How do i grow this thing? Woody cactus

[gr33ntea]

I think this is a pereskia Acculutea.

How would i root this thing, it looks like it is dead and dried up but when you shed the paper like skin there is green.

This plant must have been in the sun a long time.

The parts it has been cut are hollow and dried up as well. Should i place in water or dry sand?

[irabionist]

haha finally got pereskia...

i'd put it in soil and occasionally water.

that hollow part is probably dead

[Dreamwalker.]

I've been trying to grow some of these from seed...........I'd go with Sabry...but I really don't have a clue

hope it grows for you.......I read they have gone wild in South Africa........they swallow whole trees........ they are cut at the base to kill it...& even after a couple of years bits will fall from the 'not so dead branches' & take root ..so it should grow for you easily enough.

"Pereskia aculeata is a scrambling shrub in the family Cactaceae. Common names include Barbados gooseberry" really good eating fruit they reckon.

[gr33ntea]

The whole thing feels dead, would water be a good option, it is not like a pereskiopsis, woody

[gr33ntea]

Interesting how it calluses. A gel like substance which looks like tree sap fills in the holes.

Should i put it in water where i can monitor it easier?

Edited September 3, 2014 by gr33ntea

[gr33ntea]

I've been trying to grow some of these from seed...........I'd go with Sabry...but I really don't have a clue

hope it grows for you.......I read they have gone wild in South Africa........they swallow whole trees........ they are cut at the base to kill it...& even after a couple of years bits will fall from the 'not so dead branches' & take root ..so it should grow for you easily enough.

"Pereskia aculeata is a scrambling shrub in the family Cactaceae. Common names include Barbados gooseberry" really good eating fruit they reckon.

If it survives no way in hell is it going to be grown out in the open, i will put it in a pot and when pruning it i will leave the cuts in a black plastic bag to roast out in the sun

[irabionist]

idk, the wood may start to rot if it's put in water

not sure tbh

[shortly]

If it survives no way in hell is it going to be grown out in the open, i will put it in a pot and when pruning it i will leave the cuts in a black plastic bag to roast out in the sun

I dry any cactus bits in the sun up away from the ground & once dry burn them. otherwise i find spines all through my compost.

[DiscoStu]

if you get it to grow send me a cut when you prune it, i'm always after yummy fruit

[Dreamwalker.]

yeah don't waste it ...I'm sure a lot of members would appreciate some cuttings..........just because its a problem in some part of Africa ...doesn't mean it will go feral in your area....I wouldn't stick it in water....sure to rot..treat it like a normal cactus cutting....stick it in a warm sunny place in free draining mix...forget about it...every 3 - 4 weeks give it a very light watering...

Edited September 3, 2014 by Dreamwalker.

[Sallubrious]

Yeah as DW said don't put it in water, chances are it will rot before it roots.

That would be one of the rare cases where I'd use a rooting gel/powder on cactus, old senecent tissue can be slow to produce roots so a bit of help won't hurt to speed things up before it rots or dies from senescence.

Peres in general can handle much more water and humidity than most cactus but with old stock rot could be a problem, so put it (if you take a cutting) in a humid environment with a free draining mix that is not overly wet and see how it goes.

A mix of about 70% perlite to about 30% vermiculite should keep it damp but not so wet that it rots. They're just ballpark figures but the idea is to create a mixture that is damp and still allows for some air exchange.

[gr33ntea]

Oh okay, I took it out of the water. The gel like substance started to come out on the water. I will just put it in sand, perlite, vermiculite mix and keep it a bit wet.

Should I pit it under My heat mat and t5 fluorescent lights?

And yes when I prune it (if it survives) I will put it in trade thread.

It has been in water + peroxide for like 5 hours, hope that didn't damage anything

Edited September 3, 2014 by gr33ntea

[Sallubrious]

If you do put it on heat mat, try to keep the temp below about 25 deg c, once the temp gets above that the disolved oxygen content starts to drop dramatically and rot is more likely to set in and root intialisation will slow down.

The T5's should be fine for rooting, it has no foliage, so it could be placed within inches of the tubes. Just keep an eye on the temps - once you get over about 25-26 deg c they will start to tranpire more water than they can take up and dehydrade which you really can't afford to do with such an old dehydrated cut. Also once you start to get to temps over around 26 deg c pathogens will start to get the upper hand.

