Need some help with rooting

[Heffa]

I have 3 pieces of trichocereus pachanoi: Two are around 5cm high top pieces and one is a foot long middle piece.

I kept them for 5 weeks in the shade to dry out, and dry their cuts which ey did without visible issue.

Now i want them to all grow big and strong so I am ready to plant them in pots, with 40% pebbles, 30% sand and 30% compost. My main problem however is that it is quite cold of late and i'm getting temps lower than the brisbane temperatures overnight. So with the knowledge that cactus doesn't like to grow in the cold and with occasional fog and rain I don't want to encourage rot.

My set up is basically a well drained area with a green house shade overhead to provide filtered night and warm up during the day.

I'm pretty keen to get these in pachanoi in the ground...

So my question is - To encourage rooting of my cactus should i just leave the pots outside to get down to around 5 deg C overnight and up to 26 during the day? Should i keep them outside during the day so they get their filtered sunlight then bring them inside into a warm room during the night? Or should i keep them inside the entire time to maintain some warmth and very little fluro light?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

[dworx]

A lot of cacti survive the cold and some grow in extreme cold regions. I would say they are a survivor in the plant kingdom... but I would start your cuttings off in a pot in semi sheltered area where they get some sun but not too much and where the frost wont hit them[sheltered]

I have no real experience growing cacti in extreme cold as I am in SE QLD and winter is only like 6-8 weeks long [ the cold peaks]

[mac]

With your day time temps im sure they should have no problems,

I usually give them a small amount of water when first planted & then once a week i lift them back out to monitor for moisture content of the soil & any signs of rot, once roots start to form i tend to give them another light watering & let them do their own thing

Edited June 22, 2010 by mac

[kindness]

that is one cool name for a topic Heffa. I'd love to help but I'm in a relationship already and we don't do the open relationship thing.

(you can just leave them in a room inside with ambient light and they will put out roots over winter... or leave them somewhere dry outside and they will kinda stall and put out roots slowly... or making sure they are definately calloused plant them in some really well draining mix in a pot.. or or or... there are heaps of ways and they are hardy as... Mine are putting out roots as per the first method mentioned in this long long paragraph and it's getting down to around 4 degrees inside I suppose).

[No_One]

[psili sausage]

^^lol. That dvd should help with any rooting troubles!

[Heffa]

Thank goodness you got my undertone message thanks for all the intimacy help, my girlfriend and i have been looking for some new positions and partners, i'm sorry none of you are available for home tutoring on the subject.

Only joking, but thanks for the advice

I think i will bring them inside maybe for a week as they have been outside for 2 weeks (not very long i know) with no sign of 'rooting'

If i put the cactus in full sun, will it be damaged?

[flora]

play it a little barry white to get it into the mood, all grooovy add sum chocolate body paint then tantalise the stump with fresh juicy strawberries

[kindness]

thats funny flora

"If i put the cactus in full sun, will it be damaged?" - depends what sort of conditions it's used to I suppose. If you've got nice warm full day sun that is sheltered from rain (facing north against a wall under an eave?) I would be whacking that bad boy in a pot with some nice free draining soil.. no need for cactus soil or anything... there are threads on here recommending mixes - just do a search say, 'best soil mixes cactus' or something.

Oh and I think that if you want tutoring on rooting cacti I think chiral might be your man... I seem to recall reading that on here somewhere?? Or was it incognito.. dunno

peace

Edited June 23, 2010 by meanies

[Heffa]

I want it to start to root withing the next 2 or 3 months so seeing as i have 3 in pots i think i will try 2 different options so i guess i will have an idea for what i should do next winter.

Ill keep the 2 heads inside in the warmest part of the house and leave the middle piece outside in the greenhouse shade.

If anyone has a better idea speak now or forever hold your peace.

But thanks for everyones help - with both subjects

[Heffa]

 

They have some fungus on them from after the rain

 

[~shameless~]

Fungus or mould! Are they in the shade still? since your in sth east qld i recon you could keep them in an open sunny spot in a free draing mix like the one you have mentioned , also dont move them around too much at all , cuttings dont root that quickly when you move them too much,

They go well man, alot tougher than you think, succulents dont require that much mothering when propagating cuts, i actually just put my cuts out in the open where i sort of want them too live for good ,

The only time i really worry about putting a new clone outside to strike roots is in that period of mid jan - mid feb too hot for gardening anyway.

just to note about temps

Iv got cactus still that im still trying to root its a small piece of psyco0 and iv been trying too root it since spring last year ( now nights get down too 5 degrees at some stages) and they got a bit wet i guess you could say , it sort of darkened off a bit and the dog buried it but im quite certain it will strike roots when october comes around and im doing all my repotting at that time as well.

