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.