Rooting Trichocereus cuttings / pups ?

[sobriquet]

Hi all.

As some may know I received a pachanoi pup from Tripitaka some 2 or so weeks ago. I know its early days for rooting and it may take another month or two to send out roots I'm wondering if my technique is right.

I've placed the pup ON the soil with a very small amount of dry sandy soil around the base covering it for 0.5 cm or so.

I'm wondering whether I need to actually bury 2 or more cm into the soil for it to root rather than just place it on the soil?

Also is moisture helpful or harmful?

The mix has been kept dry throughout. The pup is beginning to show some growth! but it has lost its fatness and the ribs are beginning to become more prominent.

I know it's probably going to root eventually but I'm just trying to learn the best techniques from those with experience rather than inventing the wheel all over again.

Thanks for any help.

[mescalito]

Sounds normal as most of the energy and stored water is going into forming roots.

You'll be right just have some patience until the roots take hold and water as normal.

[incognito]

moistening the soil every now and then wont hurt, as long as its not saturated for lengths of time. i bury mine when rooting lengthways 2cm to half the depth of z cacti. though laying it ontop prolly works just as well. Patience is the key.

[cisumevil]

Sorry for stealing your thread sorbriquet.

@ jono Just wonder what benifits you get from planting your cuts Horizontally instead of vertcally?

Thanks

[egad]

Sorry for stealing your thread sorbriquet.

@ jono Just wonder what benifits you get from planting your cuts Horizontally instead of vertcally?

Thanks

Larger root base, and more pups. Got a few going in the garden like this atm, once rooted they provide a substantial base for a rediculous proliferation of pups. Best example i've seen of this was a 7' Trichocereus Spachianus that had lost a few limbs, they lay on the ground for a while and when i came back and saw the plant a few months later they were covered in pups. Worth a shot if u've got the cacti to spare, be interested to see what comes of my foray into horizontal plantings this season.

Peace.

[sobriquet]

This morning I decided I would check the pup for one last time before burying it a bit deeper and just leaving it in a shady corner of the greenhouse to do its thing.

Well blow me, the pup had a yellowish and rather thick stub of a root emerging from an area close to the soil/air boundary!

What surprised me about it was that it appeared to be emerging from an area other than an areole. It was coming through normal skin whereas I was expecting it to root from the areoles initially.

So I happily buried it close to the distance it was at. Watered it very modestly to wet the surface of the soil and put it in the greenhouse in the shade so it can have the warmth it needs at this point.

I guess it realised that I had made this post and decided to embarass me