Beginner Gardening: What's growing on my Night Blooming Jasmine?, 0 by MacFL

MacFL wrote:
The plant had two stems growing out of it. The two seperated at the root ball as I was planting it, so I separated them into two pots. The piece of stem (see pic shown), is stuck into a piece of that block foam stuff used in artificial flowers, or it sure looks like it. Is this a common thing to use for growing cuttings or something? It and about two small roots are all that is on the bottom of the "twig" plant.

When I first received the plant and started to replant it, I didn't disturb the soil from around the root ball so I never saw this foam block thingy. Should I have removed this, and is THIS possibly why the plant would not grow well?