Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting from it.
The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the stems and some other
dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in order to get it out of its pot,
but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond belief.
Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with each other and
merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and stank to heaven!) thanks to
the heavy-handed watering of my half-brother, and these I removed. That was
the easy bit. I then used a saw to cut away one of the mature growths but,
before I had cut through it, there was an ominous cracking noise and that
section of plant keeled over under its own weight and snapped off without
any roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to use the saw.

My father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a different
weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I bravely allowed RG to
wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining two sections of plant. RG
hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down the middle of the plant for several
axe blows. The crown of the plant parted slightly. It took many more
energetic blows before it finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8
fingers, 2 thumbs. At this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his
phone camera, which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

I potted up all three plant sections, even the one without roots, just to
see if it would die or sprout roots in time. I also decided to experiment.
At soil level, there was what appeared to be a possible growth 'eye' with
four strong roots deep in the soil. I cut away the eye with some of the
root and potted it up. I also took another root cutting from deeper in the
pot and set it in compost as one would for a poppy root cutting. Neither of
these two experiments may work, but it was worth the time it took to pot
them up to explore the possibilities.

The plants are all in Yorkshire, so I will not be able to care for them
myself. I will visit them periodically and ask for reports in the meantime.
Naturally, I will let you know how they progress. If anyone here has any
aftercare advice, I will be pleased to receive it. The three big plants are
outside just now, but will be brought indoors when the weather turns. The
'experiment' (all tucked into one pot) is indoors in the conservatory which
is not heated - well, it *is* in Yorkshire! :~)) Hopefully, it will be
placed somewhere warmer when temperatures drop.

Spider

On Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:57:34 +0100, "Spider"
wrote:

Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting from it.
The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the stems and some other
dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in order to get it out of its pot,
but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond belief.
Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with each other and
merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and stank to heaven!) thanks to
the heavy-handed watering of my half-brother, and these I removed. That was
the easy bit. I then used a saw to cut away one of the mature growths but,
before I had cut through it, there was an ominous cracking noise and that
section of plant keeled over under its own weight and snapped off without
any roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to use the saw.

My father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a different
weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I bravely allowed RG to
wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining two sections of plant. RG
hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down the middle of the plant for several
axe blows. The crown of the plant parted slightly. It took many more
energetic blows before it finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8
fingers, 2 thumbs. At this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his
phone camera, which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

I potted up all three plant sections, even the one without roots, just to
see if it would die or sprout roots in time. I also decided to experiment.
At soil level, there was what appeared to be a possible growth 'eye' with
four strong roots deep in the soil. I cut away the eye with some of the
root and potted it up. I also took another root cutting from deeper in the
pot and set it in compost as one would for a poppy root cutting. Neither of
these two experiments may work, but it was worth the time it took to pot
them up to explore the possibilities.

The plants are all in Yorkshire, so I will not be able to care for them
myself. I will visit them periodically and ask for reports in the meantime.
Naturally, I will let you know how they progress. If anyone here has any
aftercare advice, I will be pleased to receive it. The three big plants are
outside just now, but will be brought indoors when the weather turns. The
'experiment' (all tucked into one pot) is indoors in the conservatory which
is not heated - well, it *is* in Yorkshire! :~)) Hopefully, it will be
placed somewhere warmer when temperatures drop.

Spider



Well done, Spider and thanks for the update! Your post brought back
happy memories of when I did this a few years ago. I never killed my
plants and I doubt whether you will lose yours (or rather your Dad's).


You must be an expert now!! Strelitzia operations today ..............
brain surgery tomorrow?

Best wishes

Geoff

wrote in message
...
On Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:57:34 +0100, "Spider"
wrote:

Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting from it.
The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the stems and some
other
dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in order to get it out of its pot,
but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond belief.
Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with each other and
merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and stank to heaven!) thanks
to
the heavy-handed watering of my half-brother, and these I removed. That
was
the easy bit. I then used a saw to cut away one of the mature growths
but,
before I had cut through it, there was an ominous cracking noise and that
section of plant keeled over under its own weight and snapped off without
any roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to use the saw.

