can i cut the tap roots of a cheeseplant ?

[52andblue]

just that, really...

I've inherited a huge cheeseplant in a tiny pot. I've repotted it and am trying to find somewhere in the house to put it (6ft across, not v high).

It has long tap roots (about 3ft long) Can I cut them off or will it kill it?

I've also just inherited a similar sized one and yesterday I cut three long brown twigs which I'm guessing now are tap roots. It leaked a bit but then the whole plant is oozing water and won't be staying if it doesn't stop.

You might be better getting a moss pole and tucking the roots into that. In the wild they usually grow up other tree and the roots drink water from puddles in the nooks and crannies of trees as they grow higher so they really do need those Arial roots.

I’ve had one for over 30 years that started as a small houseplant. It evidently likes its location - about every 3 years now I have to perform drastic surgery since it’s trying to grow through the ceiling. Leaves are now huge.

I take 3 or 4 huge ‘cuttings’ (each at least half a metre long, with their aerial roots) and dump them in a bucket of water, with aerial roots in the water.

The rest of it and the compost - usually a mass of tangled roots that needs to be cut out of the pot - is ditched, all new compost added, and the ‘cuttings’ firmly replanted - aerial roots pushed into the compost as far as poss - if they’re over long I trim them.

This has worked fine many times now - the ‘cuttings’ have nearly always taken. IIRC just once, one of them out of 4 failed to take.

AFAIK removing or trimming some of the aerial roots won’t hurt, as long as the plant is kept reasonably moist - mine is quite forgiving of a few dry-ish days, though.

thanks for info above - v useful

the aerial roots can't access water atm. (&couldn't before - it was in it's original garden centre pot of 3" across & up on a tall plant stand)

I've repotted it into a pot 20" across & would prefer it lower down (as pot now too big & heavy to balance on a tall stand) but don't want huge long roots all over the carpet if possible

I've been cutting off the aerial roots from my cheese plant for 10 years - never seems to have hurt it, it just keeps getting bigger!

Don’t know about cutting them off, but do recall our huge one as a child attaching itself to the textured wallpaper with them!

@52andblue

thanks for info above - v useful

the aerial roots can't access water atm. (&couldn't before - it was in it's original garden centre pot of 3" across & up on a tall plant stand)

I've repotted it into a pot 20" across & would prefer it lower down (as pot now too big & heavy to balance on a tall stand) but don't want huge long roots all over the carpet if possible

Just stick the aerial roots into the compost in the bigger pot, and if there are too many, just cut them off. They do tend to make a lot, and maybe more so if the compost gets a bit dry, I’m not sure about that,,though.