Have you ever thought about how a cheese plant and its roots work?
A cheese plant aerial roots are an important part of how the plant operates, but what are they exactly and what do you need to know about them?
If you’ve ever noticed how crazy roots shooting off from the sides of your plant are, those are cheese plant aerial roots.
The cheese plant has aerial roots that help it to grow properly it’s a climbing plant, and scrambles up tree trunks to reach the light in the tropical rainforest.
The roots are searching for something to attach to so that the plant can keep climbing, upward toward the light. They provide stability, and you must offer at least some of them support.
What Do Aerial Roots Look Like?
These roots start off looking like little white nubs that sort of poke out of the stem of the cheese plant, then branching outwards.
A root (or roots) will actually change from white to brown and get longer and fatter. They remain pliable but can be several feet in length.
Some aerial roots may also grow up with a ‘bark’ type cover on them too, whilst others don’t.
It doesn’t matter if they do or not.
What Are The Aerial Roots for?
The cheese plant aereal roots help it to stable itself as it climbs.
Since its stems are thin with large leaves, it has to support itself by latching onto some stable structure – such as a tree trunk – with these roots.
It takes extra energy for the plant to support its own weight, and if its leaves were not as big as the cheese plant’s leaves, it wouldn’t be a problem.
Instead, it conserves energy by leaning most of its weight onto another plant, such as a tree.
Think of this like leaning against another person when you don’t want to stand or sit up straight.
You may find that the aerial roots grow here and there, all trying to grab one plant or the other to hold on to.
You should never cut them off as the plant needs them, which is only going to come back to you in the form of more, and possibly expose it to infection. You may damage the roots, and with them, expose the plant to infection leaving open wounds.
Some do chop them off, but it will not harm the plant as long as it is strong, and sterilized tools are used in the process.
In Fact: There is really no reason to do this unless you just don’t like the way they look, which so many people simply leave them alone.
Should I Do Anything with the Aerial Roots?
While the plant is young, it’s advisable to give it something to climb up—to give those roots something to find a hold of.
You can purchase moss sticks that will provide the support it seeks, and help it to stay upright.
Without support, you may find your cheese plant sprawled across the floor in a mess, save for the aerial roots pointing up-looking for something to pull the plant up on.
The stems are not strong enough to support the weight of the leaves in an upright position.
If this happens, you need to untangle the plant and sort things out.
Drive a strong stick into the pot and use it to prop the leaves.
Be Creative: You may have to tie them loosely in place while the aerial roots make their way to the stick and establish themselves; this will prevent the plant from just slumping over again.
Do Aerial Roots Soak Up Water and Nutrients?
We know that plants consume their water and food from their roots, but what about roots that reach way up into the air?
Well, they might drink up a little water as it slides down the tree trunks and courses over the roots, but for the most part, those roots are not responsible for watering and feeding the rest of the plant.
Aerial roots are really there just for support, and that is all. They are there to hold up a tree, and that’s it.
The other roots that a cheese plant has are called subterranean roots, and these are what hold the plant in the earth, and extract its water and nourishment from the soil.
Do not attempt to feed or water your plant through its aerial roots. It will no longer work properly, and may dry up and die.
If you stick aerial roots in the dirt, then they may begin to grow into subterranean ones and feed the plant.
Do Aerial Roots Play a Role In Propagation?
If you’re growing your cheese plant from cuttings, you might be worried about the roots being important, or whether it matters if you cut one.
Generally, the aerial rootsaren’t important, and can be left intact when propagating. The exception is when air layering, which sometimes requires taking a piece of an aerial root along with a cutting to assist rooting.
Air layering is one of the easy propagation methods because it requires encouraging extra roots to grow on the plant, rather than removing a piece and expecting it to produce new roots.
- You can tie some damp sphagnum moss around the stem of the plant, at the join of a leaf and an aerial root.
- Tie it gently with string, and keep it damp for a few weeks.
- The moss will urge the stem to put out its new subterranean roots, and when these are of a sufficient strength you can break off the stem from the plant and you have a whole new cheese plant!
If it’s just an aerial root that’s all you have from the cheese plant, you probably won’t be able to propagate that either.
The aerial root won’t have enough energy to produce a new stem or new subterranean roots, which are what make a new cheese plant.
Conclusion
The cheese plant aerials are a pretty curious part of the plant, but they do serve an important job in the wild.
Even in a house, they may well hold the plant up and keep it straight.