I'd root that at about 23 deg c.

[Berengar]

Here's my experience with P. aculeata. I received several young, green cuttings, and a couple woody ones. The green cuttings rooted in my standard wet rooting medium (hydrogel balls) in like 3 days or so. The woody ones never did, in anything, water, hydrogel, dry clay granules and slightly moist cactus mix, even with rooting hormone. I hope you manage to root it, good luck!

Btw, this thing grows at astonishing rates once you place it in conditions it likes, I'll have to get rid of a lot of cuttings this autumn.

[gr33ntea]

Here's my experience with P. aculeata. I received several young, green cuttings, and a couple woody ones. The green cuttings rooted in my standard wet rooting medium (hydrogel balls) in like 3 days or so. The woody ones never did, in anything, water, hydrogel, dry clay granules and slightly moist cactus mix, even with rooting hormone. I hope you manage to root it, good luck!

Btw, this thing grows at astonishing rates once you place it in conditions it likes, I'll have to get rid of a lot of cuttings this autumn.

In that case i am going to wait until it calluses

If you do put it on heat mat, try to keep the temp below about 25 deg c, once the temp gets above that the disolved oxygen content starts to drop dramatically and rot is more likely to set in and root intialisation will slow down.

The T5's should be fine for rooting, it has no foliage, so it could be placed within inches of the tubes. Just keep an eye on the temps - once you get over about 25-26 deg c they will start to tranpire more water than they can take up and dehydrade which you really can't afford to do with such an old dehydrated cut. Also once you start to get to temps over around 26 deg c pathogens will start to get the upper hand.

I'd root that at about 23 deg c.

Ok i will put it in heat mat than. The gel like substance is not as hard because i put it in the water. It is very soft now. I may have ruined it a bit. So i am going to have to let it callus for maybe three days

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Does anyone think putting the roots in an aeroponic system with a mister help?

http://files.shroomery.org/files/10-50/250520818-Cloner_mj.jpg

http://files.shroomery.org/files/10-50/250517525-Mistic_Cloner.jpg

[Optimystic]

I know nothing about these my first assumption would be they are very close to pereskiopsis and if thats the case I would cut off the

woody part and put in a rooting medium right away... pereskiopsis root way better when I put them straight into kelp water which

is how i've really nearly all my tips for grafting this year, well over 100...

on the other hand, it could be unlike pereskiopsis... I don't know

but the reason im even mentioning anything is because this ebay auction i remember seeing which says this:

Most cactus collectors say that but is false, is mostly 99% true but this genera is a breaking rule, one group of pereskias don't have succulents leaf and love water, another braking rule of succulents is they don't need time to seal before planting, the cutting must be planting inmediatly on a wet soil, they are real cactus for the way of the spine came like all cactus and it's flowering system, next time you ear this you can say False!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Pereskia-Lychnidiflora-rare-succulent-plant-cactus-4-/151401304462?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item234038918e

its a different type of Pereskia too and i wouldn't have any idea how different rooting them maybe

the auction makes it seem similar to pereskiopsis.. you can callous pereskiopsis but it makes them take much longer to root IME.. the first cuttings I got by mail took over a month to show new growth, whereas when i put pereskies into kelp solution right away after cutting, they usually are rooting in 7-10 days... im grafting within 2-4 weeks (just whenever I get to it or when space comes available ) ...

anyhow, like I said I dont' know but from all i've seen about the plant I wouldn't callous it personally.. i'd cut off any of the woody part because that can rot either in fluid or in moist soil... but since its different than pereskiopsis i'd personally play it safe and put in a moist sandy soil maybe half sand half soil, thats how I did my first pereskies anyways but like I said now I root them all in a cup with some kelp water, its convenient and I can do dozens at a time in a small space... I only have issues with pereskies rotting when I tried to root them outside where its really hot or when I prematurely put nitrogen into the water.. once they have roots established pretty well they become bullet proof ... I used to worry about leaves falling in the water, and it can be an issue, but after the pereskie is rooted its almost like they eat up the leaf lol I think some of the ones outside rotted due to mosquito larvae

but it also could be the warmth x the leaf material falling in and then rot going from one to the other but even then the more rooted ones nearby seem to be rot resistant eh.. .again this is all pere talk, and im sharing my experience with that in case it helps i've never had a pereskia

i'd listen to anyone that actually raises these before you listen to me regarding this plant but I did want to share what i remembered the ebay auctions stating and plus my experience with regular pere...

best of luck with it

Edited September 4, 2014 by Spine Collector

[gr33ntea]

In that case i have planted it in a sandy soil with perlite and potting mix soil. I won't water it for a day, maybe tomorrow. The ends don't look too well, it is kinda mushy but i will be keeping a close eye on it.