My father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a different
weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I bravely allowed RG
to
wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining two sections of plant. RG
hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down the middle of the plant for several
axe blows. The crown of the plant parted slightly. It took many more
energetic blows before it finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8
fingers, 2 thumbs. At this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his
phone camera, which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

I potted up all three plant sections, even the one without roots, just to
see if it would die or sprout roots in time. I also decided to
experiment.
At soil level, there was what appeared to be a possible growth 'eye' with
four strong roots deep in the soil. I cut away the eye with some of the
root and potted it up. I also took another root cutting from deeper in
the
pot and set it in compost as one would for a poppy root cutting. Neither
of
these two experiments may work, but it was worth the time it took to pot
them up to explore the possibilities.

The plants are all in Yorkshire, so I will not be able to care for them
myself. I will visit them periodically and ask for reports in the
meantime.
Naturally, I will let you know how they progress. If anyone here has any
aftercare advice, I will be pleased to receive it. The three big plants
are
outside just now, but will be brought indoors when the weather turns. The
'experiment' (all tucked into one pot) is indoors in the conservatory
which
is not heated - well, it *is* in Yorkshire! :~)) Hopefully, it will be
placed somewhere warmer when temperatures drop.

Spider



Well done, Spider and thanks for the update! Your post brought back
happy memories of when I did this a few years ago. I never killed my
plants and I doubt whether you will lose yours (or rather your Dad's).


You must be an expert now!! Strelitzia operations today ..............
brain surgery tomorrow?

Best wishes

Geoff

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for coming back, and for your reassurances. I've just re-read your
response to my original question (just to refresh my mind) and nowhere
*nowhere* did you mention the need for emergency staff to mop my brow, or
councelling after the trauma of nearly decimating dear daddy's plant! :~))
Actually, he was more laid back about it than I.

Thank you for your original description of your Strelitzia division. Yours,
and others, really built up a good picture for me so that when I finally
prized the pot off daddy's plant, I almost had a sense of deja vu ... as
well as doom:~). All things considered it went quite well and, because RG
was the man with the axe, I've even got someone to blame when it all goes
wrong :~) I could hardly ask for more, could I?

Not sure about the brain surgery. I think I need a larger microscope first.

Spider

"Spider" wrote in message
...
Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting from it.
The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the stems and some
other dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in order to get it out of its
pot, but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond belief.
Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with each other and
merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and stank to heaven!) thanks
to the heavy-handed watering of my half-brother, and these I removed.
That was the easy bit. I then used a saw to cut away one of the mature
growths but, before I had cut through it, there was an ominous cracking
noise and that section of plant keeled over under its own weight and
snapped off without any roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able
to use the saw.

My father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a different
weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I bravely allowed RG
to wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining two sections of plant. RG
hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down the middle of the plant for several
axe blows. The crown of the plant parted slightly. It took many more
energetic blows before it finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8
fingers, 2 thumbs. At this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his
phone camera, which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

I potted up all three plant sections, even the one without roots, just to
see if it would die or sprout roots in time. I also decided to
experiment. At soil level, there was what appeared to be a possible growth
'eye' with four strong roots deep in the soil. I cut away the eye with
some of the root and potted it up. I also took another root cutting from
deeper in the pot and set it in compost as one would for a poppy root
cutting. Neither of these two experiments may work, but it was worth the
time it took to pot them up to explore the possibilities.

The plants are all in Yorkshire, so I will not be able to care for them
myself. I will visit them periodically and ask for reports in the
meantime. Naturally, I will let you know how they progress. If anyone
here has any aftercare advice, I will be pleased to receive it. The three
big plants are outside just now, but will be brought indoors when the
weather turns. The 'experiment' (all tucked into one pot) is indoors in
the conservatory which is not heated - well, it *is* in Yorkshire! :~))
Hopefully, it will be placed somewhere warmer when temperatures drop.

Spider

Link for pictures of divided root ball:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Spider.AAG/Strelitzia

Spider

On 2009-08-28 17:57:34 +0100, "Spider" said:

Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting from it.
The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the stems and some other
dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in order to get it out of its pot,
but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond belief.
Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with each other and
merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and stank to heaven!) thanks to
the heavy-handed watering of my half-brother, and these I removed. That was
the easy bit. I then used a saw to cut away one of the mature growths but,
before I had cut through it, there was an ominous cracking noise and that
section of plant keeled over under its own weight and snapped off without
any roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to use the saw.

