Chamaedorea elegans stem damage

[Robert D. Young]

Greetings, I understand that chamaedorea elegans are solitary palms, so if the growing tip breaks off, the whole palm dies. But...there are a few exceptions. For example, if it has aerial roots one might be able to regrow it as a cutting. Anyone have experience with this? 

[happypalms]

Hi Robert I had a chameadorea genoformis that broke completely off it’s root ball I just pushed it back in the ground and it is still alive and growing 

[PalmsandLiszt]

I've not done this myself but I've seen it done and it can certainly work. I'd air-layer the aerial roots first if you have enough trunk to do that before cutting, and treat the cut area with fungicide to maximize the chances of success. Environment will need to be suitably humid so the palm doesn't lose more water from its leaves than it can take up from its now very curtailed roots while it's growing them back.

Edit: maybe I misunderstood your question; I'm assuming you have the growing tip in the cut part. I don't think you can make new plants by chopping up the stem at every root node like an aroid.

Edited August 3, 2023 by PalmsandLiszt

[Darold Petty]

9 hours ago, Robert D. Young said:

Greetings, I understand that chamaedorea elegans are solitary palms, so if the growing tip breaks off, the whole palm dies. But...there are a few exceptions. For example, if it has aerial roots one might be able to regrow it as a cutting. Anyone have experience with this? 

The palm has only one growing point, the apical meristem.  If this is broken off the palm is dead.  One can air layer certain species, like Chamaedorea metallica,  but this involves keeping the top and discarding the lower section of the stem.

  I did this with C. metallica, removing the lower four feet of  a seven foot stem,  follow this link down the responses.