Wait till mid spring for results, youll be surprised hopefully.

[Heffa]

Yeah its definatly mould, growing on the base. I have taken them out and put them in a sunny location after scraping the mould off. should i just cut that area off? They were still in the filtered sunlight area when i was about to bring them inside i checked the base and saw the mould.

Im thinking ill just wait till the weather warms up before trying again.

My area just isn't very tropical plant friendly at the moment as my HBWR and Brugmansia seedlings are looking worse for wear, but hopefully they will recover as the spring comes along.

[~shameless~]

I wouldnt bother about scraping off anymore mould just put them out in a more open sunny spot and see what hapens , if the mould gets real bad and starts rapidly liquifying the cut i would just chop that bit off the cut of and try again at striking it.

[∂an]

hey heffa, it just so happens i'm trying to propagate a pachanoi mid section cut in the SE QLD area too. and in the last few days the top exposed surface has developed mould as well. i didn't dry the cutting out for more than 2 days, so maybe thats a problem. i have my cutting in 75% shade in a quite dry sandy soil. its only been in the soil for two weeks though. would be interested to hear how yours turns out, given the similar climate. do your cacti go dormant over the winter here?

[Heffa]

Sweet as kalika, well i only have one other cacti and its a smaller non-columnar species (dont know what type) and it definitely goes into hibernation in the colder months.

Ill have to get a more free draining soil mix i think cause i think the compost has soaked up a little too much moisture especially after the copious amounts of morning dew i get here (I could bathe in it).

Since taking the cactus out of its pot and getting rid of the moisture the mould has bailed and there doesnt seem to be all that much damage. I'll see about getting a more suitable soil mix then try again.

I can get vermiculite from the local hardware right??

[Heffa]

Oops, double post..

Edited June 27, 2010 by Heffa

[Heffa]

ok, made a more sutible mix... hopefully.

10% sandy soil, 20% compost, 60% vermiculite, 10% pebbles

With pebbles on top, for prettyness.

With this factor as well as keeping them out of the rain, maybe my troubles with cacti rooting will soon be over!

thAnk you for your continued support, will keep updating

[kindness]

just wondering why the use of vermiculite? What you do with your soil of course is totally up to you... I know it can be a very personal thing... but why did you get vermiculite, (which is generally used to retain moisture) rather than perlite which aids in drainage, (and I would hazard a guess keeps the soil nice n' airy).

Dunno.. just some thoughts.

I am basing this on my experiences with using vermiculite to keep more moisture in things.

[incognito]

1/3 coarse sand 2/3 potting mix witha handfull of blood and bone mixed in. keep it simple. (if u have a hortsupplier as them to get in some searls coarse sand, its the bomb)

rooting is easy just make sure its calloused well (though some people dont even callous) bung it in the mix.

done & dusted.

[Heffa]

A bit over a month on and one of the smaller pieces have grown a nice 3-4cm long root from the centre.

SUCCESS.

The other two pieces have small buds on the bottom hopefully with roots underneath them.

The vermiculite seemed to help to retain a small amount of water, encouraging the roots to rear their beautiful heads.

Once a few more roots emerge ill put it in a mix mentioned above.

Thank you all for believing in me! Haha its all about patience.

Thanks again for your help

[kindness]

dammit.. stupid emoticons. I was trying to say good on ya, eat it in a while (where legal!) then puke then feel love then get a bit of a general halo glow on your life after the experience... but the fucken things just make it look like a dude drooling then puking and someone else falling in love with the spew lol

Edited August 1, 2010 by meanies

[Heffa]

hahahaha love it, a beautiful, descriptive story with emoticons.

thanks meanies

[ENtiTY]

If your in SE QLD then keep em high n dry until they start to poke root nodules, especially this time of year with the recent weather patterns. Time taken can vary depending upon several variables but its the sure fire way.

One member a while back swore by a method of accelerate rooting for cacti that involved putting a sock on the base of the cutting and leave standing upright. Apparently produced roots within a month. Never been in a rush so never experimented with the tek, maybe worth a try though.

[Heffa]

Sounds interesting, should the sock be wet? or smelly any chance of a link to the info?

Thanks Harry