My father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a different
weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I bravely allowed RG to
wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining two sections of plant. RG
hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down the middle of the plant for several
axe blows. The crown of the plant parted slightly. It took many more
energetic blows before it finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8
fingers, 2 thumbs. At this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his
phone camera, which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

Good grief. URG has its own version of Wilhemina Tell!! ;-)) Well
done, Spider, this sounds a helluva task.
snip
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Sacha wrote:
On 2009-08-28 17:57:34 +0100, "Spider" said:

Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting
from it. The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the
stems and some other dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in order
to get it out of its pot, but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond
belief. Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with
each other and merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and
stank to heaven!) thanks to the heavy-handed watering of my half-
brother, and these I removed. That was the easy bit. I then used a
saw to cut away one of the mature growths but, before I had cut
through it, there was an ominous cracking noise and that section of
plant keeled over under its own weight and snapped off without any
roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to use the saw. My
father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a
different weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I
bravely allowed RG to wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining
two sections of plant. RG hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down
the middle of the plant for several axe blows. The crown of the
plant parted slightly. It took many more energetic blows before it
finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8 fingers, 2 thumbs. At
this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his phone camera,
which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

Good grief. URG has its own version of Wilhemina Tell!! ;-)) Well
done, Spider, this sounds a helluva task.

Whereas I am totally stunned!!!

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-08-28 17:57:34 +0100, "Spider" said:

Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting from
it.
The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the stems and some
other
dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in order to get it out of its pot,
but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond belief.
Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with each other
and
merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and stank to heaven!) thanks
to
the heavy-handed watering of my half-brother, and these I removed. That
was
the easy bit. I then used a saw to cut away one of the mature growths
but,
before I had cut through it, there was an ominous cracking noise and that
section of plant keeled over under its own weight and snapped off without
any roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to use the saw.

My father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a different
weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I bravely allowed RG
to
wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining two sections of plant. RG
hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down the middle of the plant for
several
axe blows. The crown of the plant parted slightly. It took many more
energetic blows before it finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8
fingers, 2 thumbs. At this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his
phone camera, which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

Good grief. URG has its own version of Wilhemina Tell!! ;-)) Well done,
Spider, this sounds a helluva task.
snip
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon


Indeed. Even Herr Tell would have needed more than an arrow, or even a
Swiss Army knife, come to that :~), although I thought there might be slings
and arrows of outrageous misfortune (to paraphrase) when that first section
fell over! :~)
I'm glad it's done.

Spider

"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
Sacha wrote:
On 2009-08-28 17:57:34 +0100, "Spider" said:

Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting
from it. The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the
stems and some other dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in order
to get it out of its pot, but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond
belief. Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with
each other and merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and
stank to heaven!) thanks to the heavy-handed watering of my half-
brother, and these I removed. That was the easy bit. I then used a
saw to cut away one of the mature growths but, before I had cut
through it, there was an ominous cracking noise and that section of
plant keeled over under its own weight and snapped off without any
roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to use the saw. My
father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a
different weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I
bravely allowed RG to wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining
two sections of plant. RG hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down
the middle of the plant for several axe blows. The crown of the
plant parted slightly. It took many more energetic blows before it
finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8 fingers, 2 thumbs. At
this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his phone camera,
which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

Good grief. URG has its own version of Wilhemina Tell!! ;-)) Well
done, Spider, this sounds a helluva task.

Whereas I am totally stunned!!!

g It was a fair old job :~). Fortunately, it was performed in God's Own
County, so let's hope he's looking after the plant now.

Spider

Spider wrote:
"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
Sacha wrote:
On 2009-08-28 17:57:34 +0100, "Spider" said:

Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting
from it. The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the
stems and some other dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in
order to get it out of its pot, but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond
belief. Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with
each other and merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and
stank to heaven!) thanks to the heavy-handed watering of my half-
brother, and these I removed. That was the easy bit. I then used
a saw to cut away one of the mature growths but, before I had cut
through it, there was an ominous cracking noise and that section of
plant keeled over under its own weight and snapped off without any
roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to use the saw.
My father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a
different weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I
bravely allowed RG to wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining
two sections of plant. RG hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down
the middle of the plant for several axe blows. The crown of the
plant parted slightly. It took many more energetic blows before it
finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8 fingers, 2 thumbs.
At this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his phone camera,
which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

Good grief. URG has its own version of Wilhemina Tell!! ;-)) Well
done, Spider, this sounds a helluva task.

Whereas I am totally stunned!!!

g It was a fair old job :~). Fortunately, it was performed in
God's Own County,

Yorkshire??? Mine own place)

so let's hope he's looking after the plant now.

How dare he not, after all that effort!!!

