Propagating fresh cactus cuttings method.

[Chiral]

Initially when you are introduced to growing cactus people will tell you that when you get your cuttings you will need to leave them calous over at the end that the have been cut at. This procedure is to help dry the wet and open end from becoming rotten if stuck straight in soil. This is still good practice if you plant your cuttings shallow or just below the soil surface.

A quicker way involves placing about 2" of perlite and crushed pebble at the bottom of an empty pot, patting down and making nice and level. Now gather your cutting, neaten up the cut if it's on an angle or is very rough and uneven. Now place the cutting in the pot with the fresh cut end sitting firmly on the perlite/pebble mix. press down firmly, now while you hold the cutting in place with one hand and then carefully back fill with your cactus soil of choice up to approx 2 inches from the top of the inside of the pot.

Now gently take the pot and bang down a few times on a towel or some other soft cloth that is on a table or the ground, fill in a bit more soil, mulch with pebbles and water in. Place pot somewhere warm that gets a few hours of early sun and water when the soil looks dry, if you are doing this in spring and summer you can water everyday. Once you see the cutting putting on some new growth at the tip and the ribs are not showing signs of dehydrating anymore, then move the pot to it's final warm and sunny spot, fertilize accordingly and enjoy.

The cutting will throw out many roots from the aereols that are buried beneath the soil and in no time your cutting will be powering on with new growth. I have used this method with quite a few cuttings recently and have had a 100% percent strike rate so far, in particular a couple of very old and weather beaten Peruvian cuts about 3 foot tall with arms...I wasn't sure if these would take but they were in such poor health and almost dead I had to do something quickly to get them to grow. The results were great, all of them cuttings were taken in the morning and potted up using this method by lunch time. They did take a lot longer than other cuts using this method but I am totally stoked now that they have begun to fatten up and show me some nice new green tip growth. These cuttings came from a very neglected but beautiful form of Peruvian that had been sitting in an awful concrete pot full of dark tan clay and sand. the plant had an amazing will to live, even though it only ever in it's life got rainwater and was never fed, plus it was so pot bound that it was impossible to remove the root ball without smashing the pot with a hammer, this why i could only take cuts.

Another alternative is to simply lay the cutting on it's side on top of the soil and gently push it down, this is the preferred way to propagate small fresh mid section cuts.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Chiral

[PD.]

Interesting.

It seems like an open invitation to rot imo, a fresh cut, buried deep. Seems to go against everything schooled. I just dont understand how the wound is going to heal with all that moisture and no air flow. You are doin my head in mate lol.

I have used this method with quite a few cuttings recently and have had a 100% percent strike rate so far,

How long have the cuts been in the soil chiral and have you actually checked the base of any cuts you have done this to? Sometimes rot is a slow menacing bastid, everything seems hunky dory on the surface but down below its doin it thing slowly takin hold and turning it into black slop.

[Chiral]

PD i'll just copy what I wrote elsewhere as it explains more about what I'm on about.

QUOTE (strangebrew @ Dec 09 09, 09:40 AM GMT) *

Deep planting probably isn't a bad idea.

Have you compared deep planted rooting times to normal methods?

It's actually about the same but what you have to take into consideration is the climate at the time...weather it's growing season or not. I find the deep fresh method allows the cut to give up more surface area under the soil, which encourages a larger amount or roots all around the plant. I wanted to write about this a while ago but wanted to make absolutely sure that it works okay, those really old half dead Peruvian cuts were the acid test, plus there was a long PC cutting down the back of the yard that was the very first plant I did this with...I lifted it out of the pot to inspect the roots and I was impressed by the roots that were cascading from out of the buried skin of the plant, helps a lot with stabilization too, in fact that was one of the reasons I started to see it this worked.

I had received some quite tall pach tips, they would have to have either been chopped in size or deep planted otherwise they would have tipped over. I will add that the plant needs to be in relatively good health skin wise if it is going to planted like this, you can't deep plant a cutting with rot or black spot on the skin, you'd be asking for trouble.

