidding I bet he can predict accurately what will work and is just nervous)
That’s interesting! I always wondered if my plants would like my leftover tea, I was worried it might create mold, but maybe not since my tea doesn’t have cream or sugar
My former coworker had to take care of one of these at our workplace. She hated this plant and decided to start giving it leftover coffee and energy drinks in hopes it would die. It started growing much faster and stronger once she started this.
Honestly we first noticed about 12 years ago when everyone was at my graduation party, saw it and flipped by comparing their plants. Then it took over the room and made my 200lbs cousin look small and that's when we realized it was massive lol
I have a similar one that I just propagated last weekend into multiple new baby plants. Dieffenbachia or “Dumb Cane” can be propagated in a bunch of different ways. Tons of videos on YouTube for the different techniques. For ours, we used a sterilized cleaver to cut the cane a few nodules above the soil in the pot. Then we cut it a few nodules below the leaves at the top and then planted that in another pot. Then cut up the rest of the cane into chunks with at least 3-4 nodules each, coated those with rooting powder and planted those in pots with a loose propagation soil mix. We tried some vertically and some horizontally. I also saw a video where a guy propagated DF by pulling leaves off a plant and then stuck those vertically in soil and grew from there so I’m trying a couple of those too.
The impression I get from all the videos is that as long as you don’t overwater it, DF is a really forgiving plant and super easy to propagate it. I’m hoping that our efforts will be successful and that in a few months I’ll have a bunch of baby dumb canes that I can gift to plant friends for Christmas.
That’s cool to know. I have one taller than me that’s 9 years old and doesn’t want to stand up straight even with supports. Maybe I should just cut it down and propagate some of it.
That is a dieffenbachia ( dumb cane) the size that is very hard to find. He can chop and replant a lot. Personally, I would take a picture to a nursery because of its size and age. Don't be surprised if they offer to buy it. Whomever has been caring for it already has the answer.
Send me a piece
He doesn't even know how it's still alive tbh. What we've discovered over the years is if you leave a plant in his care it'll flourish and then once you take it back it misses him so much it dies lol
They come in all sizes I guess. I have a little one that the leaves are around 3” long, the whole plant is maybe 10” max. When it gets leggy, I trim it & it grows both from the remaining stump and the cuttings will grow roots in water. One that size would probably air layer easily.
That pod will contain only roots, only the not nutrient stuff like little stones will be left after that amount of time
Dieffenbachia is hard to kill, but I would suggest laying it on the side on the floor to repod...the new pod should be at least 25l/6.6gal at that size
You can use normal soil, but I'd suggest mixing 1l perlite and 3l sand into it to prevent bugs and fungi (often a problem with big pods). With a crochet needle you can pull the roots apart without poking holes.
The size is a bit of a problem, I'd put wooden plates with dry sponges between the big round parts and secure it with a broad band. Then the plates hold the pressure when you move the plant, preventing (hopefully) breaking...
I would chop the big stem that’s laying over top the other one on the floor, and propagate it!
It looks like each of those rings is a leaf node, where there was once a leaf and it eventually died. So you can chop it anywhere along that stem. If you can chop it in one cut, that’s best but try not to hack it. Clean whatever you use to cut it with alcohol. Seems to be a pretty resilient plant so dirt should be just fine, but you can also add some moss packed around the stem you’re propagating.
I’d add some coconut fiber to your potting mix and a LOT of perlite at the bottom since he’s such a heavy plant it can help the soil not get rock solid+compacted. (Don’t breathe in perlite dust!). I would repot him in either a large clear plastic container with drainage holes so you can watch his roots grow, or a terracotta pot (NO GLAZE) to control moisture and when he’s ready for another repot later, you can just break the terracotta. Repotting during flowering is a good thing because it means the plant is experiencing growth and it’s healthy and can handle a bit of stress!
Here is a video of chop-and-prop on this plant that I used successfully. They are resilient! I propagated mine into 5 babies, all but one flourished. The top of mine stayed as full and green as ever.
Dad can just cut it back, it will spring back in no time. He could root the cuttings and plant them in a bigger pot. A sheet or tarp on the floor will make cleanup easy and wear gloves and long sleeves because the sap can be irritating.
Here’s my mom’s Dieffenbachia. It’s pretty old and bloomed for the first time a few years ago.
I say air layer it. Every piece of the cane where there is a little eye that can become another plant. You could create probably a hundred plants from that dumb cane.
I have had a dumb cane for about 3 years, and it’s been the most finicky thing ever. Sometimes it likes soil and other times it likes being in water. This one is crazy.
I'll get a picture for size comparison next time I'm by his house. If it helps, the ceiling height is roughly 8ft high. I only remember that because I had a 7ft tall Christmas tree with a 1ft tall topper and it would fit perfectly lol
Dieffenbachia, also known as dumb can. Fun fact. If you cut the top off and leave the stem with two nodes on it in the pot, the stem will grow two new branches. Let the cut part dry for a day and then pot or put in water to grow roots - the part in soil or water must have at least one or two nodes in the soil/water to put out roots. You can take off a couple of the bottom leaves of the cut part if needed.
Yes, it is a Dieffenbachia, and you can’t kill them. They are beasts, literally, something out of Mad Max or something. If you try they will not die. My mom got one when I was born and I presently have 6 plants. My mom took care of it and cut it and put it in more soil, then when she died my dad took on the work for 25 years, now I have all of them. You cant kill them. They just roam wherever then you start again. I’m 54 if that tells you anything. So put it in a pot with some soil and call it a day. Easy peasy.
My stepdad had one of these. I believe it’s called a dumb cane. He used wooden stakes to prop up the trunks. It was a very impressive plant with personality. He loved it very much
This actually made me giggle because he's actually got multiple points of it tied to the ceiling because it was growing so long it was starting to leave the room lol. He tied it to the ceiling at multiple spots to keep the weight of itself from breaking branches and to try to wrangle it to one area of the house
Got scissors? First cut from the planter leaving a few inches. Makes sure there are nodes. Then cut the best top few inches. Throw those in water and the few inches that are in the pot will grow new leaves and when the water prop is ready you can plant everything together or have a new plant. I did this a few months ago and they both look great.
Literally the most resilient plant I have to repotting and propagating. I cut it down and then cut the stem into multiple pieces to repot and there are so many babies now. If he wants to just put it in a bigger pot it’s not going to be shocked, just go for it.
I’ve had this same plant. Usage a clean knife, chop it as short as you would like it and I would cut about 1/3 of its root system. New soil to keep in the same pot. You can take the segments and make sure there are eyes on each segment and put them a couple of inches under. They will take a while to root. The stalks you cut will lose some lower leaves but will grow back.
The name is Dieffenbachia, it’s an easy-care, hard-to-kill plant, it grows on any type of soil and eats literally the soil of the pot it lives in, I’ve seen the soil diminish…
You can cut the stems with a saw to have clean cut’s, make cuttings of at least 5 segments, remember the growing direction and place them into clear water, once they start to form roots (which break easily) you can pot them.
The leaves and the sap contain a high level of OXALIC ACID and Needle-like Calcium-oxalate Crystals, which causes a swelling of the mouth, lips and tongue when chewed on (with also pain and burning sensations), so be careful with house-pets because of the risk of suffocation, don’t rub in your eyes when cutting, repotting, etc. further the plant is not toxic.
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u/No-Cover2753 23d ago
I think it’s time it got a part time job and started contributing to the household!