Can Bare Stems Last?

[csmith]

For those that didn't read about my troubles earlier this week, I had quick and massive die-off. I was afraid everything was going, but it seems to be recovering. Not too many of the main plants are surviving, but all of the stems have nice offshoots growing.
Here's the dilemma. All of the shoots are under, say, 3 inches right now. I can either cut them off and try to plant them and then be mad when they don't stay planted, or I can cut all of the dead/dying leaves off (which there are quite a few) and let the shoots grow off of the bare stems for a week or two.
Would the bare stems cause problems (e.g. dying) before the shoots are ready to be pruned off?

Here's what I'm dealing with now (the L. Arcuata looks worse than it appears in the photos):

 

[Biollante]

Yes

Hi,

Yes.

Let them grow a bit they are cleaning things up.

Once they have filled out a bit, top them and replant the tops.

Biollante

 

[csmith]

Thanks. The M. aquaticum looks a little bad but nothing crazy. The stems have turned a really dark green and it's pretty much dead (leaf wise) from 4-6 inches above the substrate and down, but the L. arcuata looks horrible. It's twisted up, turning yellow, and overall looks like someone popped it in a toaster and then scraped the colors off of the leaves. I'll give the L. arcuata time to grow out before pulling off the shoots because they look a lot better.