Crazy Broken Plant Experiment

grahamsprodigy

grahamsprodigy

So, today I was working on my garden, and while attempting to transplant a "Mexibelle" from a 14" pot into a 17" pot, I lost control of my hands and snapped the plant, right at the stem base. I automatically figured it was toast, so I broke it a few more times and threw it into my compost bin. 
 
But then I had a weird thought. I have heard that peppers are a remarkably hardy plant, and so I decided I would give that a test. What I've done is stuck the broken peices under the dirt there and gave it a good watering. I honestly expect nothing out of this, but I wanted to make sure I documented it just in case, so I don't get called a liar if something miraculous happens.  If it doesn't make it, well hey, no big loss, right? People keep saying the Mexibelle kinda sucks anyways.
 
I'm making no promises, no guarantees whatsoever. I do not have a realistic expectation that this plant will live. But if it does, you will definitely be the first to know.
 
Proof of potential zombie plant:
 
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MikeUSMC said:
Well, I wish you the best of luck, but I've gotta ask...

Why bother transplanting to a pot that's only 1" bigger in the first place?
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Sorry, that was a typo, I meant to say 17". This is my current main garden (I have 5 now!).  You can see the difference in size in the 14" and 17" pretty easily now. I need the larger potters for the Bell and New Mexico varieties that are coming up :)
 
Also, I am super happy to report that the bacterial leaf spotting problem I previously had is nearly completely cleared up!!!
 
18489731_10154304353941595_5585808767310406425_o.jpg
 
The thin box in the middle was seeded with an assortment of wildflowers. 
 
I plan to put some rocks underneath everything soon to level it out. The house we're renting from had a sort of destroyed brick covered area out back that my babies live on now.
 
with proper care they will be alive.  i never lost any single pepper plant inside humidity dome.
 
The Hot Pepper said:
Rooting hormone is your friend
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It was just butterfingers. All of these puppies have been growing very quickly, and the roots were actually well anchored, which was part of the problem, I had not expected the plant to be holding on to as much dirt as it was.  I should have asked one of the kids to help me hold it while I was taking it out of the planter, but instead, my hand I slipped and karate chopped it right at the base, doh. *SNAP*, 4 months of growing wasted just like that. Wow, has it really been that long? The time passed so fast..
 
Oh, in case people are wondering about all those dead leaves, the planter is in a spot that a large grapefruit tree stands partially over. It's been raining free mulch. I am likely to move this planter to a different angle though, because I know that the sun is not hitting it evenly.
 
Aloe vera gel diluted in water contains rooting hormone - never done it but people have great success with it on medicinal plant forums
 
Powelly said:
Aloe vera gel diluted in water contains rooting hormone - never done it but people have great success with it on medicinal plant forums
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I'm not worried about taking it to that extreme. As mentioned previously, it's just a Mexibelle and I probably won't miss it.
 
As far as rooting compound goes-
 
The guy at the Nursery told me different hormones work on different plants.
Example,I have dip'N Grow.Root tone and Take root.
Neither by themselves worked.
Then I Googled rooting hormones/rooting compounds.
The expensive ones contained all 3 of the hormones each individually contained.
 
I dipped my cuttings in the Dip'nGrow (wet) then in the other 2 powders.
Worked great.
 
Play around,your mileage may vary...
 
 
 
Yep, the rooting hormone comment had nothing to do with your original plants roots. It's for dipping the cuttings(breakage?) in.
I'd take them back out, make a clean diagonal cut just before the next branch, dip it in hormone,keep moist but not soaked, cover with plastic and in a pot in the shade for a month. That's worked for me when I wanted to make some clones in the past but I did use rockwool in a plastic tub with a clear lid and left them in the washroom (70 degrees) for a month before planting.
 
grahamsprodigy said:
 
If so, that will really be amazing, because I turned this single plant into like 5 lol.
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yes you can turn this single plant into 5 or more.  reduce area of large leaves by 50%. you need only 2 leaves per plant. make sure your soil mixed is moist but not wet. cover the whole area with transparent plastic.  put it in shade area.  if you do it right, you will have 5 plants within a month or two.
 
if you guys like thai food,  shrimp paste (kapi กะปิ) is a great rooting hormone.  it's safe and good for environment. 
 
I have tried cloning pepper plants once before with a Rocoto using rooting powder, none took.
 
Then this season I accidentally snapped the top off a 7 Pot Jonah, stuck the snapped tip straight into a solo cup without any hormone treatment and kept it moist for a week or so. The cutting took and is doing really well....... :P
 
Sometimes if you expect the least, you get the most.
 
SR. 
 
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