fred

Jeff, rooting them is not the problem. Getting them to start a new apical meristem ... never had success with that.

Found the pictures in my archive. Andreas, it was indeed a young plant: A shot showing the emergence of the roots as white spherical knobs (that appendage is a bit of Sphagnum). The stem is already inflating a bit: It was rooted in Sphagnum moss, this picture shows the development of the caudex: Here's how I start leaf cuttings: The leaf is attached with some thin plastic strapping. After several weeks the first roots appear: A lot later a swollen mass becomes visible:

It was an adult, but the stem was still young and soft. I'll post a few more pictures tomorrow.

Hi Jeff, Stem cuttings I have 1 Hydnophytum moseleyanum stem cutting that developed a caudex from early on: https://www.flickr.com/photos/terrorchid/12250604113/ ... but the rule is that it won't happen. Leaf cuttings I've also taken leaf cuttings. Typically they root reliably in Sphagnum but it takes a while. They also develop a mass of tissue that looks like the beginnings of a caudex. But they always die back when transplanting. If you try leaf cuttings, place/mount them in their final location and forget about them. Caudex cuttings One plant of mine was in a location that was too wet and the caudex was going bad. I carved it up, each piece with a stem with leaves on it and mounted them. They're still alive after almost two years but they don't recover. They do flower, so it's a way to start again or to save a precious plant.