seperating new growths
 

HI i have been keeping neo's for about a year now and so far it all seems to be going good, i bought a bean leafed variety a while back and it has some new growths on it that are getting quite big now.

Can these new growths be seperated from the main plant?
They do see to share one root with the main plant but they also have their own.

I'm no neo expert, but my observations suggest that a "colony" of plants tends to do much better than do a bunch of individuals.

I'd leave them alone, maybe separating one here or there for friends.

The bigger the overall plant is the better it performs, so it's best to leave it be. The plant as a whole can store and produce more nutrients when it's bigger, unless I'm mistaken in my thinking. Sometimes divisions will naturally occur during repotting. New growths (fans) that appear between leaves should definitely not be tampered with, in my mind.

I agree, as a naturally clump forming plant, it does much better that way, not to mention that when it blooms the plant is much more impressive. Sometimes new growths are not very well attached, and can be removed, but I would only do that off an established plant and not a single grow plant like yours. If you are intent on dividing your plant, I would wait some years until it is large enough to get divisions of at least 3 growths each.

Dividing a clump of Neofinetia falcata plants is easy. But it helps to do it at the right time of year. Your plant--if it's a typical falcata--should still be dormant at this time of year, especially if you've been keeping it cool, relatively dry and giving it as much direct sunlight as you can provide (to mimic its natural environment). I would wait until early spring, just before new roots are initiated, to divide it (which, for me this is usually around late March). Just carefully tease the plants apart, plant them up and they should be fine. It's a pretty resilient species, so it shouldn't react unfavorably to the division. That being said, the multiple-growth specimens are pretty impressive, and the only way to get them is to leave the plant alone while it forms multiple fans. And if you have a select variety, you might want to experiment on something that's cheaper (which there are plenty of hardy, easily obtained varieties available for). Good luck!

Steve