It is under my lights and heat mat and i have put in a thermometer to check up on the temperature as Sally advised.

Soil and how i planted it. I cut the thorns to make it easier to manage

What the cut tips look like, is it kinda mushy looking? I can easily peel it off

[Optimystic]

hrm wow... well sorry its after the fact info but at any rate you'll probably need to be patient if it is going to root... I know with peres the mushyness

is first sign of rot but its probably eating up dead material anyways it looked pretty dry... so I would have removed all the mush

pretty much I would personally be keeping the sandy medium wet and put it somwhere where i'd remember to water and just not over do it... but again

after removing all the dead parts and if I found life in it , would start at a fresh point.. they don't look very lively tho so I wouldn't keep your hopes up, though I wouldn't give up either its worth sticking them in there to see... not only would I have put it directly into wet soil but I would be misting the plant once or twice a day and see if there is any sign of the wrinkles going away... I do that with peres if they start to dehydrate or drop leaves and if they are lively they will absorb water through the skin, and those look especially dehydrated... I've only had problems with pere dehydrating when I've attempted to root especially large cuttings like 20cm or more, and/or thicker older cuttings... I don't use humidity tanks for rooting them tho that tends to be more problematic .. i would have cut off past the mushyness and any dry material a good ways into the green part and look for lively looking plant material

Pereskiopsis can get very ugly looking through the winter and so maybe those are just as able to handle that stress but the original issue is letting the plants dry out in the first place, at least if the ebay auction is correct and they've been selling pereskia for a while... thats kind of wierd about the skin peeling off.. I know pereskies once they've gone woody can form a layer like that of old skin but I wonder if its all the skin or just a layer of it.. if its all the skin and thats the cadmium exposed it would cause me to think they are not alive but then again these plants tend to break most rules

[Dreamwalker.]

maybe try lying a 150mm long bit on top of some potting mix, keeping the ends soil free.

[DiscoStu]

way back when, i wanted to make a bonsai out of an elm tree that was basically just a long 40cm+ stem with a few leaves at the top. i air layered it about ¾ of the way up and about 6 months later I had a nice new bonsai correctly proportioned. not sure if it's suitable for already cuttings but maybe something to think about.

[gr33ntea]

Not working guys, it is just slowly rotting, i have it in moist sandy solution and it rotting. Should i just put it in dry sandy solution and under my heatpad with light?

[zelly]

myself, i'd put it in a pot of dry potting soil & stick it in a covered from the elements outdoor shady spot where i could forget i ever had it.

[gr33ntea]

myself, i'd put it in a pot of dry potting soil & stick it in a covered from the elements outdoor shady spot where i could forget i ever had it.

Should i cut off the wet bits, they are a bit mushy.

After i do this should i let it callus for a week?

Images: http://imgur.com/o3v4uDX,ib84lG9#0

[zelly]

yup cut off the wet mushy parts, let callus a week or so and bury 3-4 nodes if at all possible.

i really think the message you want to communicate to this plant is it can take all the sweet time it wants in growing new roots, and you can assist in that endeavor by giving it a shady spot and dry potting soil that stays dry until you see new tip growth.

completely off topic but i read an interesting statement lately:

"man has been enslaving plants & animals for centuries"

really kind of profound when you think about it.....

[gr33ntea]

Thanks i will do just that

"man has been enslaving plants & animals for centuries"

Yeah we did a really good job at selectively breeding the shit out of plants and animals to suit our needs.
That is pretty evil when you think of it, i still can't fathom how a majestic grey wolf is genetically identical to a Chihuahua or a Pug which has a plethora of health problems and breathing issues.

I also find it amazing how tomatoes in the wild (natural ones that we didnt selectively breed) look like this http://www.openmarket.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/wild-tomatoes.png (the ones on the right)

It then makes me think about eugenics and what would happen if we selectively bred people, ethics? would people comply? is it worth it? ETHICS?!??