A lot of this thought about fresh planting came about due to people sending fresh cuttings during the growing season or taking fresh cuts myself from mothers that had been found. Trying to stop them growing and etoiliating is a pain in the ass in spring/summer so deep fresh planting helps a lot in that regard. I still prefer to take cuts in late fall or winter and store them somewhere dry for the 3 months, this is still a really nice way to preserve the shape of the cut especially if it's a really nice clone. I did this with Norma...stored her fat ass in a very dry cool place for 3 months over winter and then as soon as there was a snip of warmth I deep planted her..even though she had calloused nicely I still wanted to give her skins surface access to the nice soil I had made for to throw as many roots as possible.

As you can see this plant was in really poor health but is coming good now after deep fresh planting

Another shot of more of the same plant

This is another cut off the same plant, it's hard to believe they are the same plant, but all these were fresh deep planted, I think the perlite and crushed pebble gives enough air for the end to breath, plus i used straight seedling raising mix as the soil medium which is very nice at drying out evenly, without ever being over moist or retaining too much water.

Edited December 9, 2009 by Chiral

[KanJe]

I'm with PD on this one.

If I have just had my right hand amputated, I think it would be better to wait until it heals before I go and wash my toilet.

This method might work but waiting for the wound to heal simply improves the chances of a healthy plant.

I don't understand, how is the fresh cut going to help produce more roots. Isn't there going to be the same amount of surface area contact to the soil?

[Chiral]

I'm with PD on this one.

If I have just had my right hand amputated, I think it would be better to wait until it heals before I go and wash my toilet.

This method might work but waiting for the wound to heal simply improves the chances of a healthy plant.

I don't understand, how is the fresh cut going to help produce more roots. Isn't there going to be the same amount of surface area contact to the soil?

 

Callousing is still the preferred way to deal with most cuts but there will be times when you need to get the plant in the ground straightaway...perhaps you are going away for a time and don't want your cuts dieing or drying out, old near dead cuts that need reviving asap, a way to prevent cuts etoiliating when taken in the growing season...as you can see above there is no etoiliation on the cuts when planted fresh. I have some other shots other plants I have done this with, no etoiliation and good even growth with no rot... and will upload them later as I have to go out now for a while.

[Chiral]

Okay so here are some pics of plants that have been fresh deep potted.

This the very first one I attempted, it went straight in at the bottom of this ceramic bowl with a layer of fresh perlite and crushed pebble. Since the start of the growing season it has grown a good 6" with no etoiliation. It was cut off because the way it came the plant was way too big for the pot it was in and way too top heavy, the stump is still in it's original pot with 3 pups.

Holy Mountain chucked me a couple of these plants freshly taken from a huge mother he found out west somewhere. Although not totally fresh cuts they had not calloused over when I got them, I got them and straight away threw them in pots with perlite/pebble mix then back filled, the perlite is now making it's way to the surface as usual.

These pach also were potted up using the same method, the bottom of the cut is the shorter piece now pupping and the tall piece had the fresh end (cut on an angle) pushed firmly into perlite and red scoria then back filled.

these were 2 long pach mid sections cut in half and freshly buried into perlite and scoria then back filled. These were done only 2 weeks ago.

Here is one done today really very roughly, a pach log midsection is being used, some recycled perlite and some grubby old scoria, the soil is completely crap as it's basically black sand with a little potting mix. I'll show you these cuttings again in a month to see what happens.

This just another method that can be used, it's not how all cuts should be planted but it adds to the variety of ways you propagate your plants. i wouldn't ever use this method in winter and would hesitate to use it in late autumn, depending on when you receive a cut and how mild your late autumn is I guess.

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Edited December 9, 2009 by Chiral

[ENtiTY]

Second pic down in post #6 is opuntia imbricata by the looks, not to bad a graft stock but like most opuntia's will chuck roots in short order no matter what pretty much. Doesn't much like humidity like other opuntia's I've delt with. I would disregard it as a testimony to this method though due to its willingness to root so easily.