(Snipped)
"Ophelia" wrote in message
...
bravely allowed RG to wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining
two sections of plant. RG hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down
the middle of the plant for several axe blows. The crown of the
plant parted slightly. It took many more energetic blows before it
finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8 fingers, 2 thumbs.
At this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his phone camera,
which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

Good grief. URG has its own version of Wilhemina Tell!! ;-)) Well
done, Spider, this sounds a helluva task.

Whereas I am totally stunned!!!

g It was a fair old job :~). Fortunately, it was performed in
God's Own County,

Yorkshire??? Mine own place)


Indeed. My father even had dust on his wallet, to prove it!! :~)



so let's hope he's looking after the plant now.

How dare he not, after all that effort!!!

:~)
Spider

On 2009-08-29 14:09:52 +0100, "Spider" said:


"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2009-08-28 17:57:34 +0100, "Spider" said:

Well, I said I'd report back, so here I am.

The strelitzia was huge with three large mature growths sprouting from
it.
The many flower heads had been removed. I removed the stems and some
other
dead woody growth. I soaked the plant in order to get it out of its pot,
but still needed help.

The exposed root mass was, as urglers promised, tangled beyond belief.
Around the base of the pot, the roots ceased to tangle with each other
and
merely encircled the pot. Some were rotten (and stank to heaven!) thanks
to
the heavy-handed watering of my half-brother, and these I removed. That
was
the easy bit. I then used a saw to cut away one of the mature growths
but,
before I had cut through it, there was an ominous cracking noise and that
section of plant keeled over under its own weight and snapped off without
any roots :~(. Obviously, I wasn't going to be able to use the saw.

My father (whose plant it is) suggested reinforcements and a different
weapon. I engaged the help of RG and daddy's axe. I bravely allowed RG
to
wield the axe, whilst I parted the remaining two sections of plant. RG
hacked (surprisingly accurately!) down the middle of the plant for
several
axe blows. The crown of the plant parted slightly. It took many more
energetic blows before it finally fell in two. I checked: I still had 8
fingers, 2 thumbs. At this point, RG took a couple of photographs on his
phone camera, which I shall ask him to add to this thread.

Good grief. URG has its own version of Wilhemina Tell!! ;-)) Well done,
Spider, this sounds a helluva task.
snip
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon


Indeed. Even Herr Tell would have needed more than an arrow, or even a
Swiss Army knife, come to that :~), although I thought there might be slings
and arrows of outrageous misfortune (to paraphrase) when that first section
fell over! :~)
I'm glad it's done.

Spider

What a posh group - heroes, music and literature along with our gardening. ;-)
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Sacha wrote:
Indeed. Even Herr Tell would have needed more than an arrow, or
even a Swiss Army knife, come to that :~), although I thought there
might be slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune (to paraphrase)
when that first section fell over! :~)
I'm glad it's done.

Spider

What a posh group - heroes, music and literature along with our
gardening. ;-)

heh, if you apply you may even be admitted g

That'll be 2/6d if you please!

Spider wrote:
Yorkshire??? Mine own place)


Indeed. My father even had dust on his wallet, to prove it!! :~)

lol he was one of ours and no mistake!!!


so let's hope he's looking after the plant now.

How dare he not, after all that effort!!!

~)
Spider

On 2009-08-29 16:56:28 +0100, "Ophelia" said:

Sacha wrote:
Indeed. Even Herr Tell would have needed more than an arrow, or
even a Swiss Army knife, come to that :~), although I thought there
might be slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune (to paraphrase)
when that first section fell over! :~)
I'm glad it's done.

Spider

What a posh group - heroes, music and literature along with our
gardening. ;-)

heh, if you apply you may even be admitted g

That'll be 2/6d if you please!

Oh you old-fashionied thing, you! Just occasionally now I translate
modern prices back into old money and it shakes me rigid!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
Shrubs & perennials. Tender & exotics.
South Devon

Sacha wrote:
On 2009-08-29 16:56:28 +0100, "Ophelia" said:

Sacha wrote:
Indeed. Even Herr Tell would have needed more than an arrow, or
even a Swiss Army knife, come to that :~), although I thought there
might be slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune (to paraphrase)
when that first section fell over! :~)
I'm glad it's done.

Spider

What a posh group - heroes, music and literature along with our
gardening. ;-)

heh, if you apply you may even be admitted g

That'll be 2/6d if you please!

Oh you old-fashionied thing, you! Just occasionally now I translate
modern prices back into old money and it shakes me rigid!

I Know What You Mean!!!