How Long Until I Can Plant a Trich Cutting?

[migraineur]

Hey guys,

I have a cutting that I am letting form a callous at the moment. However, I am unsure how long I should wait until I can plant it. How long does this normally take to form a good callous and can anyone show me a picture of what it should look like?

[mutant]

depends on various factors. the calloused cut should be completely dry in the touch for one. It can never hurt to let it sit more, to be sure. Some say leave it one month. some say 1 week. it depends on the conditions as well and on where you are.

share a photo if you're really worried , but it can really be hard to rot a tricho cut while trying to root.

You don't start to water until roots form

[oxydiser]

IME in the Perth summer a good callous takes about 1.5 - 2 weeks to form, tops. You're looking for a uniform white, corky development which is quite hard to depress with an index finger. Straight into a good cacti mix after that and start to water infrequently about another week after that.

Again IME, I find not watering after potting up a cut makes it take ages for roots to form i.e. you may as well have left it sitting out of a pot. This may present an issue with cuts in a more humid environment but in Perth's hot and dry summer it has never been an issue.

Edited February 4, 2011 by oxydiser

[CβL]

I usually fan-dry my cuttings, and then once they're not getting any drier, I'll put them upright on an angle for storage, or pot them into nice cacti soil. Contrary to popular belief, you can water the cactus cutting almost immediately. This is not as safe as waiting for roots to form, but it's certainly quicker. Of the 9 cuttings that I've potted and watered immediately (bottom watered for a few hours), 9 have survived without any complications. If you're worried about mould on the cutting, make sure to sterilize before cutting, and you can dust the cutting and rootstock with sulfur to inhibit mould growth. Your cactus soil might also have fungicide contained in it. This helps too.

Here's a nice picture of a properly calloused cutting (although some people callous much more than this) http://www.trichocereus.com/propagation.htm

[mutant]

assuming the OP is a beginer who hasn't rooted lots of plants, he might want to lean on the safe side.

As experience is gained, Trichocereus cuts rooting can indeed become lots quicker

[WoodDragon]

I've mentioned it elsewhere, but as the subject has come up again I might as well repeat it.

I dab methylated spirits on a fresh cut to help sterilise the wound, and to help denature the tissue and to start a callus. I'll leave it on an east-facing window sill for a few days or maybe up to a week (if it's a cold, dank winter) to thoroughly dry, and then I plant the cutting in very dry potting soil and leave it for about a month. As far as I have found they don't ever rot in dry soil, and it seems to start the whole root-forming process where the cutting is in the dark from being covered with soil. It's better than just leaving them on their sides on a shelf somewhere - at least they can think about actually getting some roots out.

When the stem starts to visibly shrink, or to grow at the tip, I start watering every few days or so. In warm weather this might only take a few weeks from cutting, and if the weather is very hot I often start watering almost from day 1 after potting. If it's a really big cutting and it's not the height of summer I'll start watering after a few months, even if there's no sign of shrinkage or growth.

I guess that what I do is not much different to bluntmuffin's approach. Using my method I have never lost a cutting, and I always get fairly quick signs of growth. Really, unless you're using a dodgy cutting or you're trying to strike in wet-cold or in 100% humidity, it's pretty hard to kill a trich cutting.

And for those who think that you have to water trichs with an eyedropper, as long as its warm and the humidity is not too high, or they don't sit in water for more than a few hours, once they have roots trichs love a drink. On a really hot day I'll thoroughly soak my plants, and they then grow so fast you can practically see them increase in size before your eyes. If only we had more than a handful of such days per summer in this part of the world - my plants would be 2 metres high instead of 2 feet!

Edited February 7, 2011 by WoodDragon