I am interested in this idea though as I have played with thoughts on accelerated rooting of tricho cuts as no doubt most if not all cactophiles have

I have a couple of questions though just to make sure I'm on the same wave length. By fresh, would that encompass me going and taking a cut of say a PC pach and then immediately going and potting it as you have described? Or would one let it form a skin for a day or 2 first?

What particle size are we talking here for the crushed pebble? Same as coarse perlite, 5mm ish?

What time frame are we looking at from taking the cut and potting as described to having thrown roots for tricho's?

Cheers for the method at any rate Chiral

Edit: Had a better look at the pics which answered most of my Q's. Still qurious on time frame though.

Edited December 9, 2009 by Harry

[Chiral]

The particle size of the perlite doesn't really matter, it does help to mix it with some scoria or any crappy old rocks even blue metal or agregrate from the gutter in the street is okay, it helps keep the perlite weighted down until the plant is established. What i like about this the most is I'm confident enough now to use it with better plants like bridgesii clones etc..and not have to worry about having any unsightly etoliation.

I think the term "fresh" can be used pretty loosely, anytime after the cut basically is fine, 1 or 2 days after is absolutely ok. If you notice when you cut cactus the skin folds over the cut and the core and inner flesh kind of retract up inside the cut, when the plant is facing down this provides a kind of small air pocket between the flesh and the perlite, I'm thinking this is why it works, any moisture that actually travels down thru the soil simply runs off the edge of the folded skin and into the perlite and pebbles. As long as you place the cut flat and aren't using some really crap water retaining soil then any moisture that finds it's way to the bottom will simply flow quite rapidly thru the perlite and out of the drainage holes.

If you are callousing your cuts for a couple of weeks or a month you can still use this method or plant your usual way you like. Deep planting I've found gives the plant so much more mass under the soil to throw out roots, the deeper the better for larger cuts.

I'm beginning to really admire these plants for their ability to adapt and live on through even the most unnatural or forced conditions, they truly are an amazing piece of nature...they really remind me of bacteria and how they slit and split again forming new columns or nuggets time and time again.

One question I would like to know is...does anyone know how old the cactus plant is in terms of how long has it been around on Earth..?

It gives me the impression that it might be one of the most primitive and ancient plants on Earth.

Edited December 9, 2009 by Chiral

[Chiral]

One question I would like to know is...does anyone know how old the cactus plant is in terms of how long has it been around on Earth..?

It gives me the impression that it might be one of the most primitive and ancient plants on Earth.

 

Okay so I just had to know so I asked Wiki...

Cactuses come in a wide range of shapes and sizes. The tallest is Pachycereus pringlei, with a maximum recorded height of 19.2 m,[4] and the smallest is Blossfeldia liliputiana, only about 1 cm diameter at maturity.[5] Cactus flowers are large, and like the spines and branches arise from areoles. Many cactus species are night blooming, as they are pollinated by nocturnal insects or small animals, principally moths and bats. Cactuses range in size from small and globular to tall and columnar.

Cactuses are perennial and grow as trees, shrubs, or vines. Most species are terrestrial, but there are also many epiphytic species, especially in the tribes Rhipsalideae and Hylocereeae. In most species, except for the sub-family Pereskioideae (see image), the leaves are greatly or entirely reduced. The leaves may also be tiny and deciduous as can be seen on new shoots of Opuntia. Spines found in the cacti are actually modified leaves; the stems (the green "pads" of many cacti) have also evolved to photosynthesize. The flowers, mostly radially symmetrical and bisexual, bloom either by day or by night, depending on the species. Their shape varies from tube-like through bell-like to wheel-shaped, and their size from 0.2 to 15–30 centimeters. Most of them have numerous sepals (from 5 to 50 or more), and change form from outside to inside, from bracts to petals. They have stamens in great numbers (from 50 to 1,500, rarely fewer). Nearly all species of cacti have a bitter mucilaginous sap contained within them. The berry-like fruits may contain few to many (3,000), seeds, which can be between 0.4 and 12 mm long.[6]

The life of a cactus is seldom longer than 300 years[citation needed], but may be as short as 25 years, (although these flower as early as their second year). The Saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea) grows to a height of up to 15 meters (the record is 17 meters 67 cm), but in its first ten years, it grows only 10 centimeters. The "mother-in-law's cushion" (Echinocactus grusonii) reaches a height of 2.5 meters and a diameter of 1 meter and – at least on the Canaries – is already capable of flowering after 6 years. The diameter of cactus flowers ranges from 5 to 30 cm; the colors are often conspicuous and spectacular.

The cactus family is endemic to the Americas with one exception, Rhipsalis baccifera; this species has a pantropical distribution, occurring in the Old World tropical Africa, Madagascar and Sri Lanka as well as in tropical America. This plant is thought to be a relatively recent colonist in the Old World (within the last few thousand years), probably carried as seeds in the digestive tracts of migratory birds. Many other cacti have become naturalized to similar environments in other parts of the world after being introduced by people, e.g. Australia, Hawaii, and the Mediterranean region. The Tehuacán Valley of Mexico has one of the richest occurrences of cacti in the world.[7] Species diversity decreases as one travels north; hundreds of species can be found in areas of Mexico, dozens of species are found in the Sonora and Mojave deserts of the southwestern U.S., and only several species are found in the eastern plains and dry valleys of Montana and Alberta.

Cactuses are believed to have evolved in the last 30 to 40 million years[citation needed]. Long ago, the Americas were joined to the other continents, but separated due to continental drift. Unique species in the New World must have developed after the continents had moved apart or began developing just prior to the separation. Significant distance between the continents was only achieved in around the last 50 million years. This may explain why cacti are so rare in Africa as the continents had already separated when cacti evolved. Many succulent plants in both the Old and New World bear a striking resemblance to cacti, and are often called "cactus" in common usage. This is, however, due to parallel evolution; none of these is closely related to the Cactaceae except the family Didiereaceae.

Prickly pears (genus Opuntia) were imported into Australia in the 19th century to be used as a natural agricultural fence and to establish a cochineal dye industry, but quickly became a widespread weed. This invasive species is inedible for local herbivores and has rendered 40,000 km² of farming land unproductive.

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[ENtiTY]

When you analyse what defines a cacti and how it differs from vascular one would think it belongs in it's own kingdom.

[tripsis]

Interesting method Chiral. I think as long as it's kept dry during the time it takes to callous, having it buried would be okay, although humid climates might change that. Do you really think there is an advantage between allowing it to callous somewhat and plantsing it freshly cut, if either way it is deep planted?

When you analyse what defines a cacti and how it differs from vascular one would think it belongs in it's own kingdom.

I think that is going a bit far. Algae differ from cacti far more than cacti differ from, say, gymnosperms, yet they are all still considered plants. Something that I haven't understood yet, why are non-cactus plants referred to as vascular plants while cacti are not, even though cacti have vascular tissues? Is it just for convenience?

[ENtiTY]

[quote[

I think that is going a bit far.

 

Classification is based on categorising things so that they make a logical sence to the human mind. There is more than one train of thought on classification...

[tripsis]

Yes, there is, but if you are going to use the rank of kingdom to describe something, then by default you are following the common train of thought.

[t st tantra]

sometimes i pot up in dry soil but dont water till i see signs of growth.

t s t .

[Halcyon Daze]

'Bump'

 

Me too. Leave 'em dry and in a place covered with a sheet of opaque  fiberglass for a month or 2 before moving out into the sun and water as per usual methods.

[sagiXsagi]

ahh, that were the dayz, 2009, lol ...i wonder what chiral might be doing... I kind of miss the fucker  

 

trichocereus are rediculusly easy to propage. just stick in dry something. even sticking them in empty pots works, you dont even